   #copyright

September 11, 2001 attacks

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Recent History

   September 11, 2001 attacks
   September 11, 2001 attacks
   The towers burn shortly after United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into
   the South Tower on the right. On the left is the still smoking North
   Tower, struck earlier by American Airlines Flight 11.
   Location New York, New York (first two), Arlington, Virginia (3rd)
   Washington, D.C., Shanksville, Pennsylvania (4th); all USA
   Target(s) World Trade Centre and The Pentagon (fourth hijacking was
   probably aimed for the White House or the U.S. Capitol).
   Date September 11, 2001
   8:46 am – 10:28 am ( UTC-4)
   Attack Type Suicide attack, Hijacking
   Fatalities 2,992 (including 19 suicide hijackers)
   Injuries Unknown
   Perpetrator(s) Osama bin Laden, see also Responsibility and Organizers
   on the right hand column

                                                    Sept. 11, 2001 attacks
                                                                  Timeline
                                                        Background history
                                                                  Planning
                                                        September 11, 2001
                                                         Rest of September
                                                                   October
                                                            Beyond October
                                                                   Victims
                                                                 Survivors
                                                        Foreign casualties
                                                        Hijacked airliners
                                               American Airlines Flight 11
                                                United Airlines Flight 175
                                               American Airlines Flight 77
                                                 United Airlines Flight 93
                                                      Sites of destruction
                                                        World Trade Centre
                                                              The Pentagon
                                                 Shanksville, Pennsylvania
                                                     Effects and aftermath
                                                   World political effects
                                                    World economic effects
                                                                Detentions
                                                          Airport security
                                                Closings and cancellations
                                                 Audiovisual entertainment
                                                              Local health
                                                                  Response
                                                       Government response
                                                Rescue and recovery effort
                                                      Financial assistance
                                                   Operation Yellow Ribbon
                                                    Memorials and services
                                                              Perpetrators
                                                            Responsibility
                                                                Organizers
                                                             Miscellaneous
                                                             Communication
                                                            Tower collapse
                                                         Slogans and terms
                                                       Conspiracy theories
                                                              Opportunists
                                                                 Inquiries
                                                U.S. Congressional Inquiry
                                                           9/11 Commission

   The September 11, 2001 attacks (often referred to as 9/11—pronounced
   "nine eleven") consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist suicide
   attacks by Islamic extremists on the United States on September 11,
   2001. The victims were predominantly civilians.

   On the morning of September 11, 2001, nineteen terrorists affiliated
   with al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. Each
   team of hijackers included a trained pilot. The hijackers crashed two
   of the airliners ( United Airlines Flight 175 and American Airlines
   Flight 11) into the World Trade Centre in New York City, one plane into
   each tower ( 1 WTC and 2 WTC). A third airliner ( American Airlines
   Flight 77) was crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia.
   Passengers and members of the flight crew on the fourth aircraft (
   United Airlines Flight 93) attempted to retake control of their plane
   from the hijackers; that plane crashed into a field near the town of
   Shanksville in rural Somerset County, Pennsylvania. In addition to the
   19 hijackers, 2,973 people died; another 24 are missing and presumed
   dead.

The attacks

   Four commercial airliners were hijacked en route to California from
   Logan International, Dulles International, and Newark airports. Each of
   the airliners had a jet fuel capacity of nearly 24,000 U.S. gallons
   (91,000 liters) or 144,000 pounds (65,455 kilograms). Two of the
   airliners were flown into the World Trade Centre, one each into the
   North and South towers, one was flown into the Pentagon, and the fourth
   crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
     * American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767-223 wide-body aircraft,
       crashed into the north side of the North Tower of the World Trade
       Centre (WTC) at 8:46:30 a.m. local time ( Eastern Daylight Time,
       12:46:30 UTC).
     * United Airlines Flight 175, a Boeing 767-222, crashed into the
       South Tower at 9:02:59 a.m. local time (13:02:59 UTC), an event
       covered live by television broadcasters and amateur filmers from
       around the world who had their cameras trained on the buildings
       after the earlier crash.
     * American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757-223, crashed into the
       Pentagon at 9:37:46 a.m. local time (13:37:46 UTC).
     * United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757-222, crashed in a field in
       southwest Pennsylvania just outside of Shanksville, about 150 miles
       (240 km) northwest of Washington, D.C., at 10:03:11 a.m. local time
       (14:03:11 UTC), with parts and debris found up to eight miles away.
       The crash in Pennsylvania resulted from the passengers of the
       airliner attempting to regain control from the hijackers.

   During the hijacking some passengers and crew members were able to make
   phone calls using the cabin GTE airphone service. They reported that
   several hijackers were aboard each plane.

   The terrorists reportedly took control of the aircraft by using knives
   and box-cutter knives to kill flight attendants and at least one pilot
   or passenger. There were a number of reports from callers aboard the
   hijacked aircraft that suggest the hijackers murdered several people
   aboard the planes before impact including the captain of Flight 11,
   John Ogonowski.

   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. According to the
   Commission Report the bombs were probably fake. The 9/11 Commission
   established that two of the hijackers had recently purchased Leatherman
   multi-function hand tools.

   On United Airlines Flight 93, black box recordings revealed that crew
   and passengers attempted to seize control of the plane from the
   hijackers after learning through phone calls that similarly hijacked
   planes had been crashed into buildings that morning. According to the
   transcript of Flight 93's recorder one of the hijackers gave the order
   to roll the plane once it became evident that they would lose control
   of the plane to the passengers. Soon afterward, the aircraft crashed
   into a field near Shanksville in Stonycreek Township, Somerset County,
   Pennsylvania, at 10:03:11 a.m. local time (14:03:11 UTC). The 9/11
   Panel reported that captured al-Qaeda leader Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
   said that Flight 93's target was the United States Capitol, which was
   given the code name "the Faculty of Law."
   Image:Pentagon precollapse.jpg
   Video frame of the Pentagon, before its wall collapsed

   The attacks created widespread confusion across the United States.
   Unconfirmed and often contradictory reports were aired and published
   throughout the day. One of the most prevalent of these reported that a
   car bomb had been detonated at the U.S. State Department's
   headquarters, the Truman Building in Foggy Bottom, Washington, D.C.
   This erroneous report, picked up by the wire services, was reported on
   CNN and in a number of newspapers published that day. Soon after
   reporting for the first time on the Pentagon crash, CNN and other media
   also briefly reported that a fire had broken out on the Washington
   Mall. Another report went out on the AP wire, claiming that a Delta
   767–Flight 1989–had been hijacked. This report, too, turned out to be
   in error; the plane was briefly thought to represent a hijack risk, but
   it responded to controllers and landed safely in Cleveland, Ohio.

Fatalities

   Fatalities (Not including the 19 hijackers)
   New York City World Trade Centre 2,602 died and another 24 remain
   listed as missing
   American 11 88
   United 175 59
   Pentagon Building 125
   American 77 59
   Shanksville United 93 40
   Total 2,973 died and another 24 remain listed as missing.

   There were 2,973 fatalities: 246 on the four planes (no one on board
   any of the hijacked aircraft survived), 2,602 in New York City in the
   towers and on the ground, and 125 at the Pentagon.Among the fatalities
   were 343 New York City Fire Department firefighters, 23 New York City
   Police Department officers, and 37 Port Authority Police Department
   officers. An additional 24 people remain listed as missing.

   World Trade Centre - 1366 people died who were at or above the floors
   of impact in the North Tower (1 WTC); according to the Commission
   Report, hundreds were killed instantly by the impact while the rest
   were trapped and died later.

   As many as 600 people were killed instantly or trapped at or 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.

   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. To
   witnesses watching, a few of the people falling from the towers seemed
   to have stumbled out of broken windows. Some of the occupants of each
   tower above its point of impact made their way upward toward the roof
   in hope of helicopter rescue, however; no rescue plan existed for such
   an eventuality, the roof access doors were locked and thick smoke and
   intense heat would have prevented rescue helicopters from landing.
   Collection of photographs of those murdered (except for 92 victims)
   during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Prosecution exhibit
   from the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui.
   Enlarge
   Collection of photographs of those murdered (except for 92 victims)
   during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Prosecution exhibit
   from the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui.

   Cantor Fitzgerald L.P., an investment bank on the 101st-105th floors of
   One World Trade Centre, lost 658 employees, considerably more than any
   other employer. Marsh Inc., located immediately below Cantor Fitzgerald
   on floors 93-101 (the location of Flight 11's impact), lost 295
   employees, including one on Flight 175. Additionally, Marsh lost 38
   consultants. Approximately 400 rescue workers, most of them of the
   FDNY, died when the towers collapsed.

   According to the Associated Press, the city identified over 1,600
   bodies but was unable to identify the rest (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." Bone
   fragments were still being found in 2006 as workers prepared the
   damaged Deutsche Bank Building for demolition. The average age of all
   the dead in New York City was 40.

   The dead included 8 children: 5 on American 77 ranging in age from 3 to
   11, 3 on United 175 ages 2, 3, and 4. The youngest victim was a 2
   year-old child on Flight 175, the oldest an 82 year-old passenger on
   Flight 11. In the buildings, the youngest victim was 17 and the oldest
   was 79.

   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 Centre
   towers. In New Jersey and Connecticut, private schools were evacuated.
   Many children in schools of Maryland, those nearest to DC, were sent
   home. Scarsdale, New York schools closed for the day. In Greenwich,
   Connecticut, about 20 miles north of the city, hundreds of school
   children had direct ties to victims of the attacks. Greenwich and
   nearby New Canaan, two of the wealthiest towns in the area along with
   neighboring Darien, had more residents killed, as a percentage of total
   population, than any other Connecticut towns. After New York, New
   Jersey was the hardest hit state, with the town of Hoboken sustaining
   the most fatalities. Almost all the massacred were civilians, except
   some of the 125 victims in the Pentagon.

   There were also a number of reports, some contradictory, from callers
   aboard the hijacked aircraft that suggest the hijackers murdered
   several people aboard the planes before impact.

Damage

   In addition to the 110-floor Twin Towers of the World Trade Center
   itself, five other buildings at the World Trade Centre site, including
   7 World Trade Centre and the Marriott Hotel, two New York City Subway
   stations, and St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church were destroyed or
   badly damaged. In total, in Manhattan, 25 buildings were damaged and
   all seven buildings of the World Trade Centre Complex had to be razed.
   Two additional buildings were later condemned: the Deutsche Bank
   Building across Liberty Street from the World Trade Centre complex, due
   to the uninhabitable, toxic conditions inside the office tower and
   Borough of Manhattan Community College's Fiterman Hall at 30 West
   Broadway due to extensive damage in the attacks. These buildings are
   both (as of September 2006) slated for deconstruction.

   Communications equipment such as broadcast radio, television and
   two-way radio antenna towers were damaged beyond repair. In Arlington
   County, a portion of the Pentagon was severely damaged by fire and one
   section of the building collapsed.

Survivors

   According to the 9/11 Commission, approximately 16,000 people were
   below the impact zones in the World Trade Centre complex at the time of
   the attacks. The vast majority of those below the impact areas
   survived, evacuating before the towers collapsed.

The hijackers

   Nineteen Arab men boarded the four planes, five each on American
   Airlines Flight 11, United Airlines Flight 175 and American Airlines
   Flight 77, four on United Airlines Flight 93. Fifteen of the attackers
   were from Saudi Arabia, two from the United Arab Emirates, one from
   Egypt, and one from Lebanon.

   The group consisted of six core organizers, which included the four
   pilots, and thirteen others. Unlike many stereotypes of hijackers or
   terrorists, most of the attackers were educated and came from
   well-to-do backgrounds.

Other potential hijackers

   27 members of al-Qaeda attempted to enter the United States to take
   part in the September 11 attacks, only 19 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 Arabian 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 never completed because the al-Qaeda hierarchy
       allegedly had doubts about his reliability. He was arrested on
       August 16, 2001, about four weeks before the attacks, ostensibly
       for an immigration violation, but FBI agents suspected he had
       violent intentions after receiving flight training earlier that
       year. In April 2005, Moussaoui pleaded guilty to conspiring to
       hijack planes, and to involvement with al-Qaeda, but he denies
       foreknowledge of the 9-11 attacks. 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 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." In a video tape released in May 2006, Osama bin Laden
   claimed that Moussaoui had "no connection whatsoever with the events of
   September 11" and that he knows this because "I was responsible for
   entrusting the 19 brothers" who carried out the attacks. On May 3,
   2006, a federal jury rejected the death penalty and sentenced Moussaoui
   to 6 life terms in prison without parole.

   At Moussaoui's 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
   Centre." Maltbie had refused to act on 70 requests from another agent,
   Harry Samit, to obtain a warrant to search Moussaoui's computer.
   Buildings surrounding the World Trade Center were heavily damaged by
   the debris and massive force of the falling twin towers
   Enlarge
   Buildings surrounding the World Trade Centre were heavily damaged by
   the debris and massive force of the falling twin towers

   Other al-Qaeda members who 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.

Responsibility and motives

Responsibility

   Within hours of the attacks, the FBI was able to determine their names
   and in many cases details such as dates of birth, known and/or possible
   residences, visa status, and specific identity of the suspected pilots
   and hijackers. Few had made any attempt to disguise their names on
   flight and credit card records, and they were some of the few people of
   Arabic descent on the flights. On the day of the attacks, U.S.
   intelligence agencies intercepted communications that pointed to Osama
   bin Laden.

   On September 27, 2001, the FBI released photos of the 19 hijackers,
   along with information about the possible nationalities and aliases of
   many. The FBI investigation into the September 11, 2001 attacks, code
   named operation PENTTBOM, was the largest and most complex
   investigation in the history of the FBI, involving over 7,000 special
   agents. The United States government determined that al-Qaeda, headed
   by Osama bin Laden, bore responsibility for the attacks, with the FBI
   stating that evidence linking Al-Qaeda and bin Laden to the attacks of
   September 11 is clear and irrefutable. The Government of the United
   Kingdom reached the same conclusion, regarding Al Qaeda and Osama bin
   Laden's culpability for the September 11, 2001 attacks.

   Osama bin Laden's declaration of a holy war against the United States,
   and a Fatwa signed by bin Laden and others calling for the killing of
   American civilians in 1998, are seen by many as evidence of his
   motivation to commit such acts.

   Bin Laden initially denied, but later admitted involvement in the
   incidents. On September 16, 2001, bin Laden denied any involvement with
   the attacks by reading a statement which was broadcast by Qatar's Al
   Jazeera satellite channel: "I stress that I have not carried out this
   act, which appears to have been carried out by individuals with their
   own motivation." This denial was broadcast on U.S. news networks and
   worldwide.

   In November 2001, U.S. forces recovered a videotape from a destroyed
   house in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, in which Osama bin Laden is talking to
   Khaled al-Harbi. In the tape bin Laden admits foreknowledge of the
   attacks. The tape was broadcast on various news networks from December
   13, 2001.

   On December 27, 2001, a second bin Laden video was released. In the
   video he stated "Terrorism against America deserves to be praised
   because it was a response to injustice, aimed at forcing America to
   stop its support for Israel, which kills our people," but he stopped
   short of admitting responsibility for the attacks.

   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."

   In a videotape aired on Al Jazeera on October 30, 2004, bin Laden said
   he had personally directed the 19 hijackers. Another video obtained by
   Al Jazeera in September 2006 shows Osama bin Laden with Ramzi
   Binalshibh, as well as two hijackers, Hamza al-Ghamdi and Wail
   al-Shehri, as they make preparations for the attacks.

   The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States was
   formed by the United States government and was commonly called the 9/11
   Commission. It released its report on July 22, 2004, concluding that
   the attacks were conceived and implemented by members of al-Qaeda. 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.

   In "Substitution for Testimony of Khalid Sheik Mohammed" from the trial
   of Zacarias Moussaoui, five people are identified as having been
   completely aware of the operations details. They are: Osama bin Laden,
   Khalid Sheik Mohammed, Ramzi Binalshibh, Abu Turab Al-Urduni and
   Mohammed Atef.

   On September 26th of 2005, the Spain's high court directed by judge
   Baltazar Garzon sentenced Abu Dahdah to 27 years of imprisonment for
   conspiracy on the 9/11 attacks and as part of the terrorist
   organization Al Qaeda. At the same time, another 17 Al Qaeda members
   were sentenced to penalties of between 6 and 12 years. On February 16th
   2006, the Spanish Supreme Court reduced the Abu Dahdah penalty to 12
   years because it considered that his participation in the conspiracy
   was not proven.

Motive

   According to official U.S. government sources, the September 11th
   attacks were consistent with the mission statement of al-Qaeda. The
   overarching motivation for the present al-Qaeda campaign was set out in
   a 1998 fatwa issued by Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Abu-Yasir
   Rifa'i Ahmad Taha, Shaykh Mir Hamzah, and Fazlur Rahman (Amir of the
   Jihad Movement in Bangladesh, Fazlur Rahman).

   The fatwa lists three "crimes and sins" committed by the Americans:
     * U.S. support of Israel.
     * U.S. military occupation of the Arabian Peninsula.
     * U.S. aggression against the Iraqi people.

   The fatwa states that the United States:
     * Plunders the resources of the Arabian Peninsula.
     * Dictates policy to the rulers of those countries.
     * Supports abusive regimes and monarchies in the Middle East, thereby
       oppressing their people.
     * Has military bases and installations upon the Arabian Peninsula,
       which violates the Muslim holy land, in order to threaten
       neighboring Muslim countries.
     * Intends thereby to create disunion between Muslim states, thus
       weakening them as a political force.
     * Supports Israel, and wishes to divert international attention from
       (and tacitly maintain) the occupation of Palestine.

   The Persian Gulf War, the ensuing sanctions against Iraq and the
   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 Islamic texts to exhort violent action against
   American military and citizenry until the alleged grievances are
   reversed: Stating "ulema have throughout Islamic history unanimously
   agreed that the jihad is an individual duty if the enemy destroys the
   Muslim countries."
   Aerial photo taken April 27, 2004 of the area of the crash of United
   Airlines Flight 93 in Shanksville, PA (USGS)
   Enlarge
   Aerial photo taken April 27, 2004 of the area of the crash of United
   Airlines Flight 93 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 video,
   apparently acknowledging responsibility for the attacks, bin Laden
   states that he was motivated by the 1982 Lebanon War, for which he held
   the U.S. partially responsible. In the video, bin Laden also claims
   that he wants to, "restore freedom to our nation," to "punish the
   aggressor in kind," and to inflict economic damage on America. He
   declared that a continuing objective of his holy war was to, "[bleed]
   America to the point of bankruptcy." 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 9/11 Commission Report determined that the animosity towards the
   United States felt by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the "principal architect"
   of the 9/11 attacks, stemmed "not from his experiences there as a
   student, but rather from his violent disagreement with U.S. foreign
   policy favoring Israel." The same motivation has been imputed to the
   two pilots who flew into the WTC: Mohamed Atta was described by 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.

   According to counter-terrorism expert Richard A. Clarke, internal
   political conflicts within the Muslim world are the primary causal
   factors for the attacks of 9/11. Specifically, bin Laden and other
   residents of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, among other countries of the
   Middle East, believe that the vast majority of governments in the
   Middle East are apostate governments. That is, these governments'
   collective religiosity does not meet bin Laden's standard of Muslim
   piety. The primary reason that bin Laden gives for this assertion is
   that none of these governments is a caliphate. Inspired by the Egyptian
   theologian and writer Sayyid Qutb, bin Laden believes that it is his
   duty as a Muslim to establish a caliphate in the Middle East.

   Arising directly from these beliefs, bin Laden designed a strategy of
   attacking the United States in order to establish this caliphate.
   Terming the United States as the "Far Enemy," bin Laden designed the
   attacks of 9/11 to cause the U.S. to increase its military and cultural
   presence in the Middle East. Bin Laden believes that once Muslim
   citizens of the Middle East confront the evils of a non-Muslim
   government, one that is not a caliphate, a popular social and political
   movement will catalyze around the desire for very conservative and
   zealous Muslim governments in the Middle East.

   According to Michale Doran, this goal is further demonstrated by bin
   Laden's use of the term "spectacular" as a noun when talking about the
   attacks of 9/11. For example, "This spectacular will greatly anger
   America." He hoped these attacks would provoke a visceral emotional
   response from the government and citizens of the United States. In so
   doing, he was attempting to ensure that Muslim citizens in the Middle
   East would react as violently as possible to an increase in U.S.
   involvement in their region.

Other potential attacks

   Mohammed Afroze was convicted in India in 2005 after confessing to
   being involved in planning an attack on the Palace of Westminster in
   London and Tower Bridge. The attack 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. His lawyer
   claimed that the confession was obtained through torture.

   In February 2006, President George W. Bush stated that al-Qaeda had
   initially planned to crash a plane into the tallest building in the
   western United States, the Library Tower in Los Angeles, on the same
   day. However, this attack was postponed by bin Laden, and subsequently
   foiled.

   The U.S. government initially claimed that the White House and Air
   Force One were also targeted, although the source and nature of these
   threats was not disclosed. President Bush flew on Air Force One to
   Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, and then flew to Offutt Air
   Force Base in Nebraska, before returning to Washington. After criticism
   that Bush did not return immediately to Washington, the White House
   claimed the next day that a terrorist threat, "using code words," had
   been phoned in against Air Force One. White House Spokesman Ari
   Fleischer quoted the caller as saying, "Air Force One is a target." The
   White House later backed away from this claim after no evidence of the
   phone call was found.

Reactions

International reaction

   A solitary firefighter stands amid the rubble and smoke in New York
   City. Days after the Sept. 11 attack, fires still burned at the site of
   the World Trade Center.
   Enlarge
   A solitary firefighter stands amid the rubble and smoke in New York
   City. Days after the Sept. 11 attack, fires still burned at the site of
   the World Trade Centre.

   The attacks had major global political ramifications. They were
   denounced by mainstream media and governments worldwide, with the
   headline of France's Le Monde newspaper summing up the international
   mood of sympathy: "We Are All Americans" (Nous sommes tous Américains).
   The German reaction was profound and remains so, five years later, in
   2006. The most publicized exception was that some Palestinians
   celebrated jubilantly upon hearing about 9/11. Less publicized are the
   public demonstrations of enthusiasm for the attacks conducted by
   Chinese students in mainland China during the night after the attacks.

   Approximately one month after the attacks, the United States led a
   broad coalition of international forces in the removal of the
   oppressive Taliban regime for harboring the al-Qaeda organization. The
   Pakistani authorities moved decisively to align themselves with the
   United States in a war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Pakistan
   provided the U.S. a number of military airports and bases for its
   attack on the Taliban regime, and arrested over 600 supposed al-Qaeda
   members, whom it handed over to the U.S.

   Numerous countries, including the UK, India, Australia, France,
   Germany, Indonesia, China, Canada, Russia, Pakistan, Jordan, Mauritius,
   Uganda and Zimbabwe introduced "anti-terrorism" legislation and froze
   the bank accounts of businesses and individuals they suspected of
   having al-Qaeda ties.

   Law enforcement and intelligence agencies in a number of countries,
   including Italy, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines arrested
   people they labeled terrorist suspects for the stated purpose of
   breaking up militant cells around the world. In the U.S., this aroused
   some controversy, as critics such as the Bill of Rights Defense
   Committee argued that traditional restrictions on federal surveillance
   (e.g. COINTELPRO's monitoring of public meetings) were "dismantled" by
   the USA PATRIOT Act; civil liberty organizations such as the American
   Civil Liberties Union and Liberty argued that certain civil rights
   protections were also being circumvented.

   The United States set up a detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to
   hold what they termed " illegal enemy combatants". 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.

   In the United Kingdom outrage swelled in the media over a Civil
   Servant's attempt to capitalize on the tragedy. Jo Moore, then serving
   Minister Stephen Byers, sent an email to staff suggesting that it would
   be a good time to publish anything that may prove unpopular in the hope
   that it would be overshadowed by events in the U.S. This political
   storm became known as the Bury Bad News Scandal.

Public response

   The 9/11 attacks had immediate and overwhelming effects upon the United
   States population. Gratitude toward uniformed public-safety workers
   (dubbed " first responders"), 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. Blood donations
   also saw a surge in the weeks after 9/11.

   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, which are
   stereotypically associated with Muslims in the United States. At least
   nine people were murdered within the United States as a result. Balbir
   Singh Sodhi, one of the first victims of this phenomenon, was fatally
   shot on September 15. He, like others, was a Sikh who was mistaken for
   a Muslim.

   Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, George W. Bush's job approval
   rating soared to 86%. On September 20, 2001, the president spoke before
   the nation and a joint session of the United States Congress, regarding
   the events of that day, the intervening nine days of rescue and
   recovery efforts, and his intent in response to those events. In
   addition, the highly visible role played by New York City mayor Rudy
   Giuliani won him high praise nationally and in New York.

Conspiracy theories

   Various conspiracy theories have emerged that question the mainstream
   account of the attacks. Conspiracy theorists have said the collapse of
   the World Trade Centre was caused by planted explosives. Some say a
   commercial airliner did not crash into the Pentagon, and that United
   Airlines Flight 93 was shot down. Most conspiracy theories say
   individuals in the government of the United States knew of the
   impending attacks and let them happen, or actually planned the attacks.
   While conspiracy theories about Jewish or Israeli involvement are "a
   core part of the belief system of anti-Semites and millions of others
   around the world", in the United States a minority of conspiracy
   theorists say there was Israeli or Jewish involvement in the attacks.

U.S. Government response

Rescue, recovery, and compensation

   Within hours of the attack, a massive search and rescue (SAR) operation
   was launched, which included over 350 search and rescue dogs.
   Initially, only a handful of wounded people were found at the site, and
   in the weeks that followed it became evident that there were no
   survivors to be found.

   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. All of 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 financial assistance to the
   survivors and the families of victims. At the deadline for victim's
   compensation, September 11, 2003, 2,833 applications were received from
   the families of those massacred.

The War on Terrorism

   In the aftermath of the attacks, many U.S. citizens held the view that
   the attacks had "changed the world forever." 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 overthrow of the oppressive Taliban rule from
   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.

   Because the attacks on the United States were judged to be within the
   parameters of its charter, NATO declared that Article 5 of the NATO
   agreement was satisfied on September 12, 2001, making the US war on
   terror the first time since its inception that NATO would actually
   participate in a "hot" war.

Domestic response

   Within the United States, Congress passed and President Bush signed the
   Homeland Security Act of 2002, creating the Department of Homeland
   Security, representing the largest restructuring of the U.S. government
   in contemporary history. Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act, stating
   that it would help detect and prosecute terrorism and other crimes.
   Civil liberties groups have criticized the PATRIOT Act, saying that it
   allows law enforcement to invade the privacy of citizens and eliminates
   judicial oversight of law-enforcement and domestic intelligence
   gathering. The Bush Administration also invoked 9/11 as the reason to
   initiate a secret National Security Agency operation, "to eavesdrop on
   telephone and e-mail communications between the United States and
   people overseas without a warrant."

   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."

Investigations

Collapse of the World Trade Centre

   An illustration of the World Trade Center 9-11 attacks with a vertical
   view of the impact locations. Many architects and structural engineers
   have analyzed the collapse of the Twin Towers.
   Enlarge
   An illustration of the World Trade Centre 9-11 attacks with a vertical
   view of the impact locations. Many architects and structural engineers
   have analyzed the collapse of the Twin Towers.
   September 13, 2001: A New York City firefighter looks up at what
   remains of the South Tower.
   Enlarge
   September 13, 2001: A New York City firefighter looks up at what
   remains of the South Tower.
   9/11 Report
   Enlarge
   9/11 Report

   Three buildings in the World Trade Centre Complex collapsed due to
   structural failure on the day of the attack. The south tower (2 WTC)
   fell at approximately 9:59 a.m., after burning for 56 minutes in a fire
   caused by the impact of United Airlines Flight 175 at 9:03 a.m. The
   north tower (1 WTC) fell at 10:28 a.m., after burning approximately 102
   minutes in a fire caused by the impact of American Airlines Flight 11
   at 8:46 a.m. A third building, 7 World Trade Centre (7 WTC) collapsed
   at 5:20 p.m., after being heavily damaged by debris from the Twin
   Towers when they fell and subsequent fires. Numerous adjacent buildings
   to the complex also had substantial damage and fires and had to be
   demolished. The Deutsche Bank Building is the only remaining large
   structure that suffered damage and fires at ground zero that has yet to
   be fully demolished, though this is expected to be completed by mid
   2007.

   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:
     * Improvements in the way in which buildings are designed,
       constructed, maintained, and used
     * Improved tools and guidance for industry and safety officials
     * Revisions to building and fire codes, standards, and practices
     * Improved public safety

   The report concludes that the fireproofing on the Twin Towers' steel
   infrastructures was blown off by the initial impact of the planes and
   that, if this had not occurred, the towers would likely have remained
   standing. The fires weakened the trusses supporting the floors, making
   the floors sag. The sagging floors pulled on the exterior steel columns
   to the point where exterior columns bowed inward. With the damage to
   the core columns, the buckling exterior columns could no longer support
   the buildings, causing them to collapse. In addition, the report
   asserts that the towers' stairwells were not adequately reinforced to
   provide emergency escape for people above the impact zones. NIST stated
   that the final report on the collapse of 7 WTC will appear in a
   separate report.

9/11 Commission Report

   The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (
   9/11 Commission), chaired by former New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean,
   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 report
   was released. The commission has been subject to criticism.

Civilian aircraft grounding

   For the first time in history, all nonemergency civilian aircraft in
   the United States and several other countries including Canada were
   immediately grounded, stranding tens of thousands of passengers across
   the world.

Invocation of the continuity of government

   Contingency plans for the continuity of government and the evacuation
   of leaders were implemented almost immediately after the attacks.
   Congress, however, was not told that the US was under a continuity of
   government status until February 2002.

Long-term effects

Economic aftermath

   View of the WTC and the Statue of Liberty
   Enlarge
   View of the WTC and the Statue of Liberty

   The attacks had a significant economic impact on the United States and
   world markets. The Federal Reserve temporarily had reduced contact with
   banks because of outages of switching equipment in the lower NY
   financial district. Contact and control over the money supply,
   including immediate liquidity for banks, was restored within hours. 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 Centre. 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 remained barricaded and guarded to prevent a
   physical attack upon the building.

   The economy of Lower Manhattan, which by itself is the third-largest
   business district in the United States (after Midtown Manhattan and the
   Chicago Loop) was devastated in the immediate aftermath. Thirty percent
   (28.7 million sq ft, 2.7 million m³) of Lower Manhattan office space
   was either damaged or destroyed. The 41-story Deutsche Bank Building,
   neighboring the World Trade Centre, was subsequently closed because
   extensive damage made it unfit for habitation and beyond repair; it was
   scheduled for demolition. Power, telephone, and gas were cut off in
   much of Lower Manhattan. People were not permitted to enter the SoHo
   and Lower Manhattan area without extensive inspection. Much of what was
   destroyed was valuable Class-A space. The pre-2001 trend of moving jobs
   out of Lower Manhattan to Midtown and New Jersey was accelerated. Many
   questioned whether these lost jobs would ever be restored, and whether
   the damaged tax base could ever recover. The rebuilding has been
   inhibited by a lack of agreement on priorities. For example, Mayor
   Bloomberg had made New York's bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics the core
   of his capital development plan from 2002 until mid-2005, and Governor
   Pataki largely delegated his role to the Lower Manhattan Development
   Corporation which has been widely criticized for doing little with the
   enormous funding directed to the rebuilding efforts. On the sites of
   the totally destroyed buildings, one, 7 World Trade Centre, has a new
   office tower which was completed in 2006. The Freedom Tower is
   currently under construction at the site and at 1,776 ft (541 m) upon
   completion in 2010, will become the tallest building in North America
   and one of the tallest in the world. Three more towers are expected to
   be built between 2007 and 2012 on the site, and will be located one
   block east of where the original towers stood. 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.
   Smoke plume coming from the WTC site, seen on Doppler radar
   Enlarge
   Smoke plume coming from the WTC site, seen on Doppler radar
   Smoke plume coming from the Pentagon site, seen on Doppler radar
   Enlarge
   Smoke plume coming from the Pentagon site, seen on Doppler radar

Potential health effects

   The thousands of tons of toxic debris resulting from the collapse of
   the Twin Towers consisted of more than 2,500 contaminants, more
   specifically: 50% nonfibrous material and construction debris; 40%
   glass and other fibers; 9.2% cellulose; and 0.8% asbestos, lead, and
   mercury. There were also unprecedented levels of dioxin and PAHs from
   the fires which burned for three months. Some of the dispersed
   substances (crystalline silica, lead, cadmium, polycyclic aromatic
   hydrocarbons) are carcinogenic; other substances can trigger kidney,
   heart, liver and nervous system deterioration.

   This has led to debilitating illnesses among rescue and recovery
   workers, and the death of NYPD officer James Zadroga. Health effects
   also extended to some residents, students, and office workers of Lower
   Manhattan and nearby Chinatown.

   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 hazard, 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 Centre
   towers. The staff of this study assesses the children using
   psychological testing every year and interviews 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.

   Government officials have been faulted for urging the public to return
   to lower Manhattan in the weeks shortly following the attacks.
   President Bush has been faulted for interfering with the EPA
   interpretations and pronouncements regarding air quality. Mayor
   Giuliani has been faulted for urging financial industry personnel to
   return to the greater Wall Street area.

   On October 17, 2006 federal judge Alvin K. Hellerstein rejected New
   York city's refusal to pay for health costs for rescue workers.

Memorials

   Manhattan from Jersey City on the memorial of the attacks in 2004
   Enlarge
   Manhattan from Jersey City on the memorial of the attacks in 2004
   World Trade Center site as of December 2005
   Enlarge
   World Trade Centre site as of December 2005
   World Trade Center cross
   Enlarge
   World Trade Centre cross

   Memorials to the victims and heroes of the attacks of September 11 have
   been planned. An eternal flame was lit by the Mayor on the first
   anniversary of the disaster. An outdoor public memorial at the Pentagon
   is scheduled for completion in Fall 2006. Within the Pentagon itself,
   the America's Heroes Memorial 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.

   Construction of the World Trade Centre Memorial began in March 2006.
   The winning design of the World Trade Centre Site Memorial Competition
   was Reflecting Absence created by Michael Arad. It is expected to open
   in 2009.

   Many permanent memorials are being constructed around the world and a
   list is being updated as new ones are completed. In addition to
   physical monuments, a number of September 11th family members and
   friends have set up memorial funds, scholarships, and charities in
   honour of lost loved ones.

Books

     * Wayne Barrett and Dan Collins, Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of
       Rudy Giuliani and 9/11. New York, Harper Collins, (2006). ISBN
       0060536608
     * National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, The 9/11 Commission
       Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist
       Attacks Upon the United States, W.W. Norton and Company, (2004),
       ISBN 0393326713

   Retrieved from "
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11%2C_2001_attacks"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
