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Meghan's rough draft

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Meghan's rough draft

For the past fifty years or so, Americans have had the great fortune of living safely in a relatively peaceful world. That perspective changed the moment a commercial airplane slammed into the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11th. Terrorists killed over 6,000 American citizens within a few hours. Suddenly, life as America knew it changed. Many stood in disbelief when they saw the joyous reactions of people cheering on the streets of Palestine. Our nation came to realize that we were truly hated, and that terrorist regimes rejoiced in our pain. The leader of one such a regime, Osama bin Laden, became America's clearly defined worst enemy. A war has begun between bin Laden and his terrorist followers, and all people who believe in freedom. Osama Bin Laden and the terrorists were unjustified in attacking America, and cannot rationally legitimize their actions. Evidence of this, as well as a better understanding of their reasoning, can be found through examination of President Bush's speech to the nation given on September 20th, and through examining additional information on Osama and his terrorist followers.

It was the heavy influence of Islamic extremism at an early age, as well as his personal experiences fighting jihad, or holy war, that prompted Osama bin Laden to become a terrorist. During his speech, President Bush identified a terrorist regime named Al Qaeda as being responsible for the attacks, and said "a person named Osama bin Laden " (Bush, par. 16) was the leader of the group. Osama bin Laden was born in 1957 as one of fifty-some children sired by his father Mohammed Awad bin Laden. Due to his father's royal connections and construction business, his family had quite a bit of m...

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.... 2001. <http://www.msnbc.com/news/639057.asp>

Zakaria, Fareed. "Islam and the West." Online posting. 12 Oct. 2001. Newsweek Live Talk. 15 Oct. 2001. <http://www.msnbc.com/m/nw/talk/talk.asp?lt=101201_islam>

Miller, John. "Greetings, America. My Name Is Osama Bin Laden" Esquire. 1 Feb. 1999. Frontline. 2001. 15 Oct. 2001. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/miller.html>

Doe, John. "A Biography of Osama bin Laden." Frontline. 15 Oct. 2001. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/bio.html>

Doe, John. "Osama Bin Laden vs. the U.S.: Edicts and Statements." Frontline. 15 Oct. <2001. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/edicts.html>

Bush, George. "President Bush's Speech to the Nation September 20, 2001." 20 Sept. <2001. http://www.u.arizona.edu/~wendres/docs/bush_sept20.html>
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