Why did 9/11 result in such a strong response?

Question

Why did 9/11 get such a strong response from the American Goverment as to launch a "War on Terrorism" when other Terrorist Attacks against Americans (such as the Lockerbie bombing, the embassies in Africa, the 1995 World Trade Centre bombing) did not?

Please don't just say "because of Bush" =0)

I'm not asking this because I think it was an overreaction, 9/11 was horrendous, I'm just trying to provoke conversation.

Answer 1

Because it was a long planned, well exicuted attack on our home soil killing thousands of americans, and directly threatening our government.

Up until this point nothing to this scale had been exicuted on american soil by a group claming responsibility. In fact the last time something like this happened we shipped off to the world war.

You dont threaten a country like that and then not expect retaliaton.

Answer 2

With the exception of the 1993 WTC bombing, all of the other ones were outside of American home-soil. We didn't feel as weak. The 1993 bombing did actually very little overall damage, and we saw it as one crazy person doing something mentally unstable and that that event would never really happen again. But when 9/11 happened, many died on American soil, which was supposed to be more or less invincible from the rest of the world. We haven't had a real problem here since coming to major power immediately after World War II. This showed a severe weakness and that scared people into reaction.

Answer 3

No one could have ever imagined an event like 9/11 happening on American soil. The last major attack that we faced was the attack on Pearl Harbor, which triggered the US into going into war. The other attacks that the US faced were small scaled done outside the country, with the exception of the WTC bombing. Also, the numbers were different. 9/11 resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 Americans whereas other attacks had way smaller numbers.
P.S. To those who believe in the conspiracy theories. I have seen them all and most, if not all, theories have been proven false. Operation Northwood was a rejected mission that was created during the Cuban Missile Crisis, just for you to know.

Answer 4

Because that was the whole purpose of the "9/11" attacks, in the same way as the purpose of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 was to get the support of the US population for the war F. D. Roosevelt was keen to enter since 1940.
It had nothing to do with Islam or terrorism. It was a very cleverly planned operation, executed by "Al Qaeda", one of the CIA's most secret Black Operations' groups. (Don't take it from me, do some research online. It's all out there. The whole truth.)

Answer 5

9/11 showed the vulnarability of US (to that time was a superpower). Like the effect of the Cuban missile crisis, 9/11 was more than a terrorist attack. It destroyed the legendary of superpower. If US would have not launched a war on terrorism, it would get into the 'chicken' position.

Answer 6

It hit home and I'm not trying to be a wise-a**. We all see crimes on the news but until something happens to your family or your home we all tend to be a bit blase. We see wars around the world via satellite but 9/11 happened and we watched it live. It was a very long day for everyone first with the towers, the other plane crashing and then the Pentagon being hit. It was natural for the US to want to fight back because the war did in fact hit home.

Answer 7

In 2004, Zogby International, the official North American political polling agency for Reuters, released a poll that found nearly half (49.3%) of New York City residents and 41% of those in New York state believe US leaders had foreknowledge of impending 9/11 attacks and "consciously failed" to act.

There are many unanswered questions suggesting that the current administration may indeed have deliberately allowed 9/11 to happen, perhaps as a pretext for war. For instance: Why has Sibel Edmonds, a former FBI translator who claims to have knowledge of advance warnings, been publicly silenced with a gag order requested by Attorney General Ashcroft and granted by a Bush-appointed judge? (Make sure you read her story!)

I am of the opinion that this tragic event gave the US government the excuse it needed to start a so-called 'war or terror' based on lies, in order to gain control of oil reserves. And to gain support for their cause, they had to create fear in the hearts of people and therefor react strongly and irrationally.

Answer 8

B'cos the damage was done within USA by foreigner where USA was presumed the world's most powerful country with most technological and other areas of advancement (no one can bully me at my backyard). So when 9/11 happened, the patriot passion within the country hot up and with Bush Jr around (to save face and other ulterior motive), it launched "War on Terrorism".

Answer 9

Because it was direct, planned attack that hit a major landmark and killed thousands. The media also helped by broadcasting news about the attack 24/7 so everyone knew within hours what had happened. Also, the mass media hadn't reported previously on Al-Qaida (at least in great detail) and everyone was shocked that there was a group that hated the US so much.

Answer 10

the number victims caused the bigger reaction. Prior to 9-11 the numbers of victims was not large enough for the majority of americans to think ....it could be me.... 9-11 ended that.