Surprise, Security, and the American Experience

After the twin towers fell and condensed to rubble on September 11, 2001, the Bush administration quickly formulated a plan to maintain the nation’s sense of national safety and security. John Lewis Gaddis summarized the administration’s directions to the public when he wrote, “Bush requested, and only partially received, what amounted to a global police action against terrorism, combined with a call for vigilance at home and abroad, combined with the suggestion that, despite what had happened, Americans should carry on with their ordinary lives” (Gaddis at 37). The citizens were to follow the example of former British politician Sir Winston Churchill; Bush believed the nation would best react to the crisis by applying Churchill’s words to their lives- the nation need to “keep calm and carry on” (Gale Biography In Context) while the administration began gathering intelligence and plotting their retaliation. In contrast to average citizens, Bush outlined what was later named The Bush Doctrine which said, “that the United States will identify and eliminate terrorists wherever they are, together with the regimes that sustain them” (Gaddis at 86). This meant the focus of the nation now weighed equally on the defensive and offensive sides of the scale. The Bush Doctrine outlines three core principles: preemption, unilateralism, and hegemony (Gaddis at 16, 22, 16). The United States has historically maintained defense for its people by eliminating or containing possible threats and if a threat becomes a reality, the nation retaliates, as it did following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. After 9/11, the government gained the authority to use surveillance and monitor communication through phones and the internet in order to avoid any other attacks of the same nature. In addition, “The administration also detained more than 600 possible suspects and announced it might use military tribunals to try alleged foreign terrorists” (Masci and Marshall). Despite the numerous