by Zach Bigalke

Created on: March 29, 2007   Last Updated: April 19, 2007

The importance of the symbolism behind the 11 September 2001 commercial-plane hijackings extends far beyond the mere assault on American soil. When the United States awoke that Tuesday morning to the mind-numbing images of people dangling from the Twin Towers and airplanes turning into human-guided missiles, it awoke to a reality that has eluded it for far too long. Following the dissolution, the growing influence of the United States as a hegemonic power has increasingly alienated large populations of the greater international community. The cocky manner in which the American government has exerted its will dispassionately across the globe - promoting democratic virtues abroad while succumbing at home to the vices which derail democracy - has proven hypocritical in the eyes of people living under the thumb of the superpower. The coordinated jihadist strike in the early hours of 11 September was a message to the American government and the military-industrial complex it perpetuates: the United States has become too bloated in its good fortune.

Americans will never be able to forget the events of 11 September 2001. The images are burned indelibly in every American's memory with startling clarity. There are as many reasons to remember the events of that Tuesday as there are Americans: the families still grieving for the lost members of their flocks, the genuine compassion and courage demonstrated by emergency personnel at the scenes of the attacks, the persistence of the passengers of United Flight 93 in saving more civilians from a fiery death, the foolhardiness of the federal government in responding to the crisis... 11 September 2001 was a day which brought out the best and worst characteristics of America in one fell swoop. We banded together as a united people, then watched as our government ripped the union apart.

We have learned that we are vulnerable, but we have also learned how truly secure we have been. As Americans become more accustomed to terrorist campaigns which have been status quo for the rest of the world for decades, it should provide us with a greater empathy for those people fighting for their own freedom. The United States, we have seen in the past decade, can no longer expect to impose its will blindly on another sovereign state. In this increasingly-intertwined global structure, an attack against one state is an attack against all states. We must remember that the significance of the attacks lie in the structures which were hit: the World Trade Center, a symbol for American financial dominance; the Pentagon, the headquarters of the world pinnacle of military might; and the aircraft, the innocuous emblem of American passage to all the lands of the earth, turned against ourselves. Only by providing economic and military freedom from itself will the United States begin to endear itself to those peoples currently in arms against the current hegemon. The attacks were not against America; they were against a way of life that continues by exploiting the other lands and people of the world.

Learn more about this author, Zach Bigalke.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.