And also, it wasn’t just Pearl. The Japanese had made simultaneous attacks nearly everywhere in the Pacific – Malaya, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Guam, Wake, Singapore and so on. FDR even mentioned these actions in his famous speech to Congress.
Western Europe. The East was left to eat poop.
I’ve always been under the impression that America would’ve likely joined the war eventually anyway. Wasn’t that the point of the attack anyway.
PLus, here is the big difference. There was a World War going on. Millions had already been killed. Meanwhile, there weren’t that many significant armed conflicts going on during September 2001, so it had a larger impact due to it happening during peace time.
The point of the attack was to destroy or at least severely damage the Pacific Fleet so as to weaken America’s response in case of a war. Remember, we were at the same time negotiating with them as well, so war was a possibility. Yes, it was inevitable, but so was a deadly terrorist attack on the United States. That too was inevitable.
That morning, one of the big stories in the CBC was the conflict between Israel and Palestine. And of course, we were keeping a close eye on Middle Eastern and Central Asian affairs.
But yes, this didn’t happen during a world war, so I see what you’re getting at.
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Correct for the first decades, but now we have moved on with new EU members in eastern Europe (the one member we lost was in the west😉)
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There was still some poop to eat for the first decade after Socialism went away. Difficulties of traveling, empty store shelves, economic hardships as a result of a lost market. I’m sure our former member will do just fine… Oh. 
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Here’s the poll again, only better. Make sure to vote before Sept. 11:
Which news network shall I go with for the inevitable 20th anniversary stream on Kosmi?
- American Broadcasting Co. (ABC)
- British Broadcasting Co. (BBC)
- Canadian Broadcasting Co. (CBC)
- Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)
- Cable News Network (CNN)
- Fox News Channel (FOX)
- National Broadcasting Co. (NBC)
- Other news network (please specify)
0 voters
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One month to go for the poll to close!
Updates on BBC: I only have the archive.org videos for BBC, so it would be a little difficult to stream. And it’s BBC World, not BBC proper (which I’ve heard covered the event quite different from BBC World).
Vote, folks!
@JackPekoyama @Chewbacca Update on BBC: Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a way to stream BBC World for 9/11, so you might have to consider changing your vote.
BBC is out of bounds. 
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Why isn’t “none of the above” an option?
As if anyone forgot what happened in 2001, why should we need to remind ourselves how painful it was that a group of people who hate the US would murder Americans in that way?
What’s the fascination of reliving such horrible pain?
I admit that I’ve watched the odd 9/11 show over the last 20 years, but the last one I will ever watch was the one about the jumpers. No more. I have enough empathy that I don’t need to make myself sick knowing that people around the world hate us so much that they will do that to my fellow citizens.
Don’t tell me “never forget” when this is “constantly remind”. I remember when I first heard about it (in a lab), I remember seeing more info, I remember watching on of the towers collapse, and I remember the department picnic that we should not have had as every single person in the area was going home. I also remember tearing up when I heard the Queen’s band play the Nation Anthem.
And at the same time, I don’t remember the Marine Band playing “God Save the Queen” when there have been terrorist attacks on London later in the decade.
So I’m not sure the intention of what reminding us in such great detail what happened that horrible day when remembering it in great detail is so easy for most.
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It’s been 20 years. I’d do the same stream if it were about Pearl Harbor (80 this December).
It’s more a personal thing from my end. I have made a habit of covering and discussing anniversaries. I’ve done a similar thing with the 50th anniversary of the war we’re covering right now.
That, I agree. However, that was never my intention. My intention was primarily for analysis of news coverage of the day and what they got right and wrong in retrospect (similar to my America at war! thread here in the forum, only with analysis). Relating experience of the day is more a secondary intention. Basically, the same thing I did when I went to Hawaii in 1991 for the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, only with TV videotape.
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I remember all of that as well. I saw the second plane crash live, in the middle of a discussion with my sister on it being a terrorist attack.
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Fair enough.
I know the concept is to avoid some kind of bad coverage, but over the hours between the first impact and the last, all of the coverage should be the same thing, as everything was so unknown. We were all staring at the same thing wondering what was going on.
IMHO, it would not be until it was identified as a terrorist attack where the media biases would really take over. So that would depend on how long you cover it. In all honesty, you should be covering the headlines of all sources, if you can.
But thanks for explaining why you are doing it.
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It’s a 24-hour stream, covering the entire day.
As for biases, I watched ABC and CBC on that fateful day. The CBC was less biased (still biased but less so) but ABC had Peter Jennings.
Two weeks to go before the polls closes!
P.S. Unfortunately, BBC is now out of the poll, because I couldn’t get the proper videos to stream (remember, it’s one full day).
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I was hoping you’d be able to get the BBC stream, as it was the one I don’t recall seeing anything from on the day. I was in the office with no live TV feeds, so we were bouncing from news site to news site trying to get more information. I’m not sure the CBC feed would add much other than a bit more coverage on the diversion of so many trans-Atlantic flights to Gander from their original destinations. Beyond that, I’m agnostic as all the US networks of the day seemed very similar from my perspective.
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Unfortunately, I couldn’t download the hours-long videos for this 24-hour stream for the BBC. That’s why it’s now out of the poll.
And the Canadian reactions. And what happened near my home at the border. It’s actually quite the interesting coverage. About as good as ABC’s, I dare say.
You’d be surprised. Choosing between CBC and ABC was a surprisingly difficult choice for me to vote on. And everyone seems to be somewhat familiar with CNN’s coverage. CBS and NBC? Not much, especially with NBC. FOX covered the Pentagon attack more extensively than other major networks did.
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Even back then, I wasn’t much of a TV-watcher, so perhaps my opinion should carry little weight here. I have a few vivid memories of the second strike from one of the networks, and the collapse of the first tower from another, but the identities of the networks didn’t matter as much as the story unfolded (except for the couple of morons wondering aloud on national TV how two aircraft could possibly be so far off course as to “accidentally” strike the towers).
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Or reporting Building 7’s collapse before its actual collapse. Oops.
I already knew it was a terrorist attack before the second plane hit (remember the clear skies that day? That was a giveaway for me).
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Yes, I felt much the same way. A single plane strike on a tall building in broad daylight? Fantastically unlikely to be an accident. Two plane strikes on adjacent tall buildings? So obviously enemy action that anyone making a case otherwise must be assumed to be on the other side.
My childhood best friend (also a Canadian) was on a flight out of Boston that morning and was on the same path as the flight that didn’t strike its target. I didn’t hear from him for several days, as he was out of contact due to landing well away from his destination.
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And regarding the attacks, the big question in my mind that day was who was responsible. My sister and I were in the middle of discussing that when we saw the second crash live.
That day, I thought Hezbollah was responsible, my sister said al-Qaeda. Guess who got it right…
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