How is 9/11 viewed internationally?

[PieceOfEden]

South Africa. The people I've talked to seems to have forgotten all about it. Maybe it's because we don't have extraordinarily good ties to the U.S? Barring a documentary about Iraq veterans and the horrors they faced airing last night, there hasnt been any mention of 9/11 or minutes of silence

 

[n00beffect]

Well, speaking personally, as a person who has little to nothing to do with America, I see it as exactly what it is - something that has little to nothing to do with me. However, every time I hear the number of casualties/deaths - 3000 - I can't help but feel some scorn for the stupidity of our species. I am an atheist, you see, and any act of religious radicalism utterly disgusts me, since I view it as something completely depraved of meaning, no matter on what side you are. Whether it be Christian, Muslim, or otherwise, killing/hurting people for your religion, is the same as doing it for your imaginary friend - stupid and pointless. Just pointless deaths, and I hate things which lack meaning. I am not saying, that if there had been a "legitimate" reason behind the attacks, it would've made it better, but I am saying that at least it would've made some sense, and made it an ounce bearable. Plus, I've never approved of innocent deaths, no matter for what reason.

Oh and internationally its viewed 11/9. <.<

- Yes, with that I do agree.

 

[Smertnik]

NZ. Not cared about in the slightest. In fact people find it distasteful that americans still go on and on about it like it was such a big thing. And the whole "They attacked us!" is disgusting.

Simple fact is this, unless you actually lost a family member in the attack then you really need to stfu about it and stop acting as if it had anything to do with you.

Same here. I mean, it was tragic and all, but so were the Chechen terror attacks in Russia or the Georgia incident a few years back or the Japan accident. You'd have to have enormous amount of empathy to care for all the people accidentally or intentionally killed all around the world and then you'd probably go crazy.
As I didn't know anyone involved with the 11.9. terror attack I didn't much care for it then and probably wouldn't have remembered it if it wasn't for all the threads about it.

 

[Bebus]

It was the wake-up call for America.

You are not all powerful.

You are not immune to the consequences of your actions.

Your civilians are not somehow sacred when you stomp across the world causing thousands of innocent deaths every week.

It was a terrible tragedy, but people act like it was an unprovoked attack. It was the consequence of decades of American interference in the Middle East.

Oh, and I wish our news outlets would stop going on about it. I want to know what is actually happening in the world, not what happened 10 years ago.

 

[captaincabbage]

NZ. Not cared about in the slightest. In fact[footnote]Though to be fair this is just from people I have spoken to about it.[/footnote] people find it distasteful that americans still go on and on about it like it was such a big thing. And the whole "They attacked us!" is disgusting.

Simple fact is this, unless you actually lost a family member in the attack then you really need to stfu about it and stop acting as if it had anything to do with you.

Oh and internationally its viewed 11/9. <.<

I wouldn't go as far as to say it's disgusting. Old news, yeah, but not that.

I'm Australia we pretty much view it as an important world event. It's not the biggest thing to ever happen obviously (tho the way some Americans harp on about it still you'd think it is), but it is nonetheless an important historical event.
I guess because at the time, America was still the top dog in terms of just about everything and seemed untouchable.

 

[El Luck]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I don't care.

My sympathies of course go out to those who lost family and friends, but other than that? Nope. I don't care.

 

[Kathinka]

It was the wake-up call for America.

You are not all powerful.

You are not immune to the consequences of your actions.

Your civilians are not somehow sacred when you stomp across the world causing thousands of innocent deaths every week.

It was a terrible tragedy, but people act like it was an unprovoked attack. It was the consequence of decades of American interference in the Middle East.

Oh, and I wish our news outlets would stop going on about it. I want to know what is actually happening in the world, not what happened 10 years ago.

this!

(me = czech republic / germany )

sixty times more innocent iraqi civilians died since the beginning of the little oil snatch they pulled there. i don't see any memorial services or even apologies for that.

of course any loss of innocent lives is a tragedy, but it makes me sick how much the attack on the wtc gets instrumentalized. and how well it works.

 

[Ninjat_126]

Australia it's remembered, there was a doco on last night about it. But...yeah, we pay our respects, we move on.

Pretty much this. Us Aussies respect our American Allies.
The day itself? I was in Primary School, I woke to see it on the news, then went to school as usual. Don't remember much else.

Pretty much this. Of course, the Australian version of "respect" involves insulting ones sexual preferences and parentage.

My opinion? Some American civilians are bombed by Middle-Eastern terrorists, so American military goes out and bombs many Middle-Eastern civilians.

 

[Sizzle Montyjing]

Yeah, it was terrible, but i just don't give a shit anymore, get over it America, worse things have happened.
There are several documentaries on here in the UK, but i've grown used to it.
Sorry America, but life goes on.
...
Fuck i didn't even care about the London bombings.

 

[Loreley]

Here in Germany, the media - and not just the private media who's not above milking even the worst tragedy for delicious tears and emotions as long as they can, but serious tv channels and newspapers as well - are doing some specials about it, but I don't know anyone personally who was affected by it or does anything special today. Generally, there's also the notion that 9/11 spiralled into the whole war on terror, and that isn't regarded with much fondness, so there's that.

Most people remember were they were 9/11, though (I do not, because we didn't watch a lot of TV when I grew up and I was ten, so the first time I heard about it was the next day in school).

So generally, respects are paid, but the day itself doesn't have a big impact on our lifes, from what I can gather.

 

[Zersy]

We moved on, honestly I think america is being a little whiney and attention seeking by pressing it for this long.

 

[BlueMage]

While I cannot bear watching the events without tears and nausea still, The one single event in my mind that stands out like a beacon, was when I heard of what happened on flight 93. When the passangers had communications of what was happening, they refused to allow themselves to be used as a weapon to kill others and crashed the plane. There was a great lesson to be learned from those brave souls. They set an example for mankind to not allow our spirits to be conquered. Evil can take your life, but not your spirit if you refuse to allow it to.

Ah, see, now THAT is something genuinely worth taking from this whole mess - if you're on a plane, and you realise that it's been hijacked, you're already dead - at least take out the bastard that's future-killed you.

 

[AngloDoom]

The "war on terror" hurt America 10 times more than terrorism ever will

This is pretty much the feelings of most people I know summed up in one. It was a terrible event, but what America's been doing after somehow seems to many to be a lot worse. Also, a significant portion of people I know follow the train of thought that it was a conspiracy to start said war...

Whatever the thought, most people I know seem to feel for the people who lost loved ones or lives in the event, but are wary of America since.

 

[Project_Xii]

Australia here. I didn't like America much before it. Afterwards, I liked them even less, acting like it was the biggest tragedy to hit the earth ever.

I mean yeah, it was horrible. As far as deaths go, forcing people to decide whether to stay and burn to death or jump out windows and face a quick death on the pavement: that's pretty freakin evil. But did it really need to be blown up, advertised and turned into a worldwide thing? And remind us of it for 10 years? Christ, look at what happened in Norway recently. Or Japan. Will Americans remember these moments in history every year? Hell no, they barely know what happened!

Tragedies happen. Evil people happen. Grieve, move on, and don't use it as an excuse to start a war. It just causes a hell of a lot more problems for the entire world, not just the victims.

 

[MetalMonkey74]

Its sad that so many innocent people died that day....

But the war on terror is just another way of keeping people in fear. Its all fear tactics. Airport travel has been a right pain in the neck for past ten years. Read 1984 by George Orwell.

 

[Cipher1]

Its certainly a tragic loss of human life but there are so many other atrocities within living memory yours just isn't special to me.

 

[Thaluikhain]

It was the wake-up call for America.

You are not all powerful.

You are not immune to the consequences of your actions.

Your civilians are not somehow sacred when you stomp across the world causing thousands of innocent deaths every week.

It was a terrible tragedy, but people act like it was an unprovoked attack. It was the consequence of decades of American interference in the Middle East.

Oh, and I wish our news outlets would stop going on about it. I want to know what is actually happening in the world, not what happened 10 years ago.

I'd more or less agree with that...except that it wasn't really a wake-up call. The US used the tragedy as an excuse for the war they wanted anyway (though they did invade Afghanistan as well), and continued dicking over the Middle East.

Which is what really annoys me, and probably lots of others about 9/11. As soon as it happened, the Bush administration decided to milk it to get support for their invasion of Iraq. The British decided to reveal stuff they weren't proud of on that day, because they knew few would be paying attention. Nowdays, it's a good way to get people to watch cheap TV.

Now, I'm not saying that the US/UK/media set the thing up for their own purposes, but they haven't been shy of exploiting it.

[small]In Australia, though, we get the same thing. Every year on ANZAC we "celebrate" the andings at Gallipoli by getting drunk and forgetting what it was about, which war it was part of, who was involved and who won. Politcally useful, but pisses me off no end.[/small]

 

[JamesStone]

NZ. Not cared about in the slightest. In fact[footnote]Though to be fair this is just from people I have spoken to about it.[/footnote] people find it distasteful that americans still go on and on about it like it was such a big thing. And the whole "They attacked us!" is disgusting.

Simple fact is this, unless you actually lost a family member in the attack then you really need to stfu about it and stop acting as if it had anything to do with you.

Oh and internationally its viewed 11/9. <.<

In Portugal it´s almost the same thing.

 

[Chet Weinstein]

I'm going to go out on a limb here, but when 3,000 people die it is kind of a big deal, regardless of where it happened.

 

[Iron Mal]

So because people don't know any of the 3000+ people killed, they shouldn't care and feel bad for those that lost their lives? I find it pretty distasteful that you don't think it wasn't a big deal considering it was a LOT of civilian deaths. Not trying to give you "This is 'Merica!" speech but seriously dude.

A lot of people were affected by it in a lot of emotional ways regardless of knowing any of the victims just like how Pearl Harbor affected the people that were alive when that happened. I'm sure other people feel the same for tragic attacks in their country as well.

That's fair enough and my sympathies to the families of those who lost people during the attacks although maybe this is just my natural British cynicism getting through but when it's ten years after the fact and I feel that it is perhaps overdramatised (compared to the 7/7 bombings which I almost never hear anything about anymore...ever, even here in England, I doubt most people in the US would even remember that happening unless it was specifically mentioned).

I understand if the attacks were a traumatic experience for you (it was horrible for everyone to see) but don't be too offended or taken aback if people from other countries aren't as emotionally devestated by it now (it is a tragedy but for us it simply isn't as big a deal, just like I'm sure you probably aren't still bothered by the 7/7 bombings).