You September 11 attacks were suicide attacks committed by islamic fundamentalists linked to the terrorist organization called al-Qaeda. This organization, led at the time by osama bin laden, mobilized 19 terrorists who hijacked four commercial planes, launching them into specific locations in the U.S.
Two of the planes crashed into the two towers of the World Trade Center, former office building located in New York. The third plane crashed into the Pentagon, headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, and the fourth plane crashed into a uninhabited area of Pennsylvania. As a result of the attacks, the United States organized the Afghanistan invasion in the year 2001.
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How were the September 11 attacks?
The attacks that took place on September 11, 2001 began with the hijacking of four planes by 19 terrorists. The hijacked planes were two Boeing 757
it's two Boeing 767, these took off from different locations in the eastern United States, heading towards the state of California on the west coast.The hijacked flights were these:
American Airlines Flight 11: took off from Boston to Los Angeles. It was the first plane to crash into the World Trade Center, being thrown into the North Tower.
American Airlines Flight 77: took off from Washington to Los Angeles. It was launched against the Pentagon.
American Airlines Flight 175: took off from Boston to Los Angeles. It was the second plane to crash into the World Trade Center, being thrown into the South Tower.
United Airlines Flight 93: took off from Newark to San Francisco. It would likely be launched against the Capitol, but ended up falling into an uninhabited region when passengers rebelled against the hijacking terrorists.
On September 11, the 19 terrorists boarded the aforementioned flights and, along the way, the passengers and crew surrendered, and set the route to their targets. AA Flight 11 took off at 7:59 am and, at 8:46 am, crashed into the North Tower of the famous World Trade Center.
The World Trade Center was a seven-building complex that was opened in 1973. Within this complex were the Twin Towers, which had 110 floors and417 meters high. The Towers housed numerous businesses and were located in one of New York's most valued regions. They became one of the largest buildings in the world, and were one of the great symbols of this famous North American city.
A few minutes after the first collision, a secondplane (AA flight 175) was released against the World Trade Center at 9:03 am, this time against the South Tower. That plane had taken off from Boston at 8:14 am. At 09:37, O third plane hijacked (AA flight 77) was launched against the Pentagon, it's the roomplane (AU Flight 93) fell in rural Shanksville, in Pennsylvania, at 10:03.
O fire in the two towers caused the building structure, made of iron and steel, were overheated, and with that, the building collapsed. THE first tower to fall was the South Tower, this having happened at 9:59, and the second (North Tower) only collapsed at 10:28. Before they both fell, some of the people who were between the affected floors were trapped in the fire and, in the midst of a desperate situation, they ended up throwing themselves from the building at heights exceeding 100 meters.
After the first tower was hit by the terrorists, the press began to carry out the live coverage of what happened. When the second tower was hit, at the time mentioned, the images were televised to millions of people. Thus, the images that gained great prominence in the attack were those of the twin towers burning in flames and those of rescuers work to evacuate the buildings as quickly as possible. In the case of the Pentagon, there are not many images of the time of the attack, and as for the fourth plane (AU Flight 93), there is no image of its crash.
At the time of the attack, about 15 thousand people were in the Towers. As the biggest target for terrorists and an extremely busy location, the death toll in New York was the highest among all targets. The total number of fatal victims of the September 11 attacks was 2996, being:
2606 deaths in New York;
125 deaths at the Pentagon;
246 deaths on planes (between crew and passengers);
and 19 terrorists killed.
9/11 represented the first attack the United States had suffered within its territory since pearl harbor, and despite nearly three thousand dead, 9/11 could have turned out even worse if its organizers had carried out one of the original plans: attack nuclear facilities of that country. Terrorists ended up abandoning this idea for fear of its consequences.
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attack authorship
Immediately after the attack, the United States Intelligence Service (CIA) began to suspect that the al-Qaeda was responsible. This Islamic fundamentalist organization emerged in Afghanistan in 1988, and was known to have carried out dozens of terrorist attacks in different parts of the world.
Shortly thereafter, the leader of al-Qaeda at the time, the Arab osama bin laden, recognized in filming the authorship of the organization in the attacks. Bin Laden's involvement in the bombings made him one of the most wanted people in the world at that time. Bin Laden was an Arab millionaire and adherent to the radical ideals of Islam, and, as we shall see, he had developed an exacerbated hatred for the United States.
One of the main organizers of the attack was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a fundamentalist who was involved in a series of terrorist attacks in the 1980s and 1990s, including the 1993 car bombing of the World Trade Center. Khalid was eventually detained in a joint operation between US and Pakistani intelligence in 2003, and is currently detained in Guantanamo prison, located in Cuba.
What motivated the September 11 attacks?
The September 11 attacks were motivated by the enmity existing between Islamic fundamentalists and the US, due to interventions and the presence of US troops in the Middle East. However, to understand the reason for this situation, it is necessary to understand that the strengthening of Islamic fundamentalism it has a direct relationship with that potency.
Al-Qaeda was a terrorist organization based in Afghanistan and protected from the Taliban, the group that governed that country. However, such a fundamentalist group emerged in Afghanistan through the United States support during the 1979 Afghanistan War. Here we will understand the rise of al-Qaeda and its relationship to Afghanistan.
First, in the 1970s, the United States imposed a strategy of greater interference in the Middle East to guarantee access to the Petroleum. Furthermore, as a way to reach the Soviet Union, whose communist government was implemented in Afghanistan, the Americans began to encourage fundamentalist rebels of that territory.
The intent was destabilize the government communist that existed in Afghanistan and force the Soviets to intervene in the situation. The Americans wanted Soviet intervention to make their great rival's economy bleed. These rebel groups were formed by reactionary groups that received heavy investment from the US.
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One of the big names supported by the Americans was the Palestinian Abdullah Azzam, who called a jihad (holy war practiced against the “infidels”, in the Muslim view) against the Soviet invaders of Afghanistan. Through Azzam, bin Laden he was invited to join the fight. Later, bin Laden turned against Azzam and other Muslims considered by him as "decadent". After that breakup, bin Laden participated in founding al-Qaeda.
When the United States invaded Iraq during the Gulf War, with the support of the Saudis, bin Laden turned against the power. That's because he did not agree with the presence of foreigners in Saudi lands, considered to house two holy cities of Islam. The al-Qaeda leader wanted his troops, not US troops, to secure Arab territory against a possible Iraqi invasion.
In addition to the aforementioned presence of US troops in Saudi territory, other factors that can be considered as a reason for Osama bin Laden's enmity towards the US are: their support to Israel and its role in attacks against Islamic groups, in places like the Philippines, Lebanon and India.
The demonstration of bin Laden's hatred of the United States was brought up by historian Victor G. Kiernan, who claimed that in the 1990s Osama's inner circle openly advocated the idea of a major attack on the US, and the al-Qaeda leader himself issued a fatwa (religious law) that encouraged the murder of US citizens.|1|
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Consequences
The consequences of the September 11 attacks were numerous and affected the USA and much of the world. The ones that should be mentioned first are the quasi three thousand dead, besides the big material destruction that the attacks caused.
The US reacted immediately to the attacks, and in October 2001, by order of the president George W. bush, was started to Afghanistan invasion. The objectives of this invasion were capture osama bin laden and to tear downOTaliban, the fundamentalist government that sheltered the mastermind of the attack: al-Qaeda. The Taliban government was overthrown, and democratic governments were organized in Afghanistan, but the situation in the country never stabilized.
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Afghanistan currently has a democratic government trying to rebuild it, but the Taliban acts as an insurgent force trying to overthrow established governments. Some parts of Afghan territory are in the hands of the Taliban, and their struggle against government troops is frequent.
Despite having toppled that government, the Americans were not able to capture Osama bin Laden. The al-Qaeda leader was located, only in May 2, 2011, in a house in the interior of Pakistan and dead in an operation of American military troops. Your body was thrown, by the troops, into the ocean.
After the attack, extremely strict anti-terrorism legislation was created in the United States. This law, known as patriot act, until its expiration, gave permission to the US government to intercept phone calls and outgoing messages by suspicious persons without asking for authorization from the courts. She also took steps to stop money laundering in suspicious banking transactions, and allowed US authorities to confiscate property from persons suspected of cooperating with terrorism, etc.
Measures were also taken in the practices of flight safety, making them more rigorous and discerning. In 2015, during Barack Obama's second administration, the Patriot Act was replaced by the USA Freedom Act, after its expiration date has expired.
Image credits
[1] Ken Tannenbaum / Shutterstock
[2] Dan Howell / Shutterstock
[3] Carolina K. Smith MD / Shutterstock
Grades
|1|KIERNAN, Victor G. U.S: the new imperialism. Rio de Janeiro: Record, 2009, p. 421.
By Daniel Neves
Graduated in History