This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2347

How 9/11 changed America -spending statistics

September 4, 2006

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/5305868.stm?ls

US defence spending remained fairly steady throughout the late 1990s but since 2002 it has climbed by about 50$bn each financial year (Oct-Sep).

Graph of national defence spending. It is level at about 265$bn a year until 2002 when it starts rising, hitting 535 by Oct 2005

Flights within the US were grounded because of the attacks, and incoming international flights were diverted to Canada. Services resumed within a few days but it took years for the market to recover.

Graph of passengers boarding flights in the US. There is a gradual upward trend, with seasonal peaks and troughs, until it drops dramatically in September 2001. The market has only just recovered.

On becoming president, George W Bush's approval rating dipped below that of his predecessor, Bill Clinton. But Mr Bush was seen to have handled the 9/11 crisis well and his rating soared to 86% in late 2001 before falling as the Iraq war lengthened.

Graph of presidential approval rating, quarterly average as polled by Gallup. Bill Clinton's approval rating hovers between the mid 50s and mid 60s. When George W Bush becomes president his rating dips and then soars after 9/11. However it falls away again from mid-2003 onwards, ending at 41%.

Reports of Muslims being targeted because of their religion was virtually unheard of before 9/11, hovering at around 30 incidents a year. After spiking in 2001, incidents have levelled off at about 150 a year (2005 figures are not yet available).*

Bar chart of reported incidents of anti-Islamic hate crime. There only about 30 incidents per year prior to 2001 when the figure climbs to 481. It has since fallen to about 165 incidents per year.

Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was relatively low on the list of news priorities before the World Trade Center attacks. He has once again fallen down the news agenda as efforts to find him have failed.*

Bar chart of mentions of Osama Bin Laden in US newspapers. The figures climb from a very low base in the mid 1990s (68 mentions in 1996) to over 32000 mentions in 2001, falling to almost 7000 mentions in 2005. L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 L6 L7

This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2347