5 - September 11, 2001 Attacks

In New York City, on September 11, 2001, a massive terrorist attack took place. That morning, 19 Al-Qaeda-affiliated men boarded 4 commercial jetliners in different parts of the United States. In flight, the men hijacked the planes and re-routed them towards major building on the eastern side of the U.S. Two planes were targeting each tower of the World Trade Center; theses two were successful in hitting their target. Upon impact with the two towers, both of the jetliners exploded. The heat caused from the explosion weakened the World Trade Center's steel framework, and it eventually collapsed. The third plane launched itself towards the Pentagon; it too was successful in hitting its target. At the Pentagon, the terrorists were able to penetrate the E, D, and C rings of the building. The fourth plane was the only failure for the terrorists. It was supposedly targeting the White House, but because the people on the plane, the airliner instead landed in a Pennsylvania field where the only people killed where the ones on board. These fliers are thought to have attacked the terrorists which caused them to inevitably miss their intended destination. 2,974 people died due these attacks. Along with that, the World Trade Center was demolished, and the Pentagon's western side was badly damaged from the plane's impact, fires, smoke, and water. After the attacks occurred, the United States government was able to easily acquire the names of the terrorists and the organization that they were affiliated with. All 19 terrorists were part of Al-Qaeda, and because of other intelligence, the U.S. was able to conclude that Osama bin Ladin approved this terrorist mission as early as 1996. Although bin Ladin was not the man that concocted this attack, he was a key organizer of the attacks. The idea for the 9/11 attacks came from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Also, directly following the attacks, the U.S. basically closed the United States' airways. Inevitably, the attacks caused America to boost air security, and many new administrations, such as the Department of Home Land Security, were created for security matters. Furthermore, clean-up after the event took months. Help was received not only for the New York Fire Department and New York Police Department, but several states allowed many of their firefighters and police officers to travel to New York city to help with the wreckage. Currently, the area where the towers fell is known as Ground Zero. Building plans here are still pending. Because of its link with 9/11, Al-Qaeda is the 6th and final link to its own organization and terrorism.


Videos of 9/11 attacks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAaP4Z3zls8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOEzTInapa4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0Qu6eyyr4c&feature=related