Channel Button

There are 117 articles on this title. You are reading the article ranked and rated #16 by Helium's members.

Debate_icon

Politics, News & Issues   >

Terrorism

Are we safer now than we were immediately after 9/11, or have we just been lucky?

Results so far:

Safer
37% 255 votes Total: 684 votes
Lucky
63% 429 votes

We are safer after 9/11.

Many Americans may not see the difference in the United States or American lifestyles before and after September 11th, 2001, but if you look at attacks on this country in the 1990s vs. the decade we are currently in then it is fairly obvious that we are a bit more safer.
In 1993 we were attacked on American soil when a car bomb exploded inside the basement parking garage. It is suspected that this bombing was orchestrated by Al-Qeada, and although Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, Ramzi Yousef, and nine others were convicted of the attack ties to Al-Qaeda have not been solidified.

In 1995 Timothy McVeigh bombed the government building in Oklahoma City, and later that year a car bomb exploded outside the American Military Headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
In Dhahran, Saudi Arabia in 1996 a truck bomb exploded outside the Khobar Towers, killing hundreds and including 19 Americans. Of course we cannot forget Eric Robert Rudolph's bombing at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga.
In 1998 simultaneous truck bombs exploded outside the American Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. In 2000 the USS Cole, a Navy destroyer was attacked killing seventeen sailors. Some believe this attack to have been well studied because the impact position was near the Chief's quarters, which most Navy personnel will agree that Chiefs are the backbone of the Enlisted Navy - others say this fact was coincidence.
There have been several attacks on Americans oversees in the 2000s, which is somewhat of a 'duh', but Iraq and Afghanistan aside we have endured attacks on the American Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan (June 14,2002), a westerner housing compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (May 12th, 2003). Also in Riyadh terrorists attacked a Saudi Oil Companies offices killing one American (May 29th 2004)and Paul Johnson Jr. was kidnapped and executed (June 19th, 2004). And, in 2004 terrorists stormed the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
November 9th, 2005 in Amman Jordan three American hotels were attacked killing 57 guests (not all were Americans, but the hotels were American Companies), and in 2007 on January 12th an anti-tank missile was fired at the U.S. Embassy in Athens Greece causing damage but no injuries.

Now, it is clear that overseas attacks on Americans and American Companies has increased, but since 2001 there has not been an attack on American soil so it should also be apparent that the beefed up homeland security and the redirection of the FBI to anti-terrorism has helped Americans become safer at home.

Learn more about this author, Matthew Mcguire.
Contact this writer Click here to send this author comments or questions.


Below are the top articles rated and ranked by Helium members on:

Are we safer now than we were immediately after 9/11, or have we just been lucky?

Safer
  • 1 of 42

    by Joe Klinkhoff Iii

    I firmly believe we are safer. Past incidents of terrorism in the United States have been infrequent. These events,...read more

  • 2 of 42

    by Richard Tin

    Six years have gone by since that devastating 9/11 incident. Since then the awareness of that tragedy and the potenti...read more

Lucky
  • 1 of 75

    by Gen Hendrey

    America is not safer today than it was immediately following the attacks of September 11th. While many Americans, as ...read more

  • 2 of 75

    by Steven Gadberry

    Wake Up, America! If you believe we are safer now than we were immediately after September 11, 2001, you are deluding...read more

Add your voice

Know something about Are we safer now than we were immediately after 9/11, or have we just been lucky??
We want to hear your view. Write_penWrite now!

What is Helium? | User Guide | Community | Link to Helium | Privacy | User agreement | DMCA

Helium, Inc.
200 Brickstone Square Andover, MA 01810 USA