September 11 Attacks

 

     On September 11th, 2001, the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda coordinated a series of attacks on the United States. Four passenger airplanes were hijacked as they departed from airports in the northeastern United States. Two of the planes were flown into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Within two hours, both towers had collapsed, causing significant damage to the buildings around them and causing the partial or complete collapse to the rest of the buildings in the World Trade Center complex. 2,606 people were killed, among them 343 firefighters and paramedics and 72 law enforcement officers. The other two attacks are less famous. The third plane crashed into the Pentagon in Virginia, killing 125 military personal and civilians. The fourth plane departed from the airport 40 minutes late, and once in the air the crew and passengers were alerted of the attacks by loved ones over phone. They attempted to subdue the hijackers, but the terrorists crashed the plane in an empty field in Pennsylvania instead of relinquishing control. The intended target is still unknown, but the plane was en route to Washington D.C.

 

     The effects of these attacks were massive and widespread. The U.S. government launched the War on Terror and invaded Afghanistan in an attempt to dismantle al-Qaeda and the Taliban government. The United States also used the rationale of a War on Terror to invade Iraq in 2003. A decade long manhunt for Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, was also launched, cumulating in his location and death at the hands of SEAL Team Six in 2011. The 9/11 attacks completely changed the U.S. government’s security and foreign policies and transformed the political climate of the new millennium.