Americans are a scared lot; so they bully innocent people

By O.J.George

The Americans are a sacred lot after 9/11/2001.The general history of the Americans is that they took wars to distant places.

Forget about their war of independence and Lincoln’s war to fetch freedom for the slaves.Otherwise, they would bomb Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and now Pakistan.They had never dreamt that someone would take the war to their homeland, particularly after the world became unipolar.

The Al-Qaeda used American resources like pilot training facilities to fine-tune their suicidal attacks against the heart of America.For sometime, the all powerful George Bush, Jr, was hiding somewhere.

Perhaps, the-then British Prime Minister Tony Blair, has to be congratulated on his infusing a semblance of courage to even Bush then.Later actions of the Americans, in the name of war on terrorism, smacked of overcaution arising from fright.A recall of September 11 would be justified.

The September 11 attacks were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by Al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001.On that morning, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners.

The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings.Both buildings collapsed within two hours, destroying nearby buildings and damaging others.

The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C.The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Pennsylvania, after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C.There were no survivors from any of the flights.

It is assumed that the fourth plane was headed towards the White House, luckily the terrorists’ plan was foiled by the passengers.In total 2,974 victims and the 19 hijackers died in the attacks.The overwhelming majority of casualties were civilians, including nationals of over 90 different countries.

The United States responded to the attacks by launching a "War on Terrorism"; invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, who had harboured al-Qaeda terrorists; and invading Iraq to dispose of Saddam Hussein and Iraq's supposed stock of weapons of mass destruction.However, with the exception of chemical weapon traces left over from the Iran-Iraq War, no such weapons have been found.

The US also enacted the USA PATRIOT Act, while many other countries strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded law enforcement powers.Some American stock exchanges stayed closed for the rest of the week following the attack, and posted enormous losses upon reopening, especially in the airline and insurance industries.

The destruction of billions of dollars worth of office space caused serious damage to the economy of Lower Manhattan.The damage to the Pentagon was cleared and repaired within a year, and the Pentagon Memorial was built on the site.The rebuilding process has started on the World Trade Center site.

In 2006 a new office tower was completed on the site of 7 World Trade Center.The 1 World Trade Center is currently under construction at the site and at 1,776 ft (541 m) upon completion in 2011, will become one of the tallest buildings in North America.

Three more towers were originally expected to be built between 2007 and 2012 on the site.No doubt the Yankees’ ego has been crushed. Now they are acting in panic by questioning, frisking and segregating anyone who they think are suspects.

And if there is a Muslim word attached to the name, all hell would break loose. Continental Airlines was not satisfied when Abdul Kalam said he is former President of India.

Now Shah Rukh Khan has been given a shot. Earlier, Kamal Hasan, Malayalam actor Mammootty etc were given the same sort of treatment.George Fernandez, wearing his kurta pyjama, in his capacity as the Defence Minister of India ,was frisked.

Frightened Americans don’t care how the victims feel humiliated. Would they ill-treat Barack Hussein Obama after his Presidency because he sports the word Hussein? Perhaps a little bit of tit-for-tat should be in place to see whether the Americans stop bullying gentlemen on the premise of security check.

The paradox is that those responsible for unleashing the attacks on the Americans are safely hauled up in some holes or crevices with all facilities, in Afghanistan or Pakistan, while innocent people pay the price for their unjustified acts.