On September 11, 2001, dangerous things happened. An attack using commercial airliners was carried out, and the result was an incredible death toll, and a changed United States. Beyond the horrors of the deaths, the utter surprise, and the feeling that the world was not safe anymore, Americans were to experience drastic changes in the way that their government and society functioned.

Beginning on the afternoon of September 11, experts on the Middle East and Islamic cultures were trotted out for interviews on prime time news programs, and all eyes were turned to a region that until that time had received very little public attention in the United States. For my purposes in this article, that newfound interest represents the beginning of the 'otherness' that would envelope the Middle East.

The ugly side of patriotism is an underlying racism, or an underlying xenophobia. Patriotism is dangerous because by its very nature of containing a love for one's country, a pride in one's country, the implication is that that love and pride are only made possible by an opposing emotion toward another country or culture.Think back to that time. Think about the masses of people gathered, and the news clips of average Joes discussing the Middle East, free to speak their minds after the hijackers of the planes had all been identified as Islamic Middle Easterners. What was said was hardly respectful or politically correct.

As early as September 17, 2001, CNN reported that hate crimes against individuals of Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian descent were rising rapidly (http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/16/gen.hate.crimes/). In the hasty decision to identify an 'Us' and 'Them' following September, 11, an entire group of people was condemned, and subjected to the terror that America mourned.

In the political forum, terrorism, fundamentalist Islam, and the Middle East dominated all discussion. Americans were concerned only with increased security, and the prevention of future attacks. All discussion of the economy, social issues (welfare, social security, health care, etc...) seemingly ground to a halt in favour of attack and defense plans, and politicians attempting to prove their patriotism through 'tough talk.'

It was only with this new and muddled political discourse that the United States began two wars in Islamic countries. The first, in Afghanistan, was covered by the media with an audio and visual assault on the 'otherness' of the country. Strange chanting, yelling, and interviews with the Arabic volume turned up almost as loud as the translation accompanied images of women completely covered by clothing, and roving groups of men with Soviet-made AK-47s roving the streets, firing into the air. The Taliban was the embodiment of the enemy. The government argued that the Taliban and Al-Qaeda were nearly the same entity, and US troops were sent to overthrow the regime.

Iraq was a harder sell. It seems it was harder because the time between September 11 and the invasion was greater than that between the attack and the Afghanistan invasion. The shock had worn off a bit.Still, the President had the support he needed, and based on evidence that was paper-thin at best and a handful of outlandish accusations, US troops were once again sent in to overthrow a regime.

September 11 is a touchy subject.It was a tragedy, plain and simple. It is important, however, that we all remember that despite differences, we as human beings should be striving for peace and understanding rather than military and political dominance. In addition, we as Americans must always be moving toward the realisation of the 'American Dream' of equality, prosperity, and the right to pursue happiness not only for our multi-cultural nation, but for the entire world. With those goals at the center of our ideology, we can avoid tragedy and realise true success.