september 11, 2001

September 11, 2001

While America slept…

...Mohammad Atta, ring leader of 19 hijackers, cleared security at Boston’s Logan Airport.

Note the date and time

Atta and four partners took their places onboard American Airlines Flight 11. On command, they leapt from their seats, mutilated the crew with boxcutters and took control of the plane.              Atta

At 8:45 am, Atta crashed the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York.

9:03

People all over the United States turned on their televisions.

Meanwhile, another team of five took control of United Airlines Flight 175.

As America watched, Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower at 9:03 am.

Fire engulfed the towers. Some chose to fall to their death, rather than burn.

Jet fuel made the fires hot enough to melt the steel floor supports.

While visiting a Florida school, at 9:10, President Bush was told of the second crash, confirming that the country was under attack.

At 9:31 President Bush lead a prayer, then boarded Air Force One.

Ten minutes later, in Washington DC, a third hijacked plane, American Airlines Flight 77, crashed into the Pentagon.

While firefighters put the flames out at the Pentagon in Washington…

…the South Tower of the WTC collapsed live on worldwide TV at 9:59.

Debris from the collapse crashed down upon rescue workers, firefighters, police, and ordinary citizens.

People all across the city watched in horror…

…and were frozen with fear.

A huge dust cloud rushed through the narrow streets of New York.

Thousands ran for their lives.

As the South Tower fell, passengers on a fourth hijacked plane, United Airlines Flight 93, heard about the WTC attacks via cell phone.

Realizing their plane would be used as a missile too, the passengers voted to fight for control of the plane in the skies above Pennsylvania.

As passengers broke into the cockpit, the plane crashed in a field outside Shanksville, PA at 10:10 am.

The plane made a huge crater, and hit so hard, that it left virtually no debris.

Back in New York, at 10:28, the North Tower fell.

Again, the city was blanketed in dust.

The first recorded casualty of the collapse was Father Mychal Judge, a chaplain with the

New York City Fire Department.

"Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and

punish those responsible for these cowardly acts."

At 1:04 pm President Bush addressed the nation from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani kept people calm.

Congressional leaders prayed with the nation……then sang “God Bless America.”

At 6:40pm Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, General Shelton and Senator Warner, reassured the nation that the military was ready to retaliate.

“These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the

steel of American resolve."

“We will make no distinction between the terrorists who

committed these acts, and the nations who

harbor them."

That night, at 8:30pm President Bush called the nation to fight the War on Terror.

This line said that the US will destroy governments who fail to surrender terrorists.

The next morning, the nation reacted...

…so did the world.

Everyone, young and old, was shocked.

Some were scared.

Many were angry.

The images of pain and heroism reminded America of World War II.

People everywhere were calling for revenge.

After all, the terrorists had attacked America’s symbols of wealth (WTC), power (Pentagon), and killed 3,000 people. Somebody had to pay…

…BUT WHO?

The hijackers all died in the attack:

Flight 11

North Tower

The hijackers all died in the attack:

Flight 175

South Tower

The hijackers all died in the attack:

Flight 77

Pentagon

The hijackers all died in the attack:

Flight 93

Pennsylvania

While America mourned the dead at a national memorial service…

“This nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger.

This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others.

It will end in a way, and at an hour of our choosing.”

…the FBI, CIA and NSA learned that the hijackers were all trained and funded by a relic of the Cold War…

To fight against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, the US taught and supplied Muslim extremists. One of those guerilla warlords, was…

Osama bin Laden.

Osama ran a global anti-American terrorist gang called “Al Qaeda.”

Once Americans knew who to hate, it was just like after:

Pearl Harbor September 11

Once Americans knew who to hate, it was just like after:

Pearl Harbor September 11

Once Americans knew who to hate, it was just like after:

Pearl Harbor September 11

Once Americans knew who to hate, it was just like after:

Pearl Harbor September 11

Once Americans knew who to hate, it was just like after:

Pearl Harbor September 11

Just like after Pearl Harbor, some of this patriotic hatred got out of hand.

Again, the ignorant failed to make the distinction between friend and foe:

In the days and weeks following September 11, thousands of Arab, Middle Eastern, and even Indian Americans became the target of misguided hate.

A 2003 report by the Department of Justice’s inspector general found that over a thousand Middle Eastern American citizens were arrested and jailed, in some cases for months, without:

*Being charged with a crime

*Getting access to a lawyer

*Being allowed to post bail

Many were physically, emotionally and very unconstitutionally, abused by police and prison guards.

Meanwhile, the president visited the ruins of the World Trade Center and met with relief workers. Standing at “Ground Zero,” Bush rallied nation for revenge:

“We can’t hear

you!”

“I can hear you!”

“And the people who knocked

these buildings down will hear

ALL of us soon!”

After visiting Ground Zero, Bush approved plans for invading Afghanistan and hunting Osama bin Laden.

On September 20, President Bush said the Taliban must either “hand over the terrorists, or they will

share in their fate.”

The president’s ultimatum sounded great, but many didn’t know who the Taliban were, where

they came from, or where Afghanistan was!

The Taliban permitted Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda terrorists to live in Afghanistan, train, and coordinate attacks on US targets during the 1990s.

During the Soviet-Afghan War, the US trained and supplied Muslim extremists that kicked out the USSR, including:

A civil war followed, and an extremist group called the “Taliban” took control in 1996.

When the Taliban refused to turn over bin Laden after 9/11, the US invaded to topple the government, capture Osama, and install democracy.

On October 7, 2001, America started fighting back.

Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda terrorist camps were the first things targeted…

…and destroyed.

American forces landed…

…and helped an anti-Taliban group called the “Northern Alliance” demolish the Taliban.

When Northern Alliance troops entered the capital of Kabul…

...they rounded up Taliban fighters…

…and made some immediate changes:

However, American forces did not find and capture Osama bin Laden.

US troops are still searching for Osama.

Since the war in Iraq started, Afghanistan has fallen from the headlines.

In a sense, Afghanistan has become: