9/11 Informative Speech

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

As always, I’m your host Damien Carrick and welcome to yet another instalment of ABC’s The War on Terror: Behind the Battlelines. Tonight the ABC welcomes 2 very distinguished guests to explore this looming issue. We will be discussing the truth behind the lines: the grey-areas surrounding American foreign policy, the scepticism over extraordinary renditions and covert operations, and the role of hidden agencies such as the CIA. Has the United States government been fighting terrorism effectively and justifiably? To discuss all this I welcome Mr Jeremy Scahill, accredited author and journalist made famous for the Oscar nominated documentary Dirty Wars, based off the novel, and Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Powerful Mercenary Army. Joining Mr Scahill, I am pleased to welcome Mrs Lisa Monaco from Harvard University, former assistant Attorney General for National Security and current Homeland Security Advisor to President Obama

Yes, Lisa is correct in saying that congress support did progressively diminish, expanding presidential control over situations. With this said, I think that opens the doors to the possibility of error. From the traditionally left-wing news company The New Yorker, my colleague Jane Mayer was one of many to reveal that brutality was often the product of aggressive policy by the US. When former vice president Dick Cheney contended in 2002 that “it’s going to be vital for us to use any means at our disposal…to achieve our objective”, I don’t think people fully comprehended the seriousness of these words (The New Yorker, 2015). Unbelievably, it was reported that programs such as the extraordinary renditions and covert operations “expanded beyond recognition”. However it wasn’t just the anti-war outlets which were reporting on this. The prestigious and world renowned publication company The Washington Post directly reinforced Mayer’s statements. A primary account written by Washington Post in 2002, reporting after the very launch of George W. Bush’s declaration of war on terror, illuminated that since 2001, 600 detainees had already been confined to Guantanamo Bay for terrorist questioning. This is a colossal figure – 600 supposed terrorists in merely one year. Furthermore, the article also publicized that while the Clinton administration “pioneered” often violent interrogation procedures –known as