ABSTRACT
The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., changed everything. And they changed nothing (Denzin 2007c: Denzin and Lincoln 2003). They inaugurated a “Global War on Terror.” And they perpetuated a cycle of state-sponsored terrorism in reply. They brought to the fore public discourses on the nature of freedom, patriotism, and democracy. And they led to
the state-sanctioned suppression of freedom, patriotism, and democracy in the very same quarters. They generated worldwide support and sympathy for the plight of those affected by the tragedies. And they likewise generated a global backlash when the U.S. government decided to unilaterally trample another sovereign nation. Business as usual continued. And business as usual was forever changed. It all just depended on through whose looking glass you gazed.
