Category: Osama Bin Laden

Terrorist attacks change the lifestyle and priorities of a society (Eldar, 2010) non more so than the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Following the attacks questions were raised with regard to the effectiveness of all airport security and how the suspects were able to pass checks and board the planes.

Today aviation plays a major role in connecting the world, transporting people, and goods. Therefore, the provision of adequate security measures is of vital importance in the aviation industry (Price and Forrest, 2013). The International Civil Aviation Organization now sets standards that all member countries must adhere to and in turn member countries set out procedures to ensure they meet these standards. Security procedures must be constantly improved to combat changing terrorist activity (Price and Forrest, 2013).

A report by the (European Commission 2005) estimates that over 30,000 flights operate on a daily basis in European airspace. The scheduled flight times and known destinations make these easy targets and allows maximum time for planning. The developing nature of aviation and the increased numbers using air travel make the industry an attractive target and guarantees high publicity rewards.

Before the 9/11 attacks all aviation security in Europe was the responsibility of the European Civil Aviation Conference but following the attacks it was enshrined into EU Law. The legislation was based on 4 principles, Simplification, Harmonization, Clarification and the Enhancement of Security Levels. The baseline measures set out common standards in the screening of bags, access around airports, prohibited items and staff recruitment.

Post 9/11 security both on board aircraft and on the ground was increased and not always for the good. Security measures on board aircraft included the upgrading and reinforcing of cockpit doors to prevent unauthorized access. Following the suicide of a German co-pilot, the procedures would later be changed to stipulate two authorised persons must be in the cockpit at all times. The co-pilot had locked and secured the cabin door while the Captain had went to the toilet and due to the security measures in place he was unable to gain access to cabin. All 150 passengers and crew died.

At airports the changes to the security protocol were more noticeable with not all having the desired effect. Airports are confronted by increasing costs, as well as escalating customer dissatisfaction, as a result of development and changes in security procedures (Lange et al, 2013).

The International Air Transport Association states that “Aviation is more secure today than in 2001. But this has come at a great price in terms of passenger convenience and industry costs.”

Since 9/11 there are 5 lessons to take forward:

1. Governments must coordinate the development and deployment of security measures to ensure harmonized global standards and eliminate overlapping and redundant requirements among nations.
2. Governments are obliged to foot the bill for security threats which are national challenges in the same manner as they would do in any other sector. Airlines and their passengers currently pay a security bill that had ballooned to $7.4 billion by 2010.
3. Passengers should and do play an important role in helping keep air travel safe. Vigilance and cooperation with authorities are crucial.
4. Governments need to embrace a risk-based approach to security screening.
5. We must accept that there is no such thing as 100% risk-free security. Governments must focus on the probable and not all that is possible and avoid policies driven by knee-jerk reactions.

The list of prohibited items passengers face when travelling has increased considerably with some experts stating that it’s the passengers themselves that need to be scrutinized and not the contents of there bags. Following 9/11 governments introduced a profiling system which many claimed violated their civil rights.

“The primary purpose of profile-based screening is to determine the absence of normal behaviour or the presence of abnormal behaviour during the processes of document checks and behaviour analyses’ (Price and Forrest, 2013).

The CAPPS II process involved each passenger being assessed and placed into either acceptable, unaccepatable or unkown risk category:

• Acceptable risk – subject to basic security screening.
• Unacceptable risk – Interviewed by police and decision made whether to permit travel.
• Unknown – subject to additional security procedures

This process was flawed and allowed “Richard Reid, an Englishman who attempted to detonate explosives in the shoes he was wearing on American Airlines Flight 63 in 2001, had not been identified by the profile-based screening system’ (Price and Forrest, 2013).

Following on from this the Secure Flight System was introduced which focused on a list drawn up of passengers on a watch list while the rest where assigned into risky or non risky groups. This process has drawn its own criticism as different security procedures are applied to different passengers some of which may have been assigned into the risky group due to their colour, dress or creed.

“In effect, this means that depending on where people come from or what their passports are, they are exposed to discriminatory practices’ (Hasisi et al, 2012). “It is stated that terrorist profiling factors might be based on differences, such as, nationality, place of birth, age, gender and physical characteristics; however, race, ethnicity and religion should be left out in this definition’ (Kleiner, 2010).

Although profiling has not been credited with stopping any terrorist threats it has seen arrests made for other crimes including drugs and counterfeit travel documents.

In conclusion, I feel that profiling in the immediate time after the 9/11 attacks was effective and provided a great sense of security and reassurance that action was being taken by governments across the world. Although as time went on and the immediate threat diminished, passengers felt more comfortable and the process was then open to a lot more scrutiny. Passengers being put into risky/unacceptable categories obviously feel aggrieved and rather than think of the long term security start asking questions as to “why am I subject to extra checks”, “why am I being single out”, “why is the finger pointing to me”. The SPOT (Screening Passengers by Observation Technique) programme used today seems to be a lot fairer and requires security staff to observe the actions and behaviour of passengers and them submit them to extra checks. But like the previous system the human element of selecting and grading behaviour is left to individual interpretation, it is open to human error. This in turn leading to racial prejudice especially among the Arab Muslim community. On the downside and like the actions carried out by terrorists they often undergo a lot of training before carrying out attacks and their awareness of this behaviour recognition profiling can mean they undergo training to prevent their behaviour from being picked up or detected.

18 years ago, back in September 9th of 2001, all of us remember the tragic day when two planes crashed with the world trade center in New York, the attack was coordinated by the terrorist organization Al Qaida, which killed 2977 people plus the 19 hijackers, and 6000 more people were injured and this completely destroyed the world trade center, bringing down both towers. But ever since 9/11 conspiracy theories have started to fly, many started to say that it was impossible that the planes brought down the towers, others said it was George W. Bush who coordinated the attack.

Some of the most well known theorists are: Dylan Avery and Jason Bermas, who made a documentary, which stated that “Fires were insufficient to cause their collapse, and that cell phone calls from the hijacked airplanes would have been impossible at the time”. David Griffin, who is a theologian who’s written many books about 9/11. Once known as Fleischmann and Pons’ competitor for ‘cold fusion’ research in Utah, Steven Jones has written many books about 9/11 Truth. His work with others (including chemist Niels Harrit of Denmark) on detecting nano thermite in WTC dust is frequently cited as “peer-reviewed research” that proves “inside job” claims. The physics teacher David Chandler, has stated that simple physics show that the towers could not have happened from gravity alone.

Now, here are some of the theories that had been made debunked.

First: ‘The twin towers collapsed with a free-fall acceleration in a path of mayor resistance’. This was one of the most bizarre things of 9/11, since each tower collapsed between 15 to 20 seconds. The towers collapsed in free-fall acceleration, which proves that there was a complete lack of resistance, proving he structures were demolished with explosives. We are also told the mass of the building is“80,000 tons of structural steel,” which would definitely resist collapse. But how could it happen, it’s been explained very well in the technical literature by Northwestern’s Zdenek Bazant, PhD, and others. Here are the findings: each floor contained over two million kilograms of mass. The gravitational potential energy of a standing tower with twelve-foot floors extending upward 110 stories can be calculated straightforwardly; it comes to over 420 billion joules of energy, or the equivalent of 100 tons of TNT per tower. This amount of energy was released. This is where the energy required to break columns, pulverize concrete, and expel debris through windows came from.

Second: ‘Nano-thermite and military-grade explosives were found in dust from the towers. Tons of melted steel were found in tower debris’. The reaction of thermite is very hot, but slow compared to common explosives. Real controlled demolitions use explosives to topple large buildings; However the hallmarks of modern demolitions, the boom sound and flashbangs were absent. Richard Gage, insist that high explosives must have been used to bring down the Twin Towers, as they say this is the only process that can possibly explain the “ejection of debris hundreds of feet from the towers.” But thermie in many levels fails as an explanation of the destruction of the towers.

The thermite reaction, which takes place between iron oxide (rust) and powdered aluminum, is practical for welding train rails or engines of vehicles that need to be left behind in combat operations, however it has never been used for and it isn’t practical for controlled demolitions.

Third: ‘Tower 7 , which wasn’t hit by a plane collapsed anyways’. Ever since the crash, it has been a mystery why the WTC 7 collapsed. We were always old that there were a few internal office fires, yet it collapsed late in the afternoon, but it collapsed on its own footprint, meaning that it was most probably a controlled demolition, just like the towers. Yet the WTC 7 collapse fails to prove 9/11 was an inside job. What is often conveniently left out of the story are actual reports from NYFD firefighters at the scene, which describe “huge, raging, unfought fires on many floors at once and visible deformations and creaking of the building prior to its collapse” (Roberts, 2008). Tower 7 was not hit by an airplane; however, it was struck by a 110-story flaming skyscraper, the North Tower. The fires raged for hours, and they eventually caused a critical column (#79) to fail because of thermal expansion. NIST determined that this column was a crucial column, it could even be considered a design flaw. It’s failure would have collapsed the building even without the collision and debris of WTC 1 and the fires.

‘No Planes Theory’: Even though this sounds stupid, there are people who actually think that back in 9/11, what crashed with the WTC weren’t planes, some people said they were holograms, that they were ballistic missiles. It appeared in a video recorded from an helicopter, in which you can see a boeing 767 accidentally appearing from behind a layer mask. According to David Shayler, “the only explanation is that they were missiles surrounded by holograms made to look like planes”, he says, which would be well beyond the capabilities of contemporaneous hologram technology.

Conclusion

Even though there are a lot of mysteries and uncertainties, the most believable or the version that is closest to the truth is that 9/11 was planned by Al Qaeda and two planes brought down the WTC 1 and 2, even though it’s hard to believe, that’s closest to what could have happened, but the only thing we can be certain of, is that no one will ever know what exactly happened.

The morning of September 11, 2001, was and still is, a tragedy, not only for all Americans but for the whole world. First, the Al-Qaeda members hijacked four commercial airliners, then, the four aircraft were used in suicide attacks that were carried out on important buildings (one of the attacks was unsuccessful) in the USA. One of the planes hit the Pentagon, another crash-landed in a field in Pennsylvania, while the other two planes hit Twin Towers in New York. After this series of tragic events, war on terror began, that resulted in huge changes in society and security around the world.

The World Trade Centre Targeted

Because they were the workplace of around thirty-five thousand people, the Twin Towers were targeted by al-Qaeda members. Each tower had one hundred and ten floors, and each weighed over 250,000 tons. The Twin Towers were Iconic parts of the World Trade Centre, and Considering the location and the fact that the area is densely populated during the day, the towers were an obvious choice for any attacks. Furthermore, the towers were symbols of Americans’ power and influence.

The attacks were carried out by the group of terrorists called Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda is an Islamic terrorist organisation started by Osama bin Laden. Al-Qaeda seeks to take control of, and enforce religiously-sanctioned social and political order in the middle east. The attacks against Americans were made in an attempt to flush them out of middle eastern countries (the ones that didn’t follow al-Qaeda’s beliefs) and get rid of American support for those countries. Al-Qaeda believed that American support was a huge obstruction in creating a global rule under Islam. Several other factors made Al-Qaeda angry with America as well, such as America’s support of Israel, their role in the Persian Gulf War, and the US military presence in Middle Eastern nations.

9/11 Events

On September 11, 2001, four airliners were hijacked by the members of al-Qaeda. The airliners were going to California and had lots of fuel. Nineteen terrorists took control of the aircraft and prepared their attacks. At 8:45 one of four planes crashed between the ninety-third and ninety-ninth floor in the North Tower. After the first attack, hundreds of people were killed and hundreds were trapped in the floors above. Evacuation began immediately, tragically though, another plane crashed into the South Tower eighteen minutes later, it wiped out everything between seventy-seventh and eighty-fifth floors. After the second crash, there was a large explosion. The Twin Towers collapsed and damaged five other buildings in the World Trade Centre area.

The last two airliners were targeting the Pentagon and Washington DC, one of them was supposed to be going to Los Angeles when it was hijacked. After being hijacked, it crashed into the West area of the Pentagon. Another one was targeting Washington dc. However, the passengers were able to take control of the plane and crash it into a field near Somerset County, Pennsylvania. The crash killed everyone on board.

The aftermath

The death toll was beyond catastrophic. Nearly three thousand people were killed, over twenty-seven hundred killed in the World Trade Center attack, one hundred eighty-four killed in the Pentagon attack, as well as forty-seven people killed on Flight 93. In addition to that, there were the deaths of firefighters, paramedics and police officers (three hundred and forty-three firefighters and paramedics, twenty-three police officers and thirty-seven Port Authority police officers). It was an international catastrophe.

On September 12, 2001, an emergency conference of the United Nations was held. The terrorist attack was denounced as an attack on all of humankind. It was the first time in the history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to invoke Article 5 of the Washington Treaty. This article declares that ‘an attack on one or more NATO countries is an attack against all NATO countries’. After that, America declared to be officially at war, and they invoked their right of self-defence during wartime.

The Governments reaction

In October 2001, America passed ‘the USA Patriot Act’. This law was questionable, as many were worried that it would lead to the violation of civil rights and liberties. For example, the act enables law enforcement officials to monitor financial transactions, or eavesdrop on phone conversations, or search property without a warrant.

On October 7, 2001, the USA started an operation to topple the Taliban’s hold in Afghanistan. The operation was aimed to destroy Osama bin Laden’s base there. The Americans were successful in ousting the Taliban from power but maintained the war to defeat a Taliban rebellion campaign over Pakistan.

In 2005, it was reported that in 2002 the National Security Agency had the authorization given by George W. Bush to wiretap domestic emails and phone calls without warrants.

The American government also founded the Department of Homeland Security to ensure the national security of the country. After the events of 9/11, society changed, as from that time on they ( the public and government) needed to act together to prevent potential terrorist attacks. The ‘If You See Something Say Something’ campaign was launched to appeal to civilians to report unusual behaviour and activity. The security at airports was increased, screening of passengers entering and leaving America became a regular occurrence.

Life after 9/11

To say that 9/11 attacks left an impact on America is to say nothing. The country went to war and the everyday life of Americans changed forever. After the attacks. The government sent soldiers and marines to Afghanistan where Al-Qaeda had set up a base. In 2003, Soldiers were sent to Iraq, but in December 2011, Iraq was left in a state of unstable democracy and the American troops were removed.

In 2014, President Obama made attempts to alter the way America’s presence in Afghanistan was perceived. He aimed at it being regarded as a support mission, rather than a conflict. In the history of the United States, the Afghanistan War has been the longest, lasting from 2001 to 2011. The war brought deaths to over six thousand soldiers, depression or post-traumatic disorder to more than 18% of returned soldiers, and twenty per cent of returning soldiers had severe brain damage.

Immigration and deportation

After the 9/11 attacks, there was a large impact on immigration and deportation policy. Deportation for felons and law-breakers multiplied in America. Between the years of 2009 and 2010, almost four hundred thousand people were deported annually, half convicted of a criminal offence and the other half of low-level offences. Under the Secure Communities program imposed in 2008, people could be deported for even being convicted of minor offences such as not using a turn signal while driving.

Moving onward

The 9/11 attacks brought mourning, fear and depression to Americans and international citizens. The whole world felt that the attack made in the USA was the attack on freedom and liberties everywhere. The attacks brought changes to the whole world, many of which we can see to this day. The 9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero was opened ten years later after the tragedy to commemorate the events on September 11, 2001, and the World Trade Center bombing of 1993. Even though Americans were left shattered and fearful, they had enough power to fight for their freedom and the United States has proven that they will always fight against those that would oppose freedom and peace.

Following the September 11th, 2001, terror attacks in Manhattan, New York, much shock and uncertainty was felt around the world regarding the effects that such attacks would have on the United States and its global trading partners. This essay will highlight the US economy’s resilience following the unexpected and catastrophic events that occurred in the Autumn of 2001.

After the 2001 attacks, feelings of confusion ensued regarding the current state of national security and defence as many feared the potential of further attacks on the country. Feelings of uncertainty resounded regarding exactly what effect these attacks would have on America and other economies. Such uncertainty was fuelled by the fact that the United States were already in middle of a recession. In addition to attacking the heart of US security and defence, the Pentagon, the attacks also struck the symbol of US economic importance, the World Trade Centre, which resulted in four-day stoppage of Wall Street economic trade activities (IMF 2001).

Following the closure of trade activity for four days, stocks fell immediately in the early days of re-opening the stock markets, with the Dow Jones falling 684.81 points on the countries first day of re-opening. In addition to this it’s clear to see that the 9/11 Attacks fuelled more concern and uncertainty in the economy given that the markets were already undergoing turbulence due to the recession that began in early 2000’s. Also, in the that year the United States had just experienced a very tumultuous presidential election which left the nation divided in two and following the attacks led to many political pundits and followers quickly blaming the outgoing Clinton administration and to a lesser extent, the incoming Bush administration for failing to prevent such attacks.

This essay aims to not only show the impacts of the attacks on the United States but also their capability to overcome the biggest crises in their history. It’s clear that the attacks had a huge impact on the nation’s economic growth, with New York’s economy suffering a direct impact to both its private and public sectors. “The destruction of physical assets was estimated to amount to $14 billion privately and $1.5 billion for the State”. In addition, lower Manhattan lost over 30% of its office space while over 200,000 jobs were lost which extraordinarily affected government income and expenditure in the years to come.

Overall, however, the United States showed resilience in the coming years with growth rates going from 1% following the attacks to 4% in 2004. It’s clear that the catastrophic attacks had an impact on consumer expenditure due to the fact passenger planes were used as weapons of destruction, however, early signs were showing the nation’s people were regaining their confidence once again. By 2004, the US economy grew by 4% in real dollars, the highest growth rate since 1989. Economists put the slow recovery down to remaining concerns regarding the domestic economy and economic forecasts of another recession.

On the other hand, the efforts of the United States slowed down due to several other factors including concerns over the falling dollar, an unstable housing market and rising oil prices. In essence, while it may be a lot simpler to attribute the increase in oil prices to the Iraq war which came about in response to the 9/11 attacks, and the general assumption that Iraq had something to do with the attacks, experts believe that military action and intervention alone does not explain the rise in oil prices, it is in fact driven by economic instability and uncertainty in the housing market. In addition to this economic stability came a huge impact on foreign direct investment in the United States. With the fear of another attack looming, multinationals operated with an eye of caution when investing in America. 2000 saw a healthy 31.5% investment rate, however, after the attacks it fell to -01.25% (US Department of Commerce 2008). Subsequently, however, by 2003, foreign investments were back on the rise with investors adopting more of a “wait and see how the United States responds” attitude than that of a lack of confidence in the US markets.

The impact of the 9/11 Attacks on US fiscal policy and budgetary resources. In the wake of the attacks it was no surprise that the United States would retaliate, and action would be launched in Afghanistan in hope of catching those responsible, Osama Bin-Laden and his Al-Qaeda group. US military action was launched on October 7, 2001, however by 2003, the nation quickly found themselves fighting two wars since bringing their “War on Terror” initiative into Iraq. Both wars were funded through federal government borrowing rather than an increase in taxes. It’s clear that engaging in both wars simultaneously has resulted in huge budgetary expenditures. The “War on Terror” policy went from $301,697 billion in 2000 to $546,018 billion in 2006 (Military Expenditure Database). In addition to an increase in military expenditures following 9/11, there was a significant increase in spending to support the mission of protecting the US borders and providing a nationwide security network through the creation of Homeland Security (9/11 Commission Report).

In summary, the United States ability to continue to persevere in the wake of the crises showed much resilience. It’s fair to say that 9/11 played little direct effect on weakening the economy given the fact that the United States was already in a recession before the attacks occurred. If anything, this catastrophe brought more awareness and heightened regulations to ensure that such events could be reduced and prevented in the years to come.

It is just a regular day and you are going to work at the World Trade Center. You greet your co-workers and get your morning coffee. All of a sudden, you hear a loud crash and you wake up from unconsciousness. You hear screaming and can barely see through all the smoke. This was what people were going through on 9/11. In this essay, I will be writing about 9/11. I have always been intrigued and wanted to research more about the tragic event of 9/11. I will be talking about where the airplanes hit, conspiracies, and the effects of 9/11.

On September 11th, 2001, 19 men trained by al- Qaeda have been coordinating a terrorist attack for years. Four large planes were hijacked, planning to crash them into major landmarks of the United States. The first two planes hit the North and South towers, the third one hit the Pentagon right outside Washington D.C., while the fourth one crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. This event, where hundreds of thousands of people were killed, will never be forgotten by America (history.com; Taylor, theatlantic.com).

The North Tower of the World Trade Center was hit by the first plane on a clear, Tuesday morning at 8:45 A.M. With 20,000 gallons of jet fuel, was an American Airlines Boeing plane. The crash left a huge, burning hole in the 80th floor, instantly killing and trapping hundreds of people. 18 minutes later, another plane appeared out of the sky, similar to the first one, and was heading towards the direction of the 60th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center. People for were watching this horrible thing happen broadcasted pictures onto the web for the world to see and the debris and smoke from the crash spread throughout the city (history.com)

Before hitting the west side of the Pentagon at 9:45 A.M., the American Airlines Flight 77 circled around downtown Washington D.C. Before crashing and exploding the first floor, the plane crashed through 3 light poles in the Pentagon parking lot which killed 125 people inside and the 64 passengers with hijackers on the plane included at once. If some decisions were not made about 60 years ago, the Pentagon’s death toll could’ve been far worse. President Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted to build the Pentagon to be the home base to impend military operations. Since steel was rationed because of war, the Pentagon was made of reinforced concrete with ramps instead of stairs. “Since the Pentagon needed to store heavy caches for the long haul, the U.S. Army of Carps of Engineers built in extra strength that saved thousands of lives on 9/11” (Roos, history.com).

While most people considered 9/11 was real, others had many conspiracies on the event. One theory was that there were two holes after the Pentagon crash, one 75ft wide and another 16ft wide. “The Conspiracy Theorists claimed that the holes were far too small to be produced by the Boeing 767.” The plane had a wingspan of 124ft 10in which was way larger than the holes in the Pentagon. The wing of the plane had to hit the ground, while the other was sheared off in this case. I personally would consider this theory, but I do not fully believe it (popularmechanics.com).

Many peoples’ lives were changed because of the 9/11 attack. Nearly 3,000 people from 57 different countries died from this tragedy. About 400 of the 3,000 people killed were first responders, New York City firefighters, police officers, and EMTs. Many people realized that we needed to protect our country after the 9/11. This event has been one of the most covered events on the media of all time. After that day, the world was changed forever. People flew American flags on their porch or car, sports teams delayed their games, and celebrities coordinated benefit concerts. Those were just a few examples of what happened after 9/11. After the September 11th attacks, the New York Blood Center had 36,000 units of blood donated to the organization (Taylor, theatlantic.com).

In conclusion, I feel that we must cherish our loved ones every day because we never know what could happen in a matter of minutes, maybe even seconds. I personally do not know anyone that was affected by 9/11 but for those who have, I strongly feel for them and I am very, very sorry for them. Writing this essay about where the planes hit and how it affected peoples’ lives really made me think about how lucky I was to be in a safe environment. I have learned so much writing this essay and I hope you do too. In this essay, I wrote about the locations of the crashes, conspiracies, and the effects of the 9/11. They all play an important part of 9/11 itself.

Works Cited

1. Editors, Popular Mechanics. “Debunking the Myths About the 9/11 Attack on the Pentagon.” Popular Mechanics, Popular Mechanics, 13 Nov. 2019, www.popularmechanics.com/military/a5659/debunking-911-myths-pentagon/.
2. History.com Editors. “Reaction to 9/11.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 13 Aug. 2010, www.history.com/topics/21st-century/reaction-to-9-11.
3. History.com Editors. “September 11 Attacks.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 17 Feb. 2010, www.history.com/topics/21st-century/9-11-attacks.
4. Roos, Dave. “How the Pentagon’s Design Saved Lives on September 11.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Sept. 2019, www.history.com/news/pentagon-design-september-11-attacks.
5. Taylor, Alan. “9/11: The Day of the Attacks.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 8 Sept. 2011, www.theatlantic.com/photo/2011/09/911-the-day-of-the-attacks/100143/.

9/11 was an attack that has negatively impacted the United States till this day. Thousands of people’s lives were taken and till this day, it still affects their health. After this attack happened, people were looking for answers as to why did this happen? Why was the United States targeted? Was there a way we could have prevented this heinous act of violence towards innocent civilians?

It all started with Osama Bin Laden, who is the founder of the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda. He announced Jihad which is an Arabic word for “holy war” which is a fight against those who are the enemies of Islam on America early as 1996. Bombing an embassy in the U.S was not enough to get their attention. Their matter of dealing with the bombing was to “scare” Al-Qaeda by shooting missiles but that was not successful. At the time of that there was no sense of what terrorism really and they weren’t aware how ignoring those attacks previously could affect them in the long run. The Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency and other U.S intelligence and law enforcement agencies had pieces of information before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that, had they been shared, might have led to the unraveling of Al Qaeda’s plot (The Center for Public Integrity, 2008). We can see that the lack of communication from the federal agencies is a factor as to why 9/11 was not prevented. Just two months prior to the attack, a former FBI agent left a memo to the bureau executives in Washington a warning that Osama Bin Laden might show some efforts to coordinate students from U.S pilot schools to become suicuide hijackers. They supposedly did not see the memo until after 9/11 had happened. That memo entailed that Zacarias Moussaui has jihadist beliefs and was a potential suicuide hijaker. He was later convicted of six felony charges for conspiracies.

Since 9/11, there have been drastic changes for law enforcement and for The Department of Homeland Security. Various laws and policies were passed post 9/11 to support the security of the United States. The Patriot Act is to unit and strengthen the United States of America by providing tools to hinder terrorism. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is to be able to obtain surveillance or information on what could be suspected terrorism. This act has helped tremendously since 9/11.

There have been also many immigration restrictions post 9/11 which created an out of proportion assumption that those who are Muslim, Arab, and Southern Asian are more likely to be terrorists. All though these laws and policies have helped from the United States from further tradegies of violence. But, it has also this put a rise into discrimination and hate crimes towards those of the muslim religion. To be called slurs, assaulted and have their sanctuaries of practice be vandalized or burned to the ground. Till this day there is still a barrier between law enforcement (local and federal) and with those of the middle east or who are of the muslim religion. Some sense of discrimination and bigotry is still being put out their by law enforcement officials which enables muslims to trust in the government.

The whole reasoning behind this piece of literature is how law enforcement lacked sharing information with us as people of the United States that there could be a possible threat of terrorism. In order to prevent this, federal agencies must not hesitate to be proactive when a threat or a message is brought to their attention. Now that they are well aware of what the consequences are and that we as civilians suffered them enough, to not take it lightly. The act of terrorism does not affect one person but it could as small as a group of 10 people or a whole nation. Information sharing gives us civilians clarity and that we have the right to know if we could be in potential danger. This is not the first heinous act that the federal agencies took lightly which led to a tremendous tragedy. Classmates of Kavanaugh were denied of their testimonies in regards to their sexual assault allegations and how they ignored the tip that came for the Parkland school shooter. The tip expressed concerns on how the shooter expressed his desire to kill people, strange behavior, and social media posts that correlate to his goal of shooting Parkland.

All around, federal agencies should take more precautions and are to be taught more strategies, more awareness, and more extensive training in what to do when there is a case of a possible threat and also how to react to it without giving off signs of weakness.

References

1. Center for Public Integrity. (n.d.). Agencies failed to share intelligence on 9/11 terrorists.Retrieved from https://publicintegrity.org/federal-politics/agencies-failed-to-share-intelligence-on-9-11-terrorists/​.
2. Community policing post-9/11. (2017, March 23). Retrieved from https://www.vera.org/blog/community-policing-post-9-11-rebuilding-trust-with-amemsa-communities.
3. Naylor, S. D. (2017, August 30). Government Terrorist Trackers Before 9/11: Higher Ups Wouldn’t Listen. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/news/government-terrorist-trackers-before-911-higher-ups-wouldnt-listen.
4. https://publicintegrity.org/federal-politics/agencies-failed-to-share-intelligence-on-9-11-terrorists/
5. https://publicintegrity.org/federal-politics/agencies-failed-to-share-intelligence-on-9-11-terrorists/

9/11 was a huge event in U.S history. It was where Islamic terrorists hijacked planes, 2 going into the world trade center, one crashing into the middle of a field, and one hitting the pentagon. These terrorists were part of a group called Al-Qaeda. The founder of Al-Qaeda was Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of a lot of terrorist attacks. 9/11 caused a lot of change in the U.S for the people, and the nation.

First, 9/11 affected the economy of New York. The attack had a big problem with job. According to a study to be published today by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Cost the city’s economy 143,000 jobs a month and $2.8 billion in lost wages in the subsequent three months, a far greater impact than could be attributed to the recession that had begun earlier that year”. The World Trade Center had 400 businesses working there, and some businesses being really important. Also around 3,000 people died from the attack, witch that affected taxes. Congress made an act called ‘the Victims of Terrorism Tax Relief’ Act of 2001. That was to provide tax relief to citizens that got affected by the attack. That caused a $3.5 billion decrease in the state of New York (DePietro).

Then it affected airport security changed a lot right after 9/11 to keep people safe. Right after 9/11 President George W. Bush signed ‘the USA Patriot Act’. The Patriot Act was to provide America ways to intercept and obstruct terrorism, for example they enhanced survaillance procedures (Congress.Gov). They also made Homeland Security which is supposed to protect us from attacks from abroad, witch cost the U.S $589 billion! (DePietro). Also new procedures happened like removing shoes and banning liquids. Also pilots can sign up to become a federal flight deck officer, so they can carry a gun with them when they fly. They also require you to have identification requirements, which is crazy that they didn’t do that before 9/11(Santhanam). According to PBS,”Only 5 percent of checked bags were screened before 9/11, whereas all are screened for dangerous materials today.” This also meant having to wait way longer for people trying to go on a flight .

9/11 also affected racism towards Islamic people living in the United States. Violence against Muslims broke out immediately following 9/11, and has been the same ever since then. People were associated ethnic groups with being terrorists. Four days after the attacks, Balbir Singh Sodhi was shot and killed in Arizona. The gunmans reason was because the guy was wearing a terbin. Acoording to Center for American progress, “In 2001, the FBI recorded 93 anti-Muslim assaults – a number that was not eclipsed until 2016, when the bureau recorded 127 such incidents.” Also a lot of shooting in mosques occurred after 9/11 (Kaur). All muslims were being targeted, even though they were doing nothing wrong.

It also affected a lot of people by creating diseases. 9/11 had links to creating respiratory and digestive diseases, cancers, post-traumatic stress disorder. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention established the World Trade Center Health Program in 2011. The World Trade Center Health Program provides medical benefits who were affected by 9/11. Thousands of people living in New York had to breath in toxic fumes, after the towers fell. Tons of people were getting all types of cancer from the fumes. They were also making people work a week after 9/11 so they were exposed to breathing this bad air inMen were developing Breast Cancer which is very rare for it to happen in males (Durkin).

9/11 created the war in Iraq against the Taliban. The war on terror is a military campaign launched by president Bush. This war added 2.4 trillion to the national debt (Amadeo). Over 100 countries have offered support with this war. Counter terrorists operations with over 200 intelligence and security services worldwide. There was a lot of bombing in the war, like when a B-52H dropped a load of 750 pounds on Iraq. That was not the only bombing, there was a lot of incidents of us or another country bombing them (9-11 A Tribute, 186). We still have troops in Iraq to this day, that’s how serious our relationship with Iraq is.

After 9/11, the stock market crashed. The market fell 684 points, thats a 7.1% decline. NYSE and Nasdaq remained close for 6 days! An estimated $1.4 trillion was lost, and that was for 6 days. That is the longest shutdown until 1933. That means tons of people were losing money (Investopedia).

A positive of 9/11 was that world leaders United. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi discuss Europe’s role to respond to the terrorist attacks in the United States. Then Bush meets with French President on how that Paris was determined to support washington’s war on the “absolute evil” of terrorism. There was a bunch of other places that Bush met with like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, and Canadian Prime Minister. There were a lot more people he met, that wanted to help the U.S on terrorism ( 9-11 A Tribute, 134).

9/11 was an event that would never be forgotten. Everybody that was alive when it happened knows exactly what they were doing when they heard about the event. This event will always be remembered, and how it affected the United States, also the people in the United States.

While many Americans today recall the unfortunate events of September 11, 2001 when international terrorists flew aircraft into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and killed thousands, fewer will likely remember the largest domestic terrorism event in the nation’s history which took place just a few years earlier when Timothy McVeigh bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, killing 168 people including 19 children. As these events fade in the national memory, the question whether international or domestic terrorism represents the largest threat to the nation’s interests remains unanswered. Therefore, in order to provide a timely answer to this question, this paper reviews the relevant literature, followed by a discussion and analysis, to determine whether domestic terrorism or international terrorism represents the biggest danger to the American public. A summary of the research and important findings are presented in the conclusion.

Although the two high profile domestic and international terrorism incidents described in the introduction above are among the most recent in the history of the United States, they are certainly not isolated events. Just two years ago, for example, a disaffected American-Muslim Army major went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, taking the lives of 13 people and wounding 29 more (Keteyian, 2009) and several years before, international terrorists tried to bring the World Trade Center down for the first time in 1993 (First strike: global terror in America, 2008).These events, though, are only the most recent and widely publicized attacks on the United States from within and without (Foxell, 2009). For example, Mantri reports that, “In May 1886, an anarchist threw a bomb at Haymarket in Chicago, killing eight police officers and an unknown number of civilians. US President William McKinley was assassinated in September 1901 by another anarchist, Leon Czolgosz” (p. 88). The definition of terrorism provided by Enders, Sandler and Gaibulloev (2011) states that, “Terrorism is the premeditated use or threat to use violence by individuals or subnational groups against noncombatants in order to obtain a political or social objective through the intimidation of a large audience beyond that of the immediate victims” (p. 321). Today, the threat of continuing terrorism from any source remains a hot issue for policymakers and the general public alike and these issues are discussed further below.

Some authorities argue that international terrorism perpetrated by non-state actors is far and away the greatest threat to the Western world today. In this regard, Wolfendale (2007) argues that, “Non-state terrorism threatens many things: security, lives, values, freedom, democracy, and the existence of civilization itself, and poses a greater threat than the threats posed by war, invasion, accident, natural disasters, and criminal activity” (p. 75). Although he cites other sources of turmoil and violence such as poverty as problematic, Lee (2006) also emphasizes that, “International terrorism (especially its nuclear form) is the most serious non-state threat the world currently faces” (p. 242).

In sharp contrast to the “good old days” of the Cold War when the actors were well known, though, the nebulous but ever-presented threat represented by non-state terrorists is clearly a major problem that contributes to a culture of fear in which citizens are willing to trade civil liberties for an enhance sense of security. From this perspective, international terrorists are succeeding in changing America for the worse without even lifting another finger to attack the U.S. Echoing the sentiments expressed by former vice president Dick Cheney concerning the vile practice of water-boarding of terrorist suspects and the need to “get tough on international terrorists,” Wolfendale notes that, “In current counterterrorism rhetoric terrorism is portrayed as a danger of such massive proportions that it threatens not only lives but ‘our way of life’ and ‘civilization’: a threat so great that as the British Home Secretary David Blunkett stated after the Madrid train bombings, ‘. . . the norms of prosecution and punishment no longer apply” (p. 75).

Clearly, a growing number of political leaders in the West are scared, but their fears may be misplaced with respect to the “next big one,” at least an incident that is on the level of the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. According to Foxell (2009), the very nature of the international terrorist threat is shifting from the high-profile types of attacks that have been used in recent years to more insidious, and potentially even more harmful, low-profile attacks that can have enormous economic and human consequences. In this regard, Foxell emphasizes that, “We are seeing quantitatively fewer terrorist incidents based on older paradigms of terrorism such as airplane hijacking, kidnapping, and political assassinations [to] terror stratagems [such] as economic sabotage, financial embezzlement, cyberterrorism, or other forms of white-collar mass-disruption terrorism” (p. 396). In sum, then, international terrorism continues to represent a significant threat to America’s interests at home and abroad, but some scholars argue that an even greater threat exists within the nation’s borders and these issues are discussed further below.

In a country of more than 330 million people, it is not surprising that not everyone agrees on everything and that some people will believe they are being marginalized in ways that demand violent responses. Therefore, by whatever term it is called, domestic terrorism remains a very real threat to the nation’s interest today. Indeed, Gruenewald (2011) emphasizes that, “Every year in the United States, domestic (or homegrown) extremists commit violent acts, such as homicide. Occurrences of far-right extremist violence, in particular, appear to be on the rise” (p. 177). This theme is echoed by Enders, Sandler and Gaibulloev (2011) who note, “Although much of the empirical literature on terrorism has focused on transnational terrorism, domestic terrorism also poses a significant threat. In fact, domestic terrorist events outnumber transnational terrorist incidents many times over” (pp. 319-320).

Given that such domestic terrorism incidents appear to be increasing, it would therefore be prudent to assess the threat represented by domestic terrorism, especially given that international terrorist sympathizers may well be lurking in America’s midst already in the form of so-called “sleeper cells” just waiting to spring into action at the direction of their international overlords. For instance, according to Lee (2006), “It would be a mistake to limit our conception of non-state threats to international terrorism” (p. 241). Likewise, Foxell (2009) cites the threat represented by “foreign enemy agent terrorists as well as their home-grown American sympathizers” (p. 393). Indeed, there have been an abundance of these home-grown American terrorists, some of whom are affiliated in some fashion with the larger Al-Qaeda international terrorist group. For instance, according to Mantri (2011), “More recently, even the earlier Al-Qaeda operatives included some local recruits, Jose Padilla, ‘Abdullah al Muhajir,’ the millennium bomber Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian living in Montreal, and Ali Mohammed Abdelsoud Muhammed, a former Egyptian military officer who immigrated to America and became a sergeant in the US Army, all worked with Al-Qaeda long before 9/11” (p. 88).

Moreover, the threat represented by domestic terrorism may in fact be highly underrated because of the manner in which these events have been reported and analyzed by local, state and national law enforcement authorities. In this regard, Gruenewald adds that, “Criminal events and terrorist attacks look much the same regardless of the motivation behind them: both are events that can be counted and both display non-random temporal and spatial patterns that are likely associated with endogenous and exogenous characteristics of offenders, targets, and situations” (p. 182). This fine distinction between criminal events and terrorist attacks will likely be lost on their victims, of course, but Mantri (2011) indicates that a casual review of recent events suggests that domestic terrorism is on the rise. According to Mantri, “Apart from radical Islam, there are other major threats to the United States which have resulted in major acts of terror – most notably Oklahoma City, and the 1996 Atlanta Olympic bombing by Eric Rudolph” (2011, p. 89). These high-profile domestic terrorist attacks, though, were preceded and followed by others as well. For instance, Mantri reports that, “Before the Fort Hood shooting, there was an attack on a US recruiting station in Little Rock, Arkansas; after Fort Hood, there was the failed Christmas Day attack, the attempted Times Square bombing by Faisal Shahzad, and the attempted attack last Christmas in Portland, Oregon by Somali-born Mohamed Osman Muhamad” (p. 89).

Based on the foregoing events, it would appear that it is becoming increasingly difficult to make the fine distinction between domestic and international terrorism, with the former being fueled by the latter in many ways that remain of major concern for American policymakers. Nevertheless, there will always be a threat from domestic terrorism so long as different people have different ideas about where the country should be headed and what should be done to accomplish these goals. As Mantri points out, “The domestic attacks disprove the idea that the United States, as a nation, is immune from radicalization at home” (2011, p. 91). In fact, Mantri (2011) suggests that notwithstanding the numerous examples of domestic terrorism cited above, the potential for even more such attacks in the future may be far greater because of the ideological attraction that these acts hold for some people. In this regard, Mantri notes that, “Even more disturbing has been the concept that this is driven by so called ‘lone wolf’ attacks, of people self-radicalizing through the internet and without the support of a much wider terrorist infrastructure or radical community” (2011, p. 91). In fact, a recent highly controversial report from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that labeled returning Gulf War veterans potential threats stressed that, “Lone wolves and small terrorist cells embracing violent rightwing extremist ideology are the most dangerous domestic terrorism threat in the United States” (quoted in Jasper, 2009, p. 24). Clearly, the scholars disagree concerning what source of ideological influence will have the most impact on domestic terrorism acts in the future, but virtually everyone agrees that it is not so much as matter of “if” but “when” such further attacks will occur. Therefore, determining which source of terrorism represents the biggest threat to the national interests of the United States is a complicated enterprise, and these issues are discussed further below.

Despite the availability of a working definition for terrorism in general, there are some problems in neatly pigeonholing every act of terrorism in a given country as being international or domestic terrorism. In fact, some authorities suggest that there is some degree of overlap between the two types irrespective of their underlying motivation. For example, according to Enders and his associates (2011), “The cause of transnational terrorism will likely differ from that of domestic terrorism. Transnational terrorism is apt to be partly influenced by ‘spillover terrorism,’ where domestic grievances in other countries result in terrorist incidents being staged where the attack captures the most publicity” (p. 323). In other words, although the motivation for a terrorist attack may differ in international terrorism from domestic terrorism, these events appear to precipitate yet further such incidents elsewhere.

The research showed that terrorism from whatever source represents an ongoing threat to the interests of the United States at home and abroad. There has been an increase in both types of terrorism in recent years, leading some scholars to believe that there is a connection between international religious fundamentalism and the incidence of domestic terrorism in the United States. While it is reasonable to conclude that many so-called “home-grown” terrorists are in fact either motivated by or sponsored by international terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda, the historical record also made it clear that domestic terrorism is not a new phenomenon, and these types of events have occurred since the nation was founded – but they appear to be on the rise today. This increased incidence of domestic terrorism was shown to be directly related to the incidence of international terrorism, making the determination as to which represents the greatest threat difficult if not impossible. In the final analysis, though, the primary source of terrorism today was shown to be international terrorism that has not only directly affected the interests of the United States at home and abroad, but continues to fuel radicalization of disaffected Americans as well.

September 11th, 2001 was one of the most transformational, cataclysmic days in American history. Being the single deadliest terrorist attack, it represents a very big turning point in many different aspects of society. The 19 militants belonging to the terrorist group al-Qaeda hijacked 4 different airplanes; sending one into the pentagon, killing about two hundred people, another, which was heading toward Washington, D. C., was crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to retake the plane, killing all fifty or so people on board, and the last two were sent into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. In New York City there was a total of three thousand casualties, including the nineteen terrorists, and about four hundred of which were officers and/or firemen who were first responders to the devastating scene. Overall, there was over fifteen thousand people who suffered from these attacks physically and emotionally, short-term and long term. This day altered American’s perspectives on Muslims forever, and led to phenomenal enhancements on airport security. The reaction of the head of the government was also very important.

Although 9/11 was a politically motivated attack, most Americans make it about religion and pin fault on the Muslim community as a whole. The Islamic population in the United States found itself propel into a cruel, and strong discrimination in the days following this disaster. This incident shows how easily the acts of a small group can cause very unpleasant consequences for many. Muslim acceptance continues to deteriorate due to closed minded Americans who believe their (Muslims) community is filled with terrorists, ignorant, and oppressive people. According to most studies, anti-Islamic beliefs have never fully perished, but they did fluctuate from time to time. In fact, in 2001, there were 93 victims of hate crimes discriminating against one’s Islamic race and in 2014 statistics say there was a decrease to only 53 casualties. However, data seems to reveal that numbers have skyrocketed again back up surpassing the modern peak in 2001, according to Pew Research Center. After everything people will never forget 9/11 and where its foundation was constructed, and people will always have their own opinions and thoughts as they’re given the right to do so.

Of course, the whole nation wanted to know what unnatural, twisted freak made this horrific attack possible on the World Trade Center and more importantly why would they commit this gruesome crime? Ultimately the United States figured out that Osama Bin Laden, the leader al-Qaeda, was the orchestrator and overall the reason thousands of Americans died on this day. “It wants to occupy our countries, steal our resources, impose on us agents to rule us, and then wants us to agree to all this” said Bin Laden in 1997 in an interview with CNN speaking on the U.S. Obviously Bin Laden had many issues with the United States. One of many, however, started with the United States putting al Qaeda members in prison for ultimately being part of these terrorist groups, which is the reason Bin Laden declared a “jihad”, in other words a holy war on the United States. This “Letter to America” (9/11) had many reasons behind it. Bin Laden wanted revenge for a list of things such as, the United States supporting Russia when they were in Chechnya, accusing the US of attacking them on the daily, stealing “wealth” and oil, and many more reasons that will never be known because this was such a behind the curtain scenario. It shocked millions and drastically changed the lives of all Americans.

The United States was drastically affected by this attack hence it changed the entire structure of all national security. Stronger visa controls and extensive security were put into motion in all airports. Before 9/11, only five percent of checked bags were further examined for screening before this attack however, now all bags are searched for any material that can be decided as dangerous. In addition to this, security used to be handled by each airport on their own; however now, all airports have improved to complex hardware and procedures which scan for identity alterations and weapons/possibly destructive items: identification requirements demand an ID that matches the name on the ticket, shoe and outerwear removal is required, liquids over 3.4 mL must be discarded, extra screening (pat downs) is sometimes administered, and cockpit doors have been reinforced and remain locked during the entire flight. All of these allow a deep examination of each passenger and their belongings to confirm safety for all peoples. This also means longer lines in security, so arriving a few hours early to the airport is essential.

In addition to all of this, President Bush signed the USA Patriot Act (an acronym for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism) which means a variety of things such as allowing federal agents to conduct investigations and intensify the penalties that will plummet on terrorists or anyone who plays any part into the attack. This also allows federal agents to ask a court for an order to obtain business, medical, and financial records in national security terrorism cases. Overall, President Bush made it known that a day like this will never repeat in history again. In fact, he mentioned “Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America”, which I feel like was important at the time when citizens felt scared and helpless. This country was safe in the hands of President Bush.

After everything this catastrophe has not only impacted America but the entire world. All the ticks and upgrades on everything from airline security to foreign visas, and the now protected vulnerability of America, I think we’re exceptionally prepared for any threats that may be thrown in our path. George Bush did an incredible job with maintaining a calm country and, in short, destroying the threat and growing from it. President Obama also left a memorable mark on protecting the innocence of the Islamic peoples and showing acceptance as well. Although Trump as president has taken a toll on many factors, causing things to head back in a negative direction, I think America has overall done an exceptional job pulling itself from the depression and creating a learning experience from 9/11.

“9/11 is a day that I will never be able to forget, even if I wanted to”. When my aunt Sheree said that, I then knew how important and life-changing this event really was to her. She experienced this event first hand, as she was on a work trip to New York. Eighteen years ago on a sunny September morning, thousands of people in New York City were getting ready for what they thought would be an average day. Unknown to them, something devastating was heading there way. “I remember getting up and going to work like any other normal day”. Everyone, including my aunt, had no idea of the horror and chaos that was to come.

At 7:59am, American Airlines Flight 11 takes off from Boston’s Logan International Airport headed to Los Angeles. The 6 hour 30 minute flight was set to be super smooth and an easy ride. Around 8:19am flight attendants alerted ground personnel that the flight had been hijacked. Ground personnel sprung into a panic and ordered two fighter jets to tail the hijacked plane. No one knew what to do or what was going to happen, this was the first major terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

As people on the ground frantically tried to figure out what the next step should be, flight eleven had been flown directly into the north tower of the World Trade Center. Mohammed Atta had crashed the plane into the 93rd through 99th floors, instantly killing everyone on board. No one was expecting it because there had been no warning issued and this attack was on a major scale. As news channels broadcasted the smoke and fire coming from the building, New York Police Department had dispatched units to the tower to help rescue the people still inside the building. “I overheard people yelling and screaming down the hall and I went to see what had happened. I didn’t see the plane hit but I saw the smoke and the fire that came from the hole in the tower.” My aunt told me that she had to stop and just stand there for a few minutes to take in what had just happened. She said it was such a shock that this could have ever taken place in America.

By this time the other plane had already been in the air and was headed to the south tower. The hijackers were ready and waiting for the right time to attack. Emergency personnel were on site evacuating people from both towers and the surrounding area when at 9:03 flight 175 crashed into the 75th through 85th floors of the south tower. The impact instantly killed everyone on board and the hundreds of people inside.

“I watched as the second plane hit the other tower and I was speechless. How could this be happening? I was so scared that there would be more planes and was fearful for my life.” My aunt told me how afraid everyone was and that some people were becoming hysterical.

After the planes hit the towers, New York Police Department and other emergency personnel were frantic to help the people inside the building and get those survivors out to safety. They were making the climb up the stairs to assist people in need, but little did they know that it would all be in vain as the south tower had grown weak and was unstable. The building could no longer support its own weight and at 9:59 the south tower collapsed and crushed any remaining people inside. When the tower fell, all the dust and debris came pouring out in a cloud that engulfed the city. The smoke became so thick that you could only see a few feet in front of yourself. The people that were outside when the tower fell got covered from head to toe in the soot. It was like a war zone with people running frantically to try to escape the horror that had just happened.

After only a few hours the north tower to collapsed at 10:28. The city had been shut down and the mayor had called for an evacuation of lower Manhattan. Everyone was on high alert and police were doing the best they could to help anyone in need.

President Bush had put all military forces on high alert and the Navy had sent missile destroyers to the New York area. By this time it was mid afternoon and the attacks had stopped but there was still work to be done to help any survivors. The country had been shut down and no one knew exactly what was going to happen next. “I was on high alert and didn’t really know what to do next. Everyone was worried and confused. We were unsure of what we needed to do next.” My aunt told me that even though the attacks had stopped, people were still so fearful.

The 9/11 attacks were a day that will forever be burned into the memories of millions of peoples minds. It was a day of great tragedy and sorrow. President Bush called the attacks “evil, despicable acts of terror” and that is exactly what they were. The people who committed the attacks were cold heartless men. It was one of the saddest days in American history but it was also a day of pride among the American people. We came together as a country that day and in the pain over lost loved ones, we grew as a nation and supported each other in our greatest time of need.