As the U.S. marks the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Iraqis reflect on what the attacks meant for them.

"This incident was the end of peace in the Middle East. Not only in Iraq, war started and all of our lives have been changed," said Lana Shaikhly, a 21-year-old law student in Baghdad.

"They used the events of Sept. 11 as an excuse to enter Iraq. It's one of the reasons."

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For Haydar Al-Rubaie, a shopkeepr in Baghdad, Iraq really got the brunt of the attacks. "The attacks hurt innocent people and at the end of the day, we are paying the price for it. We were not guilty of the attacks, but we are paying the price for it."

Click on the video above to hear more Iraqi voices on the attacks of 9/11.

RAMALLAH, West Bank – Ten years since the shattering events of 9/11 changed the world, many Palestinians remain focused on what is unchanged: their dream of a sovereign state alongside Israel is still just a dream.

Many believe the last decade was actually a huge setback for their cause – especially because of America's subsequent war on terror.

“I think 9/11 was a turning point for Muslims and Arabs all over the world,” said Palestinian journalist Malak Hasan. “Since then the West is more compassionate with the Israelis than with the Palestinians. They think that we are only terrorists and deserve what is happening to us.”

Many here say that sense of prejudice has built barriers between the Arab and Western world and has created suspicions and misconceptions on both sides.

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Shadi Issa holds both U.S. and Palestinian passports, but said he still has difficulty traveling. 

“It's very bad. We cannot travel freely,” he said. “When I travel anywhere in the world I feel that people are looking at me. They ask me questions like, ‘Where are you from? Why are you here?’ Even if I'm going on vacation,” Issa added.

Nahed Freij is a business consultant and another frequent traveler. When asked if she gets the same treatment and how she feels about it, she replied matter of factly: “It’s discrimination.”

Still ten years on, there is no lack of compassion for those who died on 9/11. “We were all victims, because when people die, everyone is a victim,” said Rasha Sansur, among the crowds shopping in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

But ask around and you're also likely to hear Palestinians give credence to the many conspiracy theories that surround 9/11.

“The Mossad knew about it and the CIA knew about it. There were 3,000 Jews in the building who didn't go to work that day, it was not a random thing. Someone told them,'' Ashraf Abu Iram was quick to say during a conversation in the middle of a busy street in
Ramallah.

Still, Palestinians this month are focused on New York, not as much on the commemorations for 9/11 as to events a few blocks away.
At the United Nations headquarters on Sept. 20, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to ask the General Assembly to recognize an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. 

“Lately we are focusing on our state, we are thinking about the vote in the U.N., it is the most important thing for us now,” said 23-year-old Sama Anfus.

But the fact that the United States has vowed to veto the move only confirms in most Palestinian minds that the legacy of 9/11 in this part of the Middle East is one of division and discord.  

TEL AVIV – Ten years ago Americans woke up to a new reality and discovered that terror can hit within.

Here in Israel that same reality is a way of life. People here grow up living and hearing about bomb explosions, suicide bombers and terrorists trying to infiltrate the country.

It was just about three weeks ago that terrorists crossed the Egyptian border with Israel near the vacation town of Eilat. They killed eight Israeli civilians, including a couple who were driving their car and were shot at close range. A small al-Qaida- linked group based in Gaza praised the attack saying the attack sends a message against “the enemies of God.”

It's this reality that caused lots of Israelis to be very happy when they heard that the U.S. killed Bin Laden.

Hai Shaulian is a 44-year-old Israeli who works in real estate. “I feel now that the world is a safer place for my children. The U.S has woken up against the bad people out there.”

When you speak with people on the streets of Tel Aviv, it’s clear that they have become accustomed to living with the constant threat of attack. 

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“Here in Israel we had a lot of terror before 9/11, so we have experience with it,” said Adiv Cohen, a 28-year-old architect. “People in the world can now understand what we go through and feel.”

Tomer Helsgoff, a 29-year-old graphic designer, believes that the attack made people more aware of potential danger.

“I think that now people around the world are much more afraid and suspicious. For me as an ex-Israeli soldier we feel the danger in the air,” said Helsgoff. He added that people always need to be cautious of their surroundings. “You need to always be ready that something will go off, that something will happen. You live under terror all your life.” 

Yael Yosefi, is an 18-year-old who will be joining the Israeli Army soon. For him, the attacks are a constant reminder that the world is full of dangers. “People realize now that the world is a frightening place, I’m scared to be on buses and on the street.”

But in a strange way, the 9/11 attack seemed to strengthen even further the bond between Israelis and Americans.

“We feel very connected with America, we think that anything that happens in the U.S has an effect on us and vice versa,” said Yosefi.

“I think America showed the world that there are still rules. If you strike us we strike harder and that is what Israel tries to do,” said Helsgoff.

 By Atia Abawi, NBC News Correspondent 

KABUL – Outside the walls of Kabul University, students, professors and passersby go about their day in the capital of Afghanistan. Many are unaware that in a few days it will be the 10th anniversary of one of America’s darkest days.

There is no question that the Sept. 11 attacks changed America and the world. Perhaps no one saw more change than the millions of Afghans who lived under the oppressive Taliban regime that hosted the al-Qaida leaders responsible for the horrific attacks – and as a result have been subjected to 10 years of war.

NBC News’ producer Akbar Shinwari, photojournalist Tony Zumbado and I spoke to a variety of Afghans on the dusty but paved road outside Kabul University to get their perspective on how life has changed – for better or worse – since the attacks of 9/11 and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.

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‘The Russians did more work for the country’
First we spotted a young man wearing a black suit waiting for his ride. 

Naweed Omar, a 23-year-old psychology student at the university, told us that many Afghans were very excited when America and the NATO coalition came to help –they thought their lives would finally improve. 

But after 10 years that excitement has turned to hopelessness and resentment.

“If we compare America’s arrival to the arrival of the Russians, the Russians did more work for the country,” Omar said comparing the building and infrastructure the Soviets provided Afghanistan in the 1980s to what Afghanistan has seen since 2001. 

“Just look at it, Russia was one country that did so much work and now you have 40 countries who have done nothing,” he added.
Ziarmal Safi, a 25-year-old English literature student, agreed that the international community could have done more in the last decade, but he also believes that the Afghans still need outside help.

“Afghans, they do not have the capacity to take [on] the security or to ensure the security all over in Afghanistan,” he said, “I don’t want America to leave, but I want America to concentrate a little bit more.”

Safi said that the Americans have spent lots of money in Afghanistan but that his own government and the American government have squandered that money by not implementing a system of accountability.

“They’re supporting [the] Afghan government and [the] Afghan people. They give them money, but they don’t ask them where did they spent all this money.”

Women’s rights have changed – for the better
But money and security hasn’t been the only issue. Human rights and women’s rights were in the forefront when the war began, but those issues have been almost forgotten as the focus has turned to talks of Taliban reconciliation and international withdrawal.

Many Afghan women have stories of banishment and humiliation before 2001.  During the Taliban regime, women were restricted from working, receiving an education or even leaving their house without being escorted by a male relative.

“When the Taliban were here we always say it was really the dark, dark condition here.  Even the people of Afghanistan couldn’t believe that they are human,” Yalda Mojadidi, a 23-year-old psychology student at Kabul University, told me.

Mojadidi said that with the arrival of the Americans and the international community, much has changed in her life and the lives of women throughout the country – she was finally allowed to go to school again.

“[There] is lots of changes for us,” she said in English, “Especially for women.  They can go to university, college, school, anywhere and they can work as well.”

Edrees Bahadur, a 21-year-old economics major, agreed with Yalda. He said that Sept. 11 changed Afghanistan for the better by bringing attention to the country’s dire situation.

“America with its alliance came to Afghanistan and Afghanistan [gained] an independent government – so that caused Afghanistan to improve and to strengthen their capacities,” he said.

But Bahadur and Mojadidi warn that their country still needs the help of the international community.

“My hope for Afghanistan is that peace and stability [will] come,” Mojadidi said. “The foreigners should not go from Afghanistan, they should stay here.  If they go back, I think that the situation [of] 10 years before – it will come again.”

Some still long for the good old days
But there are still some who welcomed the days of the Taliban and a strict Islamic government.

Those people – usually men – tell stories of not worrying about air assaults and criminal gangs in the Taliban days. 

“During the Taliban time, if you had a sack full of money on your back and you put that on the road and left it there, nobody would touch it – nobody had the courage to touch it,” 40-year-old teacher Haji Shadeem of Paktika province told us.

Shadeem believes his country has spiraled out of control.  

“Everyone [now] has worries that they will be killed on any day. They are waiting for their death.  And we don’t know from which side,” he said, fearing both the insurgency and NATO forces.