As previously mentioned, terrorist attacks often activate a chain of destructive events, some of which are not done by the terrorists themselves but by the nation they have wronged in attempts at retaliation. One such incident in the US led War on Iraq. Although it may not be directly linked to the WTC attacks, there is a possibility that one of the reasons that President George W. Bush went to war was because of a fear of déjà vu, that is, that similar events to the September 11 attacks would once again occur, this time launched by Saddam Hussein. Since Iraq was suspected of hiding undeclared weapons of mass destruction, the US feared that Iraq might use these weapons against them, so they decided to do something to prevent such an occurrence.
According to Edward Mason (2001), the state of Massachusetts experienced a state of recession after the WTC attacks. Six thousand jobs were lost in the state alone, and other states have also experienced similar events. Travel agencies have spotted a 20% decline in their customers just after the attacks took place, as stated by Dawn Them (2001). In a recent poll conducted by the Minnesota Public Radio wherein they asked a total of 625 registered voters on how their lives were affected by terrorism, 52% said they felt more anxious nowadays and 7% said that their jobs were cut. Apart from this, 27% also said they have decided to travel less for fear of another hijacking in midair. Such are some of the events brought about by the terrorist attacks. These have also led to a slump in the US economy. .
In this event, not only the United States but also its allies, the Philippines included, experienced the negative effects terrorism brought. The US, one of the giants of the world economically speaking, was deemed untouchable and invulnerable, that is until September 11. On that day, the giant fell to its knees. For this reason, the smaller countries associated with the US faced a looming dread that they were next on the terrorist's lists.
