9-11 Reflections

9-11 impact on my world

9-11 Reflections

9-11 Reflections
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I still remember where I was when I heard the news of 9-11. I was at the Polish Embassy day event in Mumbai at 7 pm. Someone came up to the Polish Ambassador, with whom I was chatting, and whispered the news. He told me, and I excused myself, rushing back to the US consulate, where I was the deputy consular chief, and began dealing with everything that had changed overnight over the next two weeks. My spouse was in Seoul serving in the US military, and I was in Mumbai. We were both considered essential employees and not allowed to travel for almost one year! My spouse had transferred to Seoul from DC so she could be closer to me. She had been working at the Pentagon at the OPS center, and if she had not transferred, she could have become a victim that day. I often thought we were so fortunate to have averted that fate.

9-11 was more than a terrorist attack. It was a rupture in the black swan event that split history into a before and after. It launched the War on Terror, which led to invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq, interventions in Syria and Libya, and countless covert operations across Africa and the Middle East. It sparked the rise of ISIS, the resurgence of the Taliban, and the proliferation of extremist ideologies.

But the war wasn’t just abroad. It came home, too. Dissent became suspect. Surveillance expanded. Civil liberties shrank. The world became a police state on steroids. Democracy, both at home and abroad, suffered. The damage from those planes wasn’t just physical—it was ideological and institutional.

The evil unleashed that day was not just in the act itself, but in the transformation it triggered. The once-innocent world became a battlefield. The war on Muslims, Christians, Jews. The apartheid in Palestine. The Arab Spring. The war on dissent. All of it, in some way, traces back to 9-11.
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For American visa officers, 9-11 was a seismic shift. Before the attacks, our job was about efficiency—issuing as many visas as possible, refusing as few as necessary. Minor fraud was overlooked. When in doubt, we said yes. Terrorism wasn’t even on the radar.
All 19 hijackers had valid visas. Most were Saudi citizens, considered low-risk. They didn’t overstay. They didn’t work illegally. They studied and returned home. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Oman were on the verge of joining the visa waiver program. They met all the criteria.
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Then came 9-11. Everything changed overnight. “Just say yes” became “just say no.” Fraud became a major concern. Terrorism became the overwhelming priority. Saudi, Oman, and UAE citizens were suddenly suspicious. Extreme vetting began years before Trump made it a campaign slogan.

Biometrics were rushed into deployment. Everyone, including royalty, had to be enrolled. No exceptions. Zero tolerance became the norm. The Department of Homeland Security emerged, absorbing parts of the visa function and sending security officers overseas to monitor State Department practices.

Embassies became fortresses. Airports became nightmares. Visa officers were no longer courteous—they were curt, abrupt, and suspicious. The two-minute interview became a gauntlet of security checks. Any delay meant denial. And denials were rarely overturned, even when clearly unjust.

The culture shifted. Officers competed to be the strictest. Zero tolerance met zero common sense. Every applicant became a potential criminal. Muslim applicants were viewed as potential terrorists. The visa process became a tool of exclusion, not inclusion.

This laid the groundwork for Bush 11, Obama, Biden, Trump-era 1 policies, and Trump 2 policies: Muslim bans, extreme vetting, demonization of immigrants—legal and illegal. The MAGA presidency. The Biden presidency and the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. The war's loss resulted in a blame game and Trump 2.0 regime rushing back to power. And the Trump 11 administration has continued many of these policies, doubling down on creating a police state. All of this is directly a consequence of 9-11 and the lingering impact of it on the world

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Twenty-four years later, the world still grapples with the consequences. The evil unleashed that day continues to shape our policies, our fears, and our global posture. The day that changed everything still casts its long shadow.

All of it was the culmination of the war on terror. All of it was the legacy of 9-11.



Today is September 11, 9-11 Day here in the United States. Twenty-four years ago, terrorists flew commercial jets into two World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. Crew and passengers on Flight 93 realized their danger and took matters in their own hands, deliberately crashing the airliner to the ground rather than be forced to destroy another building. For tomorrow, write a story about the aftermath of a national tragedy and how it changed the world. Use Drama as one of your categories.