September 11, 2001 attacks are a crucial event that shaped the contemporary American reality. The attacks left a deep emotional scar and altered to a great extent the socio-political image of the United States of America. The American leadership did not wait for too long to provide an answer; Bush's doctrine of not giving in to terrorism was unified in a series od regulations and military operations called the War on terror. The War on terror has generated laws that decreased the probability of renewed attacks, but has also compromised basic human liberties. The polls that were conducted on annual basis after the attacks reaffirm the ambivalent stands of the American nation towards the introduced norms, and show that the public support for military intervention decreased throughout the years. Furthermore, a materialization of the effect of 9/11 attacks is the growing number of hate crimes targeted at the Muslim part of the American population. The analysis of the above presented attitudes and facts demonstrates that today, almost two decades after the attacks, the consequences of War on terror still form a great part of American every-day life.