9/11 Cons

There were terrorist attacks against the U.S. prior to 9/11, but it is generally accepted that the War on Terror started with the attacks on September 11, 2002, when four airplanes were hijacked by terrorists and were crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center, the south tower of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon building, and one plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after the passengers overpowered the hijackers and piloted the plane into a field so that it would not harm anyone on the ground. George W. Bush, in 2002, took action days after September 11th, and he started what he called a "War on Terror (Samuels).” The George W. Bush administration coined the term "War on Terror" which refers to the battle with the
Congress passed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in 1978 which prohibited electronic surveillance in the United States without proper warrants. The National Security Agency (NSA) wiretapping program contradicts this by allowing the NSA to conduct electronic surveillance without a warrant (“NSA”). Prior to the War on Terror, the government was allowed to secretly wiretap Americans and access their electronics with a judge's order due to FISA. After the attacks of September 11th, Congress allowed wiretapping without a specific judge's orders or even probable cause. Due to the Patriot Act, an act as a result from 9/11, the FBI could demand information from phone companies, internet service providers, banks, and even the U.S. Postal service without any court order as well (“Costs”). The Patriot Act is still to this day one of the most controversial acts in American history. This act is constantly criticized and makes people feel as if their freedom has been violated. People also feel as if it is very unnecessary because the only person that has ever been arrested due to this act was a taxi driver who tried to donate money to al-Qaeda
Many more service members are injured in war rather than killed. Some common injuries that occur in combat are second and third degree burns, broken bones, shrapnel wounds, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, nerve damage, paralysis, loss of sight and hearing, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and limb loss. Almost a million United States and allied service members have sustained wounds in combat or have died later as a result of injuries sustained in Iraq and Afghanistan (“Costs”). Service members in Iraq and Afghanistan are at constant risk of injuries or death. They may see friends become injured or die. These factors can constantly stress them out, which sharply increases chances of PTSD or other mental health issues. It is likely that 10-18% of service members who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan are going to be diagnosed with PTSD. Anywhere from 3-25% of returning troops are diagnosed with depression