The Socio-Political Factors of 9/11: Motivations and Responses.

Running Head : SOCIAL POLITICAL FACTORS FOR 911 RESPONSES

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On the September 11 2001 America was amazed as terrorists attacked During this fateful day , members of the al Qaeda terrorist group intentionally crashed two airliners that they had hijacked at the World Trade Centre (Noam C , 2003 . The attack led to a tune of 3000 deaths of people who would have contributed to the productivity levels of the country building structures as well as other forms of infrastructures were destroyed . Transportation as well as

communication system were also negatively affected and this is not good for the economy . Investment was also adversely affected as people feared for their lives . After this attack , America declared war on terrorism , which was not just going to be war against the perpetrators of the act but also a global war against terrorism

Many factors are identified as being behind the 9 /11 attacks . Poverty according to some could have been a cause for the attack . However this is an understatement as the most influential leader of al Qaeda , Osama bin laden is from a wealthy family and hence an affluent person in the society (Len B , 2002 . Religion extremism seems to be the major reason behind the 9 /11 attack . The Islam religion was used to serve the interests of the attackers . The declaration of holy or jihads on Americans with the view that such would God was also an important factor in promoting the heinous attack . Murder is justified to serve the interests of a few in the pretence of religion . Terrorists exploited their followers by instilling in them their hostility ideologies . This explains the reason behind the suicide bombing as well as other terror acts . Socio economic factors for instance the educational levels had an impact in precipitating the attack (Michel C , 2002 . In most Arab countries the monarchical forms of government hinders effective freedom of expression . Such people lack a way of expressing their ideologies and may opt for the violent approach in highlighting their grievances or needs . Without democracy they are very susceptible to political alienation and are hence vulnerable to manipulation by perverse political ideologies of terrorism (Miller J et al , 2002 . Lack of the freedom of religion , speech and association may precipitate terrorism as people who are compelled to follow or believe in being controlled are vulnerable to exploitation . Without effective democracies peaceful solutions to address conflicts and adherence to justice and the rule of law are not respected

Past grievances and blaming on others for their predicament is a major issue in promoting terrorism . The 9 /11 could have been precipitated by the fact that its leaders were able to convince their followers on how US had been injustice against the Arab world both in the recent as well as in the distant past . The US was also accused of playing double standards and having political bias . Constant association of past present and other potential wounds acts as a motivation for terror...