Summary/Plot: The movie Zero Dark Thirty is a fictional account, loosely based on the finding and killing of Osama Bin Laden and his associates. The film details U.S. and foreign government interagency cooperation between organizations, such as the military, CIA, FBI, and Pakistan ISI, to track down and kill Osama Bin Laden. The story centers on certain CIA agents and the methods used to extract information from alleged terrorists so Bin Laden’s location could be determined. Set in the threatening regions of the Middle East, CIA operative Maya, whose only job at the CIA has been to find where Bin Laden is hiding, and Dan, who teaches Maya how the CIA operates in Pakistan, are assigned to work together in Pakistan’s U.S. Embassy. While in Pakistan, they interrogate and torture a prisoner thought to be connected to Osama Bin Laden. After a difficult interrogation, the prisoner finally tells the CIA about a messenger who works for Osama Bin Laden. The prisoner ends up giving the CIA the wrong name of the messenger, but they find out the real name by tapping the messenger’s mother’s phone. By tracing the call and following their suspect back to the compound by the Pakistan Military Academy, SEAL Team 6 were able to find and eventually kill Osama Bin Laden. In the end, Maya confirms the body to be Osama Bin Laden.
Historical Significance: The September 11th, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, orchestrated by Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden, were the events that launched the U.S. War on Terrorism. Al-Qaeda’s attack on the United States was carried out by members of radicalized Islamic groups, whose objective was to spread jihad against the secular influence of the West. This tragic event provided the historical b...
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...viewer recognizes that agencies, such as the CIA, are valuable in the War on Terror for the data collecting they’re involved in. On examining of the film, the movie’s setting, agencies involved, and the subject matter targeted, the appropriate historical and social themes were connected to the plot. The circumstances in the film depicting the aftermath of September 11th attacks and the U.S. government’s role in tracking Osama Bin Laden were realistic. After the 9/11 attacks, Americans felt that radicalized Islamic groups and their leaders that encouraged these followers to attack America were enemies to their country. Therefore, the film didn’t have to have a poster of Al-Qaeda or Osama Bin Laden to be used as propaganda to make the point that the radicalized Islamic group was the enemy of the United States; this decision had already been made by the United States.
In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the United States was incredibly eager to strike back at the nations thought to be responsible for this horrific tragedy. These attacks were quickly attributed to the terrorist group al-Qa’ida, led by Osama bin Laden, and to the Taliban-run government of Afghanistan, which had provided sanctuary to al-Qa’ida. In response, Washington approved a covert plan led by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to directly attack those responsible in their Middle East safe haven. Initiated on 26 September 2001 with the approval of the warlords of the Afghan Northern Alliance, with whom the CIA had formed an intelligence liaison relationship, Operation Jawbreaker resulted in the fall of the Taliban regime, the killing and capture of a significant amount of al-Qa’ida leadership, and elimination of a terrorist safe haven by early December 2001. Moreover, the Taliban’s collapse denied al-Qa’ida a pseudo-nation-state partner, serving to reduce the organization’s sanctuary to areas residing along the Pakistani border. Operation Jawbreaker, one of the first post-9/11 covert operations carried out by the United States in support of its national security interests, had proved successful. Word of the operation’s swift success astounded those back in Washington; dubbed the CIA’s “finest hour,” it signified the first of many victories by deposing the Taliban’s control of Northern Afghanistan.
Bigelow 's film defines the pro-government style of Bush/Cheney era policies on the War on terror, which promote Dan’s torture of terrorist suspects as being effective in finding Bin Laden. Beatings, sexual humiliation, and other forms of torture define the militaristic style of information extraction, which Zero Dark Thirty promotes as being effective and ethical in the political culture of the 2000s and into the 2010s. In contrast to this pro-government view, Zwick presents a film as a cautionary tale about martial law and the increased militarism techniques of torture, which were deemed unacceptable in the late 1990s. This anti-government point of view illustrates the arrest of General Devereaux as a war criminal arrested by Agent Hubbard. However, both of these films project the War on Terrorism in American policy as being overtly militaristic in large-scale military operations and procedures to catch individuals in small terrorist cells. These are the similar and differing aspects of the pro-government and anti-government depictions of the War on Terror that have been examined in Zero Dark Thirty (2012) by Kathryn Bigelow and The Siege (1998) by Edward
But Moore's movie isn't just an anti-war movie. Part of the movie is an attempt to question and expose the political images being projected. This starts off with a dreamy sequence of Al Gore celebrating victory in Florida that, Moore says, was manipulated by Fox television into a Bush vict...
Host: On September the 11th 2001, the notorious terror organisation known as Al-Qaeda struck at the very heart of the United States. The death count was approximately 3,000; a nation was left in panic. To this day, counterterrorism experts and historians alike regard the event surrounding 9/11 as a turning point in US foreign relations. Outraged and fearful of radical terrorism from the middle-east, President Bush declared that in 2001 that it was a matter of freedoms; that “our very freedom has come under attack”. In his eyes, America was simply targeted because of its democratic and western values (CNN News, 2001). In the 14 years following this pivotal declaration, an aggressive, pre-emptive approach to terrorism replaced the traditional
Likewise, Goodwin illustrates how the use of categorical terrorism can be seem being used by Al-Qaida during the attacks of 9/11. Nonetheless, it is evident that Al-Qaida is unusual in terms of using terrorism to influence the rise of unity rather than trying to overthrow a standing state. For the purpose of instigating a pan-Islamic revolutionary movement, Al-Qaida tries to unite all Islamic people under one state to develop umma, or Muslim community. The logic of Al-Qaida remained that if their “revolutionaries” could illicit a reaction from the powerful US state, resulting in oppression of the middle-eastern region, that Al-Qaida could, as a result, unite all Muslims to counter this suggested oppression. Although the end goal of Al-Qaida clear failed, it does suggest the organization’s attempt at implementing categorical terrorism.
September 11, 2001 is known as the worst terrorist attack in United States history. On a clear Tuesday morning, there were four planes that were hijacked and flown into multiple buildings by a terrorist group named al Qaeda. This group, led by Osama bin Laden, killed nearly 3,000 people. Out of those 3,000 people more than 400 police and 343 firefighters were killed along with 10,000 people who were treated for severe injuries. Many lives were taken, and to this day, people still suffer from the attack. September 11th is the most influential event of the early twenty-first century because it made an increase in patriotism, it caused a rise in security throughout the nation, and it had a tremendous effect of thousands of lives.
In today’s society the word “terrorism” has gone global. We see this term on television, in magazines and even from other people speaking of it. In their essay “Controlling Irrational Fears After 9/11”, published in 2002, Clark R. Chapman and Alan W. Harris argue that the reaction of the American officials, people and the media after the attacks of 9/11 was completely irrational due to the simple fact of fear. Chapman and Harris jump right into dismembering the irrational argument, often experienced with relationships and our personal analysis. They express how this argument came about from the terrorist being able to succeed in “achieving one major goal, which was spreading fear” among the American people (Chapman & Harris, para.1). The supporters of the irrational reaction argument state that because “Americans unwittingly cooperated with the terrorist in achieving the major goal”, the result was a widespread of disrupted lives of the Americans and if this reaction had been more rational then there would have been “less disruption in the lives of our citizens” (Chapman & Harris, para. 1).
The attacks that occurred on 9/11 took place on September 11th, 2001. In this devastating event, four different attacks had taken place. Each of the attacks were carried out by terrorists. The group responsible for the attack was Al-Qaeda, a militant Islamist organization that is known to be global in present day. The group itself has a network consisting of a Sunni Muslim movement that aims to make global Jihad happen. Furthermore, a stateless, multinational army that is ready to move at any given time. This terrorist group focuses on attacking non-Sunni Muslims, those who are not Muslim, and individuals who the group deems to be kafir. Ever since the late 1980s, Al-Qaeda has been wreaking havoc all around the world. The leader of the group once being Osama bin Laden. Three planes were bound for New York City while another plane headed towards Washington, D.C. which was supposed to take out the U.S. Capitol. Two of the airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center. One plane hitting the North Tower and the other hitting the South Tower. The third plane had crashed into the Pentagon taking out the western side of the building. The last and final plane was focused solely on taking out the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. but failed due to passengers of the plane coming hijacking it from the hijackers. The passengers attempted to take out the hijackers but sadly failed, crashing it into a field in Pennsylvania. Throughout the content of this paper, we will be focusing on the role of media when it comes to 9/11; more specifically: how the media's coverage of 9/11 manipulated our feelings towards 9/11, how it affected Islamophobia in America, and the lasting effects of 9/11.
Smith, Emily E. "How Did the CIA Find Bin Laden? A Phone Call, a Courier, and Years of Detective Work."
We all heard of 9/11. I mean who hasn’t heard of 9/11, do you guys know who planned and attacked the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and try to hit the U.S Capitol. It is Osama Bin Laden the dead terrorist and the leader of Al Qaeda. Osama Bin Laden is a terrorist that bombed the U.S and the western philosophy by attacking U.S embassies, the Oklahoma city suicide attack and a lot more suicide attacks that are really dangerous. He was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1957 or 1958.
Michael Moore brilliantly manipulates the conventions of film to make the audience see and feel these political and moral issues the way he does. Moore, an outspoken loather of the President has shaped his film like a cinematic bullet, with character assassination as his priority. “Fahrenheit 9/11” shows a series of solemn images and sound bites, arranged as a critical history of the President’s actions since he took office, including the abuse of power and use of fear tactics that have been employed for his monetary and narcissistic gains. Regardless of personal political leanings, “Fahrenheit 9/11” is an amazing accomplishment of individual expression and anti-government aggression.
In “ V for Vendetta “ Fear became the ultimate tool of this government”. Adam Sutler is able to create a constant fear factor in the citizen’s mind by filtering everything that the media broadcasts. The attack on Old Bailey and Jordan Tower was deemed a “terrorist” act. V was labeled as a “psychotic terrorist”. The media claimed that V used explosives and weapons against unarmed civilians.
Herman, E. & Sullivan, G. O.1989. The Terrorism Industry: The Experts and Institutions That Shape Our View of Terror. New York: Pantheon.
Al Qaeda, the organization that the United States is in a constant, never ending battle with, the organization that has made the most impact and changed the United States forever. Al Qaeda is always making headlines with their terrorist attacks, the most known attack September 11th, 2001. This essay is about the terrorist group Al Qaeda, its history and background, Osama bin Laden, their well-known leader, and the major attacks on America.
Osama Bin Laden was on the FBI’s most wanted list for 10 years. He was responsible for the deaths of thousands of American soldiers and American citizens, as well as the 9/11 terrorist attack. The American Special Forces have been trying to track him down for a long time and have not succeeded, until May 1st, 2011. The mission that killed Bin Laden was called “Operation Neptune Spear” and that mission changed American history forever.