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Cause and effect of September 11, 2001 terrorist attack

Although often caused by nature, disasters can have human origins. Often it is the unpredictability of such disasters that causes fear, confusion and stress that have a lasting effect on the affected community. In recent history, the Sept 11th terrorist attack is one such example. This paper will examine the terrorists’ motivation towards committing the attack and the effect it had on the American society.

According to Pedahzur (2006), terrorist groups exist for the purpose of planning and executing attacks to accomplish their mission. Included among the objectives of terrorism are demonstrating the group’s power over population and government, exact revenge for perceived persecution and satisfy the group’s vengeance while at the same time gaining publicity for their actions. Accordingly, the September 11 attacks can be interpreted both as a direct signal to the United States to behave in a certain way and as an indirect signal to potential sympathizers that the united states is not invulnerable. Looking at it from this point of view, it can be debated that the most important cause of the terrorist attack was to diminish US prestige in the Arab world by sending the message that the symbols of UC economic, military and political power could be attacked (Pedahzur, 2006).

Terrorism can cause cascading effects that can have global effects. As the term alludes, terrorism is designed to evoke fear in its victims. This can lead to psychological as well as social effects, such as suspicion and exclusion of certain religious or ethnic groups even though they may have no association with the terrorist or terrorist organization. Fear for the unknown can cause people to react in an unpredictable manner. Before the attack, of September 11th 2001, Americans