Do as We Say, Not as We Do: American Exceptionalism after 9/11

            Both Noah Chomsky’s article and President Bush’s speech give insight to the wide range of reactions that Americans express in regards to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centers. On one side is President Bush, who must address a fragmented America only nine days after the attacks. In his speech, Bush is careful not to say anything that may offend and the speech itself adopts an uplifting tone and invokes a sense of patriotism through imagery of both Democrats and Republicans gathering at the Capitol to sing “God Bless America (Bush 1). Furthermore, in order to win over the hearts of Americans across the nation, Bush utilizes damning diction throughout the speech which is meant to express that an attack on American soil is not taken lightly. In order to ensure his fellow Americans that they and their loved ones are safe, President Bush makes the sensationalist claim that every terrorist group of global reach will be found, stopped, and defeated” (Bush 4). Although the speech is quite vague in terms of exactly how President Bush plans to deal with the attack on the World Trade Centers, this is made understandable when considering that at the time the most important factor was settling the chaos that had erupted within the US itself.

On the opposite side of the political spectrum is the liberal professor Noam Chomsky, who voiced his opinions ten years after the September 11^th attacks. Seeing as there is such a large gap between September 11^th, 2011 and the publishing of Chomsky’s article, Chomsky is not only able to be more direct with his claims but also more critical of America’s reaction to the event. Chomsky uses 9/11 as an example of American exceptionalism; the perception that America may advise other nations to act in favor of justice and logic, but that does not mean the US should have to conform to these same rules. From Chomsky’s perspective, the death of Osama bin Laden symbolized the hypocrisy of American jurisdiction in matters that concern itself. To support his claim Chomsky points to numerous sources of evidence and analogy, one of which being “a high-ranking military officer briefed on the assault said the SEALs knew their mission was not to take him alive” (Chomsky 4). Through his article, Chomsky attempts to persuade readers in to the mindset that all attacks on human rights must be treated equally, no matter the context.

Finally, the question of whether or not America committed an act of exceptionalism must be answered. When analyzing both Bush’s speech and Chomsky’s article it is clear to see that both represent the extreme sides of an argument and therefore truth must lay somewhere in between. As pointed out by Chomsky, the US government made the death, rather than the capture, of Osama bin Laden a national priority. However, that does not mean the killing was not justified, as it is the duty of the federal government to go to any lengths necessary to ensure the safety of the people it serves. Just as Nazi Germany had posed a direct and imminent threat to the safety of millions of Europeans, Al Qaeda’s attack on the World Trade Centers made it clear that they were a threat to the American way of life. Therefore in regards to the September 11^th attacks, the US acted in a justified manner even if that meant adopting a sense of American exceptionalism.