"9/11" Response

1. Was the United States at fault for the terrorist attacks of 9/11?
2. In what way was Sontag attempting to connect with the American public?
3. What does Sontag think we could have done to prevent these attacks?

Upon my initial reading of the article, I felt that Sontag made a few valid points, although they were fairly harsh. When she proclaimed that the attacks on September 11, 2001, was "an attack on the world's self-proclaimed superpower, undertaken as a consequence of specific American alliances and actions," I was taken aback, both by the frankness of her language and the truth I found in her words. However, upon further inspecting the article, I realized that Sontag had written and published this article not two weeks after the attacks. Upon that realization, I was stunned that she would speak so harshly and explicitly on something that was still heavily weighing upon the shoulders of many, especially those who had loved ones pass in the attacks.

Nonetheless, I still believe that her article had a lot of strong and valid points in it. America has always touted itself as a strong nation that prevails over others, whether or not we mean to project this image. We rose to power quickly and have stayed at the top for centuries. The struggle for power is a constant battle that will never end, and the 9/11 attacks were just one more example of that attempt to gain power through violence. Unfortunately, I believe that Sontag was too harsh in the way that she came across in her article. Her valid points were overshadowed by the brass word choice she chose, including when she stated that "Those in public office have let us know that they consider their task to be a manipulative one: confidence-building and grief management." By attacking all political figures and blaming the attacks on the way our politics are run, her arguments were drowned out. Sometimes, unfortunately, there are just bad people in the world. It's not always the fault of the politicians, and we can't just blindly blame them for every misdeed we encounter.