International Community in
Afghanistan continues...

After pinpointing the enemy, the president also addressed, at several levels, the more complex question of “why,” for those looking for a catchword that would personalize the enemy, he offered an analogy: “Al-Qaeda is to terror what the Mafia is to crime.” The president did not explain in what sense this might be true—had Al-Qaeda been formed to resolve jurisdictional disputes among rival terrorist gangs?—but only how it was not true. Al-Qaeda’s goal, he said, “is not making money; its goal is remaking the world and imposing its radical beliefs on people everywhere.” A sense of surging nationalism was very prominent in the US.

In fact, no event since the assassination of John F. Kennedy evoked such a reaction. Based on sentiments expressed in both print and visual media, the prevailing opinion was that, irrespective of social status, Americans were forming a unified front against what was presented as a very visible and deviant enemy, personified by Osama Bin Laden.

The message communicated was that the solidarity arising from attacks against the US transcended any previous racial or ethnic divisions. The prevailing assumption after 11 September 2001, was, Americans have never been as united.

To be continued...