Twenty years after the fight against terrorism, the United States is still worried

Original title: 20 years after counter-terrorism, the United States is still worried
Biden announced that the United States will spend three days to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attack
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It has been 20 years since the September 11 terrorist attacks.
At 8:46 a.m. on September 11, 2021, the bell rang in New York City and the whole city observed a moment of silence.
At this moment 20 years ago, the hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 suddenly crashed into the North Tower of the world trade center, with continuous explosions and thick smoke, leading to its collapse.
On the same day, the 20th anniversary ceremony of the "9.11" incident was held in the memorial square of the former site of the world trade center in New York, Shanksville town in Pennsylvania and the Pentagon.
US President Biden, former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton all went to attend the 20th anniversary ceremony. Former US President trump released only one video speech.
Even today, the United States still has lingering fears about the "9.11" incident. The 20-year global war on terrorism seems to have failed to allay their concerns.
On the one hand, the political ecology of the United States is constantly polarized, and the whole country is still shrouded in the shadow of COVID-19. On the other hand, just after the U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan in a hurry, the suicide attack at Kabul airport triggered a new round of concerns about the resurgence of terrorism. More and more Americans believe that the United States is no safer today than it was 20 years ago.
Is America more united 20 years later?
In the speech on the 20th anniversary of September 11, "unity" has become a key word.
In his video speech, Biden called on the American people to unite when reflecting on the "9.11" incident. "Unity is the only thing that can not be destroyed. It is unity that makes today's America".
Vice President Harris also mentioned in his speech that the "9.11" incident reminded the American people of the importance of unity and the great energy it contains. "Unity in the United States is possible and essential."

On September 11, 2021 local time, a silent ceremony was held at the site of the world trade center in New York, the United States, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attack. US President Biden and his wife Jill attended the silent ceremony. Former US Presidents Obama and Clinton also attended the ceremony. Figure / IC Photo
Such an emphasis on unity may reflect the growing division of the United States.
NBC pointed out that 20 years later, the United States is still divided. Michael J. Allen, a history professor at Northwestern University, believes that the United States is no longer the United States when the twin towers collapsed. When the Bush administration invaded Iraq under the pretext of terrorist attacks, this unity produced the first crack. "This (the Iraq war) discredited the Republican leadership and the Democratic leaders who supported the Iraq war."
At the same time, millions of Muslim groups have been labeled as "terrorists" in the United States, which has also led to domestic division. Alan pointed out that now the United States is becoming increasingly fragmented, the political parties are more confrontational, and the trust between them is less and less. Eventually, it is difficult for the United States to reach a consensus on the new crown epidemic situation, climate change and even the Global Counter-Terrorism issue, thus making it impossible to formulate effective public policies.
As George W. Bush said, in the days after the September 11 incident, the American people demonstrated tenacious unity, but now the days of unity seem to be gone, political activities openly resort to anger, fear and resentment, and differences and conflicts continue to occur. All these make him very worried about the future of the United States.
Even on the 20th anniversary of September 11, this political division is still happening.
Except for former US President Carter, 96, who chose to commemorate at home, trump did not go to the commemoration ceremony of the September 11 incident. In his so-called "Commemoration" video, he still spent a lot of space attacking the Biden government's "incompetence" on the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
Is America safer in 20 years?
After 20 years, the United States has not become more united, nor does it seem to be more secure.
According to a poll conducted jointly by ABC and the Washington Post, only 49% of respondents believe that the United States is safer than before 9 / 11, compared with 64% in 2011. 46% of respondents believe that the situation in the United States is getting worse and worse, a new high. This means that more and more people believe that the United States is becoming more and more insecure.
After 20 years of global war on terrorism, the threat of external terrorism is still. On August 26 local time, the extremist organization "Islamic state of Khorasan province" launched an attack, and an explosion occurred at the airport in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, resulting in the death of a large number of Afghan civilians and 13 U.S. soldiers. This is the deadliest incident of U.S. troops in Afghanistan in the past 10 years.

George W. Bush compared violent extremists in China with terrorists in the "9.11" incident/ Social media screenshot
James A. piazza, a professor of political science at Pennsylvania State University, said in an interview with the Beijing news that the suicide attack at Kabul airport is worrying, which shows that violent Jihad organizations are still quite active in Afghanistan and that Afghanistan may become a hotbed of transnational terrorist organizations. Although the Taliban and the "Islamic state of Khorasan province" are sworn enemies, it is still difficult to determine the extent to which the Taliban can take action to suppress their activities and promote security in Afghanistan.
"Compared with international terrorism, terrorism born and bred in the United States seems to be a more serious problem. One of the lessons of the '9.11' incident is that we must not ignore the local threat," said Jie of the Advisory Committee of the Law School of Syracuse University ?Gottlieb told the Beijing News.
In particular, the possibility of US military intervention in foreign politics will be reduced. Piazza pointed out that the American people generally believe that the war in Afghanistan and Iraq took too long, cost too much, and did not succeed. Many people are questioning whether it is worth the action of deploying troops for so many years, spending trillions of dollars and causing casualties to the U.S. military and a large number of local people. "Therefore, specifically, in the future, the United States will mainly carry out counter-terrorism by ensuring border security, surveillance, intelligence sharing and collection, as well as short-term and limited-scale military operations."

On September 11, 2021 local time, people mourned the victims at the site of the world trade center in New York, USA, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attack. Figure / IC Photo
In addition, counter-terrorism is not the business of the United States alone. The threat of terrorism is a common challenge faced by all the international community. Combating terrorism requires the joint participation of the international community.
Boaz ganor, founder and executive director of the international counter terrorism Policy Research Institute, pointed out to the reporter of the Beijing news that "terrorism is a phenomenon of modern war". Terrorism will continue as long as radical non state actors deliberately use violence against civilian targets in order to achieve their political objectives. Unless the international community truly unites itself against terrorism and works together to eradicate all non state actors using terrorism, terrorism will continue to grow and threaten world security.
Reporter Luan Ruoxi
Editor Zhang Lei