How has the world changed since September 11th?

After reading many articles in Time as well as the newspapers, I began to start to feel for the American people, not only those who had lost family members in the attack, but also for the general public. It would be like some I.R.A terrorist detonating a large bomb in central London- the casualties would be massive and the damage to both the country's pride and economic stability would be huge.

In some ways I feel 9/11 has benefited the American public and mainly George Bush. It has given them all something to relate to, something to bring them all together. There is a larger sense of togetherness. Bush, personally, has largely benefited from 9/11. It has made him a very strong leader, and I feel the American public definitely needed a strong leader to help bring them through what they had all experienced. A huge majority feel that Bush handled September 11th very well. 9/11 has also made all Americans a lot more alert. They are probably more suspicious; thinking any group of Arabs huddled on a street corner could be plotting something. This could also lead to racism and Americans, as well as western Europeans, branding all people from the Middle East as terrorists. Many, naturally, are also scared of flying in an aircraft again . Although, I feel, if this is the case, Osama bin Laden and al-Queda have won the battle they set out to fight.

As for the rest of the world, 9/11 has not greatly affected the average person. Although, having said that, it has affected the Stock exchange, seeing as the dollar was affected by 9/11. It has made us more aware of the possible threats to our seemingly normal lives. Although America had a bombing campaign against Afghanistan, I feel that the Afghan people have benefited from it. They were sent aid by many charities across the world, even by the U.S.

One question still stands: Will we be affected by the possible war against Iraq and to what extent will it go?

Personally, the terrorist attacks of 9/11 have not greatly affected me. The only problem I have faced is not being able to take my B.B gun on the plane with me when I went to France. I suppose this means security is a lot tighter than before September 11th. Although I have to say that on the anniversary of 9/11, I was moved by a documentary that was on television, and felt a slight hatred towards the people who organised it. I would guess that the hate I felt was only a minute percentage of what people who lost loved ones in the attacks felt.

America will never forget 9/11; it will always be remembered as a black spot in their lucrative and glorious history as a nation. George Bush backed this up when he gave a speech to Americans on the 1st anniversary of September 11th:

In time, perhaps we will mark the memory of September 11th in stone and metal, something we can show children as yet unborn to help them understand what happened on this minute and on this day. But for those of us who lived through these events, the only marker we'll ever need is the tick of a clock at the forty-sixth minute of the eighth hour of the eleventh day.

George W. Bush, President of The United States of America