Terrorist Attacks Against the U.S.

 In the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that destroyed America's sense of security and invincibility, the government under President George W. Bush launched the Global War on Terrorism—which has become the longest period of continuous war in U.S. history—and enacted a series of laws and executive orders that have affected our everyday lives. These steps were taken to prevent another attack on U.S. soil and restore a feeling of safety to a nation shattered by tragedy.However, in executing these laws, the Bush and Obama administrations have come under fire for compromising civil rights and due process in the name of national security. Indeed, many people have asked if the counterterrorism measures have made us safer or have ushered in unwanted consequences: emboldening and inciting our stateless enemies, thus encouraging the spread of al-Qaeda, and skewing the system of checks and balances that is the foundation of U.S. democracy through the overreach of presidential authority. Here is a look at major legislation passed since the attacks and the effects of the laws.
September 11 Commission Releases Its Report:
In July 2004, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a unanimous, bipartisan "Report on Pre-War Intelligence on Iraq," evaluating the intelligence assessments that formed the basis for the Bush administration's justifications for the war. It strongly criticized the CIA and other intelligence agencies, concluding that "most of the major key judgments" on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction were either "overstated, or were not supported by, the underlying intelligence report." It disputed the CIA's assertions that Iraq was reconstituting its nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programs. It also concluded that there were "no operational links" between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, another casus belli put forth by the Bush administration. In October, the Iraq Survey Group's final report confirmed that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction nor a formal plan to revive its WMD program. In response, President Bush began emphasizing that the removal of Iraq's repressive dictatorship was grounds enough for waging war, and contended that "America is safer today with Saddam Hussein in prison.
How We've Changed Since 9/11:
How the World Views the United States Post-9/11.
Worldwide sympathy has faded in the ten years since the 9/11 attacks. Much of the Arab world resented the U.S. occupation of Iraq. In May 2011, the hunt for, capture, and killing of Osama bin Laden, strained relations further with Pakistan. Throughout the Middle East and Pakistan protests against the United States have continued over the decade since the attacks.A decade is a long time, but perhaps not long enough for a country to recover from the biggest terrorist attack on its soil. Security measures have been put in place, but Americans are still feeling the impact of those measures and of what happened on that early fall day.