| September 11th Attacks |
Article Index for September |
Shopping 2001 |
Website Links For September 11 |
Information AboutSeptember 11th Attacks |
|
READ BEFORE MAKING CHANGES: This is a controversial topic, which may be disputed. Please read this article's TALK PAGE discussion before making substantial changes. Thank you! --> into the South Tower . A huge plume of smoke and fire can be seen emerging from the North Tower to the left.]] The September 11, 2001 attacks (often referred to as '''9/11''' The attacks are often referred to simply as September 11th, '''9/11''', or '''9-11'''. The latter two are from the U.S. style for writing short dates, in which the month precedes the day. Both are pronounced "nine-eleven." With the 11 March 2004 Madrid Attacks on March 11 , 2004 , called "M11" or "3/11", and the Jordan Bombings on November 9 , 2005 often called "11/9", the convention has been extended. The 7 July 2005 London Bombings occurred on a day when the month and the day were the same so the speaker can decide if the US or European convention (day, then month) is implied. (In the UK these events are more generally referred to as the 'London bombings' or '7th July bombings' in any event.) 9-1-1 also happens to be the Telephone Number used in the United States and Canada to dial for emergency assistance (police, ambulance, and fire department). or September 11th) were a series of coordinated Terrorist attacks upon the United States Of America carried out on Tuesday, September 11 , 2001 . Four commercial passenger jet Airliner s were Hijacked and then crashed, resulting in nearly 3,000 deaths. On that morning, nineteen men affiliated with s, crashing three into buildings. Two planes were crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City , resulting in the collapse of both towers within two hours. A third hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon , in Arlington County, Virginia . The fourth plane crashed into a rural field in Somerset County , Pennsylvania , following attempts by passengers to retake control of the plane. Soon after the attacks, the U.S. Government launched the War On Terrorism . Similar attacks have since occurred in countries that allied with the United States in its hunt for those responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Domestically, the United States goverment has created the Department Of Homeland Security , enacted the USA PATRIOT Act , and set-up the 9/11 Commission to investigate the attacks. THE ATTACKS Main article: September 11, 2001 Attacks Timeline For The Day Of The Attacks . The attacks started with the . .'' September 12 , 2001 . The fatalities were in the thousands: 265 on the four planes; 2,595, including 343 '' (reported by CBS News ). October 30 , 2003 . was severely damaged during the attack, and 125 lives were lost.]] Some passengers and crew members were able to make phone calls from the doomed flights. They reported that multiple Hijacker s were aboard each plane. A total of 19 were later identified by the FBI, four on United 93 and five each on the other three flights. For a short period, the precise identity of the 19 hijackers was uncertain. For example, the , 2001 . The hijackers reportedly took control of the aircraft by using . January 27 , 2004 . but some form of noxious chemical spray, such as Tear Gas or Pepper Spray , was reported to have been used on American 11 and United 175 to keep passengers out of the first-class cabin. Bomb Threats were made on three of the aircraft, but not on American 77. In the fourth airplane, mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed said that Flight 93's target was the U.S. Capitol, which was given the code name, "The Faculty of Law." See Also: Communication during the September 11, 2001 attacks Fatalities > Reportedly the first fatality was US-Israeli billionaire Daniel Lewin , a former member of an elite Israeli anti-terrorist unit. Also aboard Flight 11 the captain John Ogonowski is said to have been killed before the impact. At the World Trade Center, faced with a desperate situation of smoke and burning heat from the jet fuel, an estimated 200 people jumped to their deaths from the burning towers (as depicted in the photograph The Falling Man ), landing on the streets and rooftops of adjacent buildings hundreds of feet below (a reaction to the attacks similar to the effects of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire ). In addition, some of the occupants of each tower above its point of impact made their way upward toward the roof in hope of helicopter rescue. No rescue plan existed for such an eventuality. By some accounts, fleeing occupants instead encountered locked access doors upon reaching the roof. In any case, thick smoke prevented rescue helicopters from landing. As many as 1,366 people were trapped at and above the floors of impact in the North Tower (1 WTC). None of them survived. As many as 600 people were trapped at and above the floors of impact in the South Tower (2 WTC). Only about 18 managed to escape in time from above the impact zone and out of the South Tower before it collapsed. As the suburbs around New York City learned of the destruction so close to home, many schools closed for the day, evacuated, or were locked down. Other school districts shielded students from watching television because many of their parents held jobs in the World Trade Center towers. In New Jersey and Connecticut , private schools were evacuated. Scarsdale, New York schools closed for the day. In Greenwich, Connecticut , about 15 miles north of the city, hundreds of students had direct ties to victims of the attacks. Greenwich , Connecticut , and New Canaan , Connecticut , two of the wealthiest towns in the world, had more residents killed than any other town in the New York metro area. According to Associated Press , the city identified over 1,600 bodies but was unable to identify the rest of the bodies (about 1,100 people). They report that the city has "about 10,000 unidentified bone and tissue fragments that cannot be matched to the list of the dead." Associated Press . February 23 , 2005 . See Also: Survivors of the September 11, 2001 attacks Other planned attacks Allegedly 27 members of al-Qaeda attempted to enter the United States to take part in the September 11 attacks. In the end, only 19 allegedly participated. Other would-be hijackers are often referred to as the 20th Hijacker . Ramzi Binalshibh allegedly meant to take part in the attacks, but he was repeatedly denied a Visa for entry into the U.S. Mohamed Al-Kahtani , a Saudi Arabia n citizen, may also have been planning to join the hijackers but U.S. Immigration authorities at Orlando International Airport refused his entry into the U.S. in August, 2001. He was later captured in Afghanistan and imprisoned at the U.S. military prison known as Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba . Zacarias Moussaoui was reportedly considered as a replacement for Ziad Jarrah , who at one point threatened to withdraw from the scheme because of tensions amongst the plotters. Plans to include Moussaoui were allegedly never completed because the al-Qaeda hierarchy allegedly had doubts about his reliability. In April 2005, Moussaoui pled guilty to conspiring to hijack planes, and to involvement with al-Qaeda, but he denies foreknowledge of the 9-11 attacks. His plea makes him eligible for the death penalty. At his sentencing trial, FBI agent Greg Jones testified that prior to the attacks, he urged his supervisor, Michael Maltbie, "to prevent Zacarias Moussaoui from flying a plane into the World Trade Center." Maltbie had refused to act on 70 requests from another agent, Harry Samit, to obtain a warrant to search Moussaoui's computer. {Link without Title} Other al-Qaeda members who allegedly may have attempted, but were unable, to take part in the attacks include Saeed al-Ghamdi (not to be confused with the successful hijacker of the same name), Mushabib al-Hamlan, Zakariyah Essabar , Ali Abdul Aziz Ali , and Tawfiq Bin Attash . According to the 9/11 Commission Report , Khalid Sheikh Mohammed , the attack's mastermind, wanted to remove at least one member— Khalid Al-Mihdhar —from the operation, but he was overruled by Osama Bin Laden . According to Mohammed Afroze , a planned simultaneous attack in London on the Palace Of Westminster and Tower Bridge was aborted at the last minute when the would-be hijackers, waiting to board the planes they were to hijack, saw the damage in the U.S., panicked, and fled. Zacarias Moussaoui , at his sentencing hearing in March 2006, claimed that, upon the personal directive of Osama Bin Laden , he and Richard Reid were due to hijack a fifth plane and fly it into the White House. His own defense lawyers dismissed this as fantasy on the part of Moussaoui, saying that he was not an operative in Al Qaeda, but only a "hanger-on."[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4859180.stm In February of 2006, President Bush revealed that an Al Qaeda plan to crash a plane into , Melbourne , and Montreal . The U.S. government also initially claimed that the White House and Air Force One were also targeted, although the source and nature of these threats was not disclosed. (BBC News, September 12, 2001, {Link without Title} ). RESPONSIBILITY AND MOTIVES Responsibility See Also: Responsibility for the September 11, 2001 attacks as well as large sections of Brooklyn .]] The United States Government determined (in part based on classified information) that Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden bear responsibility for the attacks. Bin Laden initially denied, but later admitted involvement in the incidents. He had earlier declared a Holy War against the United States and this is seen as a motive for the 9/11 attacks. On , 1998 . In November, 2001, U.S. forces recovered a videotape from a destroyed house in , 2001 . The tape was broadcast on various news networks in December, 2001. Shortly before the U.S. presidential election in 2004 in a Taped Statement , bin Laden publicly acknowledged al-Qaeda's involvement in the attacks on the U.S, and admitted his direct link to the attacks. He said that the attacks were carried out because, "we are a free people who do not accept injustice, and we want to regain the freedom of our nation." The , 2004 . The Commission stated that, "9/11 plotters eventually spent somewhere between $400,000 and $500,000 to plan and conduct their attack," but that the specific origin of the funds used to execute the attacks remained unknown. To date, only peripheral figures have been tried or convicted in connection with the attacks. Motive According to official U.S. government sources, the September 11th attacks were consistent with the mission statement of Al-Qaeda . The group's involvement in the bombing of American Embassies In Kenya And Tanzania is widely suspected, and al-Qaeda had declared responsibility for the 2000 USS ''Cole'' Bombing in Yemen. The motivation for this campaign was set out in a 1998 , 1998 . The fatwa lists three "crimes and sins committed by the Americans":
The fatwa states that the United States:
The Gulf War and the ensuing sanctions against and bombing of Iraq by the United States, were cited, in 1998, as further proof of these allegations. To the disapproval of moderate and liberal Muslims, the fatwa uses is an individual duty if the enemy destroys the Muslim countries." in Shanksville, PA ( USGS )]] Statements of al-Qaeda recorded after 9/11 add weight to the U.S account of who was responsible for the attacks. In a , 2004 . Bin Laden said, "We swore that America wouldn't live in security until we live it truly in Palestine. This showed the reality of America, which puts Israel's interest above its own people's interest. America won't get out of this crisis until it gets out of the Arabian Peninsula, and until it stops its support of Israel." The was described by one Ralph Bodenstein—who traveled, worked and talked with him—as "most imbued actually about... U.S. protection of these Israeli politics in the region." Marwan Al-Shehhi is said to have explained his humorless demeanor with the words: "How can you laugh when people are dying in Palestine?" By contrast, the Bush administration says that Al-Qaeda was motivated by hatred of the freedom and democracy exemplified by the United States, and independent analysts say that one major Al-Qaeda motive is to encourage Islamic solidarity focused on a common enemy, and thus in the long term help pave the way for an Islamic world order. REACTIONS See Also: Aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks International reaction The attacks had major . May 4 , 2005 . Numerous countries, including the . The United States set up a detention center at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , to hold, Illegal Enemy Combatant s. The legitimacy of these detentions has been questioned by, among others, member states of the European Union , the Organization Of American States , and Amnesty International . (''See Camp X-Ray for further details.'') Public response '' was mindful of the Attack On Pearl Harbor on December 7 , 1941 in its headline.]] Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, George W. Bush 's job approval rating soared to 86% 2. On September 20 , 2001 , the president spoke before the nation and a joint-session of Congress , regarding the events of that day, the intervening nine days of rescue and recovery efforts, and his intent in response to those events. The highly visible role played by Rudy Giuliani , then Mayor of New York City , won him high praise nationally and in New York City. 3 The attacks also had immediate and overwhelming effects upon the United States population. Gratitude toward uniformed public-safety workers, and especially toward firefighters, was widely expressed in light of both the drama of the risks taken on the scene and the high death toll among the workers. Many police officers and rescue workers elsewhere in the country took leaves of absence to travel to New York City to assist in the grim process of recovering bodies from the twisted remnants of the Twin Towers. '', 289, 2246-2253. There were some incidents of harassment and hate crimes against Middle Easterners and other, "Middle Eastern-looking" people, particularly Sikhs , due to the fact that Sikh males usually wear Turbans , stereotypically associated with Muslims in the United States. A total of nine people were murdered within the United States as part of retaliation. Balbir Singh Sodhi , one of the first victims of this Backlash , was shot dead on September 15 . He, like others, was a Sikh who was mistaken for a Muslim. Conspiracy theories See Also: 9/11 conspiracy theories Since the attacks, various Conspiracy Theories have emerged. These include speculation that individuals in the Government Of The United States knew of the impending attacks and failed to act on that knowledge, or that they actually planned the attacks. Some of those questioning the mainstream account of 9/11 have speculated that the Collapse Of The World Trade Center was caused by explosives. Some also contend that a commercial airliner did not crash into The Pentagon , and that United Airlines Flight 93 was shot down. GOVERNMENT RESPONSE Rescue, recovery, and compensation See Also: Rescue and recovery effort after the September 11, 2001 attacks Rescue and recovery efforts took months to complete. It took several weeks to simply put out the fires burning in the rubble of the buildings, and the clean-up was not completed until May, 2002. Temporary wooden, "viewing platforms" were set up for tourists to view construction crews clearing out the gaping holes where the towers once stood. These platforms were closed on May 30 , 2002 . Many relief funds were immediately set up to assist victims of the attacks, with the task of providing '', December 23 , 2003 . The "War on Terrorism" See Also: Global War on Terrorism In the aftermath of the attacks, many U.S. citizens held the view that they had "changed the world forever," that the United States was now vulnerable to terrorist attacks in ways it had not been previously. The Bush administration declared a War On Terrorism , with the stated goals of bringing Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda to justice and preventing the emergence of other terrorist networks. These goals would be accomplished by means including economic and military sanctions against states perceived as harboring terrorists and increasing global surveillance and intelligence sharing. The second-biggest operation outside of the United States was the invasion of Afghanistan , by a U.S.-led coalition. The U.S. was not the only nation to increase its military readiness, with other notable examples being the Philippines and Indonesia , countries that have their own internal conflicts with Islamic Extremist Terrorism . President Bush said "The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September the 11, 2001..."Bush, George W. " President Bush Announces Major Combat Operations in Iraq Have Ended ." '''' (Official Press Release), December 14 , 2005 . Two years after the attacks, the and an Iraqi intelligence official in Prague on the same day Atta was seen in Florida; and (2) evidence that Ahmed Hikmat Shakir, allegedly a contact of Iraqi intelligence, was present at a meeting in Malaysia where future 9/11 hijacker Khalid al Mihdhar is believed by the CIA to have attended.) Domestic response Within the United States, President Bush created the .'' January 5 , 2006 . Following the attacks, 80,000 Arab and Muslim immigrants were fingerprinted and registered under the Alien Registration Act of 1940 . 8,000 Arab and Muslim men were interviewed, and 5,000 foreign nationals were detained under Joint Congressional Resolution 107-40 authorizing the use of military force "to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism against the United States." [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/18752 Investigations The collapse of the World Trade Center See Also: Collapse of the World Trade Center .]] There has been much speculation on the "performance" of the Twin Towers after the impacts, and the reasons for the collapse are under active debate by Structural Engineer s, Architects , and the relevant U.S. government agencies. The design of the WTC included many basic innovations distinguishing it from all previous skyscrapers and from many built since. Although the kinetic energy of the jetliner impacts and the resulting fires were unprecedented in the history of building disasters, some engineers strongly believe skyscrapers of more traditional design (such as New York City's Empire State Building and Malaysia's Petronas Towers ) would have fared much better under the circumstances, perhaps standing indefinitely. If they are correct, super tall buildings that share the WTC's major design elements (for example, Chicago's Sears Tower and John Hancock Center ) could be considered particularly vulnerable. 7 World Trade Center collapsed in the late afternoon of September 11 . (See 7 World Trade Center for more details). , A federal technical building and fire safety investigation of the collapses of the Twin Towers and 7 WTC has been conducted by the United States Department Of Commerce 's National Institute Of Standards And Technology ( NIST ). The goals of this investigation, completed on April 6 , 2005 , were to investigate the building construction, the materials used, and the technical conditions that contributed to the outcome of the WTC disaster. The investigation was to serve as the basis for:
The report concludes that the fireproofing on the Twin Towers' ,'' October 26 , 2005 . 9/11 Commission Report See Also: 9/11 Commission Report The National Commission On Terrorist Attacks Upon The United States was formed in late 2002 to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the attacks, including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks. On July 22 , 2004 , the 9/11 Commission Report was released. The 9/11 Commission has not been without some Criticism , including unanswered questions put forth by the Family Steering Committee. 4 LONG-TERM EFFECTS Economic aftermath .]] The attacks had a significant economic impact on the United States and world markets. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the American Stock Exchange and NASDAQ did not open on September 11 and remained closed until September 17 . NYSE facilities and remote data processing sites were not damaged by the attack, but member firms, customers and markets were unable to communicate due to major damage to the telephone exchange facility near the World Trade Center. When the stock markets reopened on September 17 , 2001 , after the longest closure since the Great Depression in 1929, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (“DJIA”) stock market index fell 684 points, or 7.1%, to 8920, its biggest-ever one-day point decline. By the end of the week, the DJIA had fallen 1369.7 points (14.3%), its largest one-week point drop in history. U.S. stocks lost $1.2 trillion in value for the week. As Of 2005 Wall and Broad Streets near the New York Stock Exchange remain barricaded and guarded to prevent a physical attack upon the building. The economy of '', July 1 , 2004 . The rebuilding has been inhibited by a lack of agreement on priorities. For example, , 2005 . On the sites of the totally destroyed buildings, one, , 2005 . There is no consensus regarding the demand for office space looking forward to 2010, so the market for 7 WTC and other new construction in the Financial District is soft. North American air space was closed for several days after the attacks and air travel decreased significantly upon its reopening. The attacks led to nearly a 20% cutback in air travel capacity, and severely exacerbated financial problems in the struggling U.S. Airline industry.Bhadra, Dipasis; Texter, Pamela. " Airline Networks: An Econometric Framework to Analyze Domestic U.S. Air Travel ", 2004. ''Journal of Transportation and Statistics'', '''7(1)'''. Many towers in the United States metropolitan areas were evacuated hours after the attacks, including Los Angeles , where traffic was at its lowest volume ever for that city, and the major downtown business district was virtually deserted. Potential health effects Thousands of tons of toxic debris resulting from the collapse of the Twin Towers included .'' There is scientific speculation that exposure to various toxic products and the pollutants in the air surrounding the Towers after the WTC collapse may have negative effects on fetal development. Due to this potential harm, a notable children's environmental health center is currently analyzing the children whose mothers were pregnant during the WTC collapse, and were living or working near the World Trade Center towers. The staff of this study assess the children using psychological testing every year and interview the mothers every six months. The purpose of the study is to determine whether there is significant difference in development and health progression of children whose mothers were exposed versus those who were not exposed after the WTC collapse. MEMORIALS See Also: September 11, 2001 attack memorials and services on the memorial of the attacks in 2004.]] Memorials to the victims and heroes of the attacks of September 11 have been planned. An outdoor public was added in September, 2002 when the building repairs were completed. However, public access to this memorial is restricted to group tours. The proposed design for Flight 93 National Memorial is called, "Crescent of Embrace," which has created some controversy due to its large red Crescent that also points toward Mecca . Recently, due to the amount of public pressure, it has been announced that the memorial will be redesigned so as to avoid any confusion with the sign of Islam . Currently, there is no memorial at the World Trade Center Site . There is one planned called Reflecting Absence , which was designed by Michael Arad and selected through a Design Competition . This memorial design has been generally praised, while other proposals for the site have drawn controversy, such as The Drawing Center , which later withdrew from the competition, and the International Freedom Center (IFC), which, in consideration of objections raised by some victims' families, was barred by New York Governor, George Pataki . In addition to physical monuments, a number of September 11th family members and friends have set up memorial funds, scholarships, and charities in honor of lost loved ones. See Also: September 11, 2001 attacks in arts and literature MEDIA SEE ALSO REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
Multimedia
Memorials
|
|
|