Two Linfield professors presented their views on the impact that the tragic events of 9/11 had on our country and the world at the most recent Pizza and Politics panel on Sept. 22.

Assistant Professor of Political Science Pat Cottrell and Assistant Professor of Mass Communication Michael Huntsberger led a reflective discussion called “9/11: A Decade Later.”

Cottrell spoke first, discussing three main points. His first point was that the series of responses after 9/11 was “the biggest blunder in U.S. foreign policy history,” he said.

He expanded on this point by discussing how the War on Terror was a war of choice, not a war of necessity and questioning whether the lives, money and other major costs were worth it.

Cottrell also said that it’s “not just about the outcomes of the war, but how we got into the war and what it says about the U.S.”

He broke down all the reasons for the war, pointing out that many of them were based on “un-solidified claims.”

He wrapped up his second argument by pointing out a flaw that much of the country doesn’t tend to notice.

“The punch line for part two is that all this abusive power and manipulation of intelligence, and who’s been held accountable?” He asked, then answering his own question. “No one.”

Cottrell’s third and final point was that after 9/11 and the events that followed there was a great paradox of compromising values of the U.S.

He also noted “the one thing that really bothers me is there’s no self reflection. People just want to get over it.”

Huntsberger then took the floor, discussing how the media affected the way America viewed, evaluated and responded to 9/11.

He asserted that people choose not to be engaged because the media is too critical, but after 9/11 it began to be a big social contender because of the positive, united spin that the media chose to represent.

“I’ve never felt that kind of patriotism, and everybody felt it, and the media represented that to us,” Huntsberger said. “It felt good because we had all been injured.”

He went on to discuss a similar contradiction of how asking what happened was easy, but asking why did it happen became too difficult for America to handle.

After the two professors made their points, they opened the floor to discussion amongst the audience.

A majority of this discussion became about what 9/11 is, and what does it mean, and student after student shared their personal stories and thoughts about the events of 9/11.

Senior Clayton Martin said he believes these types of discussions are important to not only hear others’ opinions but to also form his “own ideas and opinions with some true grounding.”

He engaged in the discussions, said he felt that specifically the open discussion at the end was enlightening.

“I think hearing the question ‘What is 9/11 to you?’ was really a great way to hear what people had to say,” he said. “I think I could feel a little unison in the overall premise of the discussion, almost as if people were all on the same page for once. I think most of the student agreed (or at least the ones who didn’t agree made no effort to voice their own opinion) that what happened after 9/11 was not the correct path.”

Pizza and Politics happens multiple times a year, and covers all types of political issues and contemporary topics.

The next panel will be Oct. 13 and will look back at uprisings in the Middle East. It is open to all faculty and students.

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Andra Kovacs/News editor
Andra Kovacs can be reached at [email protected].