Download September 11 - Hatboro

Leading up to and including 9/11 (and its Aftermath)
A number of devastating tragedies struck the country, ranging from natural
disasters, to domestic catastrophes, to international terrorist threats. There were a number
of horrific school shootings, the most lethal of which occurred at Columbine High School in
Littleton, Colorado, when two teenaged gunmen took the lives of fourteen students and one
teacher. Ted Kaczynski, dubbed the “Unabomber,” was captured in 1996 after a series of
bombs that killed three and injured twenty-three. The Olympic Games, held twice in the
United States between 1990 and 2007 (Atlanta in 1996 and Salt Lake City in 1998), have
frequently become the target of terrorist attacks, as a bombing at the Atlanta Games
demonstrated. In 1993 Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols, and others, sympathizers with an
antigovernment militia movement, killed 168 people and injured another 850 when they
detonated a truck filled with explosives outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It was the single deadliest act of terror against America on U.S.
soil until the horrors of September 11, 2001.
On that day, a series of attacks orchestrated by al-Qaeda, an international coalition
of militant extremists working to end foreign influence in Muslim countries, forever
changed the course of history in America. Terrorists hijacked four commercial jet airliners,
crashing one into the Pentagon building in Arlington, Virginia, and another into a field in
rural Pennsylvania as passengers heroically tried to wrest the controls from the hijackers
and thwart the intended mission. Terrorists piloted the other two planes directly into the
twin towers of New York's World Trade Center and the world watched in horror and
disbelief as cameras captured the collision and destruction of the buildings. The
unfathomable death, injury, and destruction caused by the attack continues to resonate,
even as 9/11 memorials have begun to be established and opened.
In all, nearly 3,000 people died in the September 11th attacks and many remain
missing. The events shook the foundation of the country. Feelings of security and safety
were forever altered, and many people were affected by the loss of life and destruction of
property caused by the crashes. The attacks also exacerbated racial tensions; the number of
hate crimes and incidents of harassment directed toward Middle Easterners increased
dramatically in the wake of the incident. The U.S. government instituted a number of efforts
to reduce the likelihood of future terrorist attacks, including the Homeland Security Act, the
PATRIOT Act, and increased scrutiny of foreign nationals living in the United States.
Perhaps most significant, however, was that September 11th also prompted the United
States to wage a global “War on Terror.”
The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, ending the Cold War that had existed since the
end of World War II, but real conflicts continued. Throughout the 1990s, American troops
were deployed to Panama, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, and elsewhere. Following the Iraqi
invasion of oil-rich Kuwait, the United States waged the Gulf War and Operation Desert
Storm and successfully forced Iraq's withdrawal. After the attacks of September 11, 2001,
President George W. Bush ordered what he termed a global “War on Terror.” The first step
in this campaign was the invasion of Afghanistan in order to overthrow the Taliban regime,
destroy Al-Qaeda, and capture their leader, Osama bin Laden. In his 2002 State of the Union
address, Bush identified Iraq as part of an “axis of evil” that threatened world peace. With
support from more than twenty other nations, the United States invaded Iraq, took control
of the capital city of Baghdad, and ended the regime of Saddam Hussein. It has been a
controversial war, dividing the nation and affecting all facets of American life.
It is against this backdrop that present-day sport developed in America, and the
dialectical relationship between sport and society is evident in a number of situations.
While sport has been affected by the triumphs and tragedies of history since 1990, at the
same time, we must acknowledge that sport is not just a product of society, but a producer
as well, influencing the course of history in a number of significant ways.
Sports, War, and Terrorism
In noting the close links between sport and war, scholar Gamal Abdel-Shehid (2002,
317) argues that “two of the most important cultural and political roles in the United States
are athlete and soldier.” During the period between 1990 and 2005, the roles of athlete and
soldier embodied American cultural values in a complex time of war, terrorism, and fear.
Sport played an integral part in mobilizing support for war, uniting the country, and
creating cultural heroes who exemplified American nationalism.
The connections between sport and war were further strengthened after the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Following lengthy debate on the importance of
sport in the aftermath of such a tragedy, the National Football League and Major League
Baseball decided to resume their full schedules after a short period of postponement. Just
seven weeks after the attacks, the New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks met in the
World Series, providing an arena of escapism and catharsis for New York City and,
arguably, for the entire nation. The fear of additional terrorist attacks, and the resulting
increases in security, manifested at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.
Government and Olympic officials considered relocating or canceling the Games in
response to the terrorist threat, but they decided to increase the amount and intensity of
security surrounding the Games. In response, security personnel outnumbered the athletes,
police snipers ringed the venues, and the flight zone immediately above Salt Lake City was
restricted.
A final example of the links between sport and war is the case of Pat Tillman
(November 6, 1976–April 22, 2004). A former NFL football player for the Arizona
Cardinals, Tillman declined a three-year, $3.6-million contract to volunteer for the Army
after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He joined the Army Rangers in 2002 and was killed in
friendly fire while serving in Afghanistan in 2004. Tillman was the first high-profile
American professional athlete to die in military service since former Buffalo Bills lineman
Bob Kalsu in Vietnam in 1970. Tillman's image as both an athlete and soldier was held up
as the ideal American hero, the perfect representation of sacrifice, strength, and dedication.
Questions later surfaced about the nature of Tillman's death and how the United States
military manipulated and exploited his memory.