Free Essays on Terrorism: The Language of Terrorism :: September 11 Terrorism Essays

The Language of Terrorism    On September 11, 2001, two airplanes flew into the World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon, while yet another suspiciously crashed.   Blasted on T.V. screens across America, were images of fire, destruction, chaos and death.   Framed in colors of red, white and blue, were such headlines that read:    ³America Under-Attack, ²  ³The War Against Terror ² and  ³The Attack on America ²; all the while, urgent ticket taped messages flowed across our television screens and news anchors reported on the utmost of news.   To sum-up the days events, President Bush addressed the nation.        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It was in the President ¹s initial speech to the nation following the attack on the World Trade Center that the adjective  ³evil ² was first introduced.   Quoting from the bible, and making reference to a  ³power greater than any of us, ² the President reassured the American people of their safety and well-being.   Within a couple of minutes, the stage was set for all that was to follow.        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Since adopted by the media, the Bush administration and the American people, the religious reference of  ³evil ² by the President has become an integral part of the public discourse.   Framing the way we talk and think about the day ¹s events, and all subsequent events, including talk of Bin Laden, the Taliban and terrorism, the use of binary language in religious and metaphoric expression have become an important element in the  ³war against terrorism. ²Ã‚   And despite the   President ¹s and congress ¹ denouncement of any reference to  ³the attack on terrorism ² as a holy war, it seems as if the American ideal of  ³separation of state and religion, ²Ã‚   has become suspended and/or forgotten all together.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The intent of this paper is to analysis the language used by the President to describe the September 11th events, and consequentially, its binary effects.   Given the President ¹s religious and metaphoric references a dichotomous framework is thought to exit.   For instance, in using the term  ³evil, ² images of the devil and hell have been conjured up --and conversely-- images of God and heaven.   Helping to demonize those responsible, the initial language used by the President and later incorporated by the press, has since served as a political weapon from which to fight  ³the war against terrorism. ²Ã‚  Ã‚   In that the President ¹s speech evoked from his audience (most notably the American people) feelings of fear, terror, anger, and hatred, the appeal has been to the public ¹s emotions and senses rather than their ration and intellect.