The Guantanamo Bay Detention Center

Imagine a cloud of black smoke covering the sky of your hometown or having to make the choice if you should jump to your death out of a skyscraper because if you didn’t, then you would burn alive. Imagine calling your husband while on a plane while knowing that will be the last time you tell him you love him. Imagine the fear you would feel not knowing if your loved ones survived a terrorist attack. This nightmare on an imaginations became a terrible reality for New Yorkers and American citizens. On September 11, 2001, four aircrafts were hijacked by Al-Qaeda terrorists. Two of the aircrafts flew into the twin towers in New York City, one aircraft crashed into the Pentagon, and the fourth aircraft crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. These terrorist attacks that took place on September 11 resulted in many casualties, an increase in airport security, and the United States invading Afghanistan and the Middle East.

Terrorist attacks have increased over the last twenty years, but one of the most remembered is the attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. It happened on September 11, 2001; and is commonly referred to as 9/11. Americans grow up learning details about 9/11; but rarely do we learn about a personal experience. In Adam Mayblum’s email “The Price We Pay,” he tells the story of what happened to him, and others around him on the day of September 11, 2001. Mayblum explains in paragraph ten “If you want to kill us, leave us alone because we will do it by ourselves. If you want to make us stronger, attack and we unite.” He made an excellent point with that statement, because he is right. He provides us with imagery, thoughts on terrorism, and strong use of emotions throughout the story that brings us a very well written narrative.

It was nearly 10 years ago that a bright September day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history. The images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory -- hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless September sky; the Twin Towers collapsing to the ground; black smoke billowing up from the Pentagon; the wreckage of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction.

Here is a question I ask people from time to time to people after I have a feel for the person, “Where were you on the morning of September 11th, 2001 at 8:46am? Well for me I was just finishing a 3.1-mile run (5K) at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado. For all you none military types of people who have never visited one of America’s amazing cities it is home to the US Navy’s West Coast Special Operations community. And let it be known I was not a Navy SEAL, SWCC (Special Warfare Combatant Craftsmen) Operator or an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) technician. I worked SEAL Team 5 as part of the support staff. Granted when the Platoon I was assigned to deployed, I was wheels up with the team. As I got back into the locker room at my command I remember looking up at the television and seeing that a plane had just hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Now from time to time I would remember hearing about a little single engine plane flying off its course and getting close into Manhattan; so at that moment that is what was going through my head at that exact moment. Well after I got out of the shower at 9:06am I heard that another airplane hit the South Tower. Now being from New Jersey and knowing the travel restrictions that surround New York City; at that exact moment I started to come to the realization that our Nation may be under attack. Well just as I was finished getting dressed and heading to morning formation we found out the

Did you know, as American taxpayers, maintaining the prison at Guantánamo has costed $4.8 billion since it had opened in 2002? Well this al back to “ The Global War on Terror” under the Bush administration that,. response to the 9/11 attacks, targeted middle eastern regions of the world;, collecting men from left to right by heavily armed American soldiers. Unfortunately, some of them are destined to pay for another man’s crime by serving time in Guantanamo Bay. Guantanamo Bay, located within a naval base in Cuba, became a facility purposed to hold alleged enemy combatants and terrorists alike. Because of later documented injustices reported against detainees, it gained negative spotlight by both citizens and world leaders. When Obama succeeded in presidency, closing the facility became one of his priorities for a number of reasons.

The September 11th terrorist hijackings and attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon caught the United States largely by surprise. Once the dust had settled, and the shock and horror of such an unprecedented event had waned, the American public began to ask questions. Names such as Osama bin Laden, countries such as Afghanistan, and organizations such as Al-Qaeda were brought into the public's consciousness for the first time. Through newspapers, talkback radio and television programs the nation asked ‘why do they hate us so much?' Others, such as those in the government and public service, asked ‘what could we have done to have prevented this?' It is

September 11, 2001 is one of the most infamous dates in American history. On this day, 19 radicalized Islamic militants hijacked four United States-based airplanes. Two of the planes were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Thousands of first responders, occupants of the Towers and bystanders were killed or injured. The third plane flew into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and 125 people were killed. The passengers on the fourth plane revolted and forced the hijackers to crash into a field in Stony Creek, Pennsylvania. A total of 3,000 people were killed and over 6,000 were injured that day (“9/11 Attacks” 1). After the most detrimental terrorist attack in the history of the United States, action needed to

Once the stuff of movies or perhaps newscasts covering a conflict in some third world backwater country, large scale terrorist operations are now a deadly reality in America. Few will ever forget the images of the Afred P. Murrah Federal Building: its remaining floors held up in a precarious cantilever; bloody, dust-covered survivors struggling to escape through the smoke and flames. These images will be repeated over and over again as our nation moves into the

On September 11, 2001, an Islamic terrorist group, known as Al-Queda, hijacked four American airplanes and attempted to crash them into important United States landmarks, such as the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the White House. Unfortunately, the hijackers succeeded at The Pentagon and World Trade Center. Nearly three thousand people lost their lives because of these attacks. Sixteen years later, people still remember it as one of the most tragic events in US history. On this day, the most massive terrorist attack to ever happen on American soil occurred, yet the after effects of 9/11 are even larger; because of 9/11, the United States has developed safer air travel and immigration policies, but unfortunately, innocent Islamic people suffered and are still suffering from hate crimes.

September 11, 2001 will forever be known as an infamous and tragic day Americans will unquestionably remember. On this day, three planes filled with innocent civilians, were hijacked and crashed into significant sites. The three places the hijacked planes collided with were the Twin Towers in New York City, and the Pentagon in Washington D.C. In addition, the terrorists orchestrating the whole attack scheduled a fourth plane to collide into another aimed target. Fortunately, though unlike the other hijacked planes, the mission was unsuccessful. The passengers on the plane fought against the terrorists and eventually surpassed their power, landing the plane in Pennsylvania. Though this may have been a slight victory and prevented worse outcomes, it did not outweigh the devastating results of the collisions. Inside the Twin Towers and the Pentagon,

September 11, 2001 began as a beautiful day with a clear blue sky, yet today people recognize it as “the single largest loss of life resulting from a foreign attack”(September 11, 2001 2016). These attacks conducted by the terrorist group, Al Qaeda, killed thousands of people and left their loved ones shocked and devastated. At first, the people thought the plane crashing into one of the twin towers was just an accident; it was not until the second collision that people realized America was truly under attack. Though this tragedy lasted only a day, people continue to feel the effects 15 years later, and most likely will in the future. After this terrible day, the security at many places– such as airports –was strengthened greatly. Many people, however, continue to live with the looming fear that another tragedy like this may recur. The attacks of September 11, 2001 greatly affected my mother, Anita Kaplan, because after that tragic day, she became paranoid in regards to the safety of her and her family, afraid to travel on airplanes, and more aware of both the world news and her surroundings.

On a clear Tuesday morning of September 11, 2001, America changed forever. Terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center towers in New York City. Another plane was crashed into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. There was also a fourth plane which was most likely headed for the White House that crashed into a field in Western Pennsylvania. This devastating event changed people’s lives forever. Thousands of people were killed along with many who were injured. Some of the survivors of this tragedy suffer post-traumatic stress along with other complications. Militants associated with the Islamic extreme group ‘Al-Qaeda’ planned to hijack four airliners and threatened them with suicide attempts against the United States. When the

Gitmo has succeeded in alienating the U.S. from allies. President Obama said this himself in a White House remark on National Security, “Because the terrorists can only succeed if they swell their ranks and alienate America from our allies,” which is exactly what Gitmo is doing. Additionally, Gitmo encourages further terror, as it is used in terrorist propaganda to paint a negative picture of a hypocritical America (Postel). In fact, the orange jumpsuits worn by victims in Daesh’s (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) execution videos, pay direct homage to the uniform of Gitmo detainees (Bennet). Furthermore, the intelligence received at Gitmo is often invalid because, it was given by detainees who were subject to “enhanced interrogation techniques,” which were the equivalent of torture. Considering must of the subjects’ confessions were given under duress, they are invalid and the means by which they were received raise further questions about Gitmo (“Torture”). If the institution itself is not helpful, and must be closed according to the authorities who started it, it seems obvious that Gitmo must be

When first incarcerated, the Gitmo detainees had almost every right stripped away from them. Since passage of the Detainee Treatment Act by Congress in 2005, these prisoners were subjected to a more organized plan for moving

Guantanamo Bay, also known as Gitmo, is a United States Detention Camp located in the Guantanamo Naval Base in South Eastern Cuba. The United States gained control of the Guantanamo Bay area in the 1903 Cuban-American treaty in which the United States gained the right to control the Cuban territory while at the same time recognizing the Cuban state sovereignty (Nofi, 112). In the year 1970, the United States began to use part of the Guantanamo Naval Base as a detention camp for Cubans and Haitians that were caught in the high sea trying to get into the United States illegally (Gott, 78). However, the detention camp later became a political tool, which politicians used for their selfish