9/11
9/11 refers to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, when four commercial airplanes were hijacked by members of the extremist group al-Qaeda. Two planes were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, causing their collapse, while another plane struck the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to regain control. The attacks resulted in nearly 3,000 deaths and had profound and lasting impacts on global politics and security.
8 Key excerpts on "9/11"
eBook - ePubThe Routledge Handbook of American Military and Diplomatic History
1865 to the Present
- Christos Frentzos, Antonio Thompson, Christos Frentzos, Antonio Thompson(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Part XI September 11, 2001 and its Aftermath 38 September 11, 2001 and the War on Terror Martin Loicano 1 September 11, 2001 was a watershed in U.S. military, social, and political history. Terrorist attacks combined the worst effects of Pearl Harbor and the demoralizing destruction of the U.S. capitol in the War of 1812. Americans were generally shocked, angered, and confused by these seemingly unprovoked attacks. They wanted answers and wanted those responsible punished. The attacks on 9/11 triggered the lengthy and costly Global War on Terror (GWOT), which included the U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and military actions in Asia and Africa. The United States’ world view changed; military historian John Keegan observed that: Before 9/11 the American people, if largely uncomprehending of the outside world, viewed it through benevolent eyes; after 9/11 they saw enemies everywhere. Before 9/11 American governments had, for fifty years, sought to keep the peace by leading a Western alliance of the like-minded; after 9/11 Washington committed itself to the defence of America first and foremost. 2 The new President, George W. Bush, gradually developed a preemptive warfare doctrine that later bore his name. The administration’s security policy was defined by “unilateralism, preemption, and low-profile nation-building.” 3 This doctrine materialized most forcefully in Iraq. From 2001 to 2003, GWOT operations had the more limited goal of eliminating Al Qaeda— the terrorist group held responsible for the 9/11 attacks and their allies. Al Qaeda was a multinational terrorist organization under Osama Bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi national who fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan. They formally declared war on the United States in 1996...
eBook - ePubTerrorism on American Soil
A Concise History of Plots and Perpetrators from the Famous to the Forgotten
- Joseph T. McCann(Author)
- 2006(Publication Date)
- Sentient Publications(Publisher)
...CONNECTING THE DOTS SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 We would like to live as we once lived, but history will not permit it. —John F. Kennedy 1 S OME TERRORIST ATTACKS IN A MERICAN HISTORY, WHILE PROVOKING OUTRAGE at the time they were committed, have faded into obscurity. Even when the scope of study expands beyond terrorism to other significant events, only a few incidents seem to linger in the public’s consciousness. The bombing of Pearl Harbor, the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Oklahoma City bombing have left an indelible mark. Among terrorist attacks, the events of September 11, 2001 are like no others. As the deadliest, most dramatic, and most carefully planned act of terrorism ever to have occurred on American soil, September 11 (or 9/11) is rightfully considered to be a turning point not only in U.S., but also world history. The events of that fateful day have been told and retold, but they are worth reviewing briefly. Twenty-six al-Qaeda-supported terrorists attempted to enter the United States at various times and through various means, beginning more than two years before the September 11 attacks. 2 Five of these terrorist conspirators were denied entrance into the United States because they were known to have connections to terrorist organizations or appeared to have insufficient resources or a clear purpose for their trip into the United States. 3 Twenty-one of the al-Qaeda terrorists were able to gain entrance into the country, and some were able to travel in and out of the United States several times in the months leading up to 9/11. For one reason or another, two of the terrorists did not participate in the attacks. On the morning of September 11, 2001, nineteen hijackers—separated into three teams of five and one team of four—boarded four different domestic airline flights...
eBook - ePubLanguage, Symbols, and the Media
Communication in the Aftermath of the World Trade Center Attack
- Robert E., Jr. Denton(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...1 The Language, Symbols, and Media of 9/11: An Introduction Robert E. Denton Jr. On that bright, clear, and fateful day of September 11, 2001, nineteen Saudis and al-Qaida operatives, wielding knives and box-cutters, hijacked four American aircraft. At 8:45 A.M. American Airlines Flight 11 departed Boston, Massachusetts in route to Los Angeles, California crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center with eighty-one passengers and eleven crewmembers on board. Just eighteen minutes later, United Airlines Flight 175, also in route from Boston to Los Angeles, with fifty-six passengers and nine crewmembers hit the South Tower. At nearly 9:30 A.M., another flight headed toward Los Angeles, American Airlines Flight 77, departed Dulles International Airport with fifty-eight passengers and six crew members and crashed into the Northwest side of the Pentagon. Thirty minutes later, United Airlines Flight 93 departed Newark, New Jersey, this time in route to San Francisco, California with thirty-eight passengers and seven crewmembers. The flight crashed in a field in Pennsylvania resulting from a struggle between the hijackers and brave passengers. Many speculate the target of this flight was the U.S. Capital or even perhaps the White House. The attacks upon America on September 11, 2001 are being characterized as this generation’s Pearl Harbor. The comparison is powerful. Especially since the fiftieth anniversary of D-Day, there is a plethora of books and films commemorating the heroics of those who fought with courage, commitment, and sacrifice during World War II. In the words of Tom Brokaw (1998), they stayed true to the values “of personal responsibility, duty, honor, and faith” (XX). Quite simply, as he proclaims in his best selling book, they are the “greatest generation any society has produced” (XXX)...
eBook - ePubCritical Practices in International Theory
Selected Essays
- James Der Derian(Author)
- 2009(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...19 In terrorem Before and after 9/11 1 Source: Worlds in Collision, eds. Ken Booth and Tim Dunne (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002), pp. 101–116. Before 9/11 and after 9/11: it is as if the history and future of international relations were disappeared by this temporal rift. Old rules of statecraft, diplomacy and warfare have been thrown out by terrorist and anti-terrorist alike, and in this interregnum—best described by Chris Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong and current European Union Commissioner for External Affairs, as one of ‘unilateralist overdrive’ – critical enquiry is threatened by a global in terrorem. 2 Obviously, the sheer scale, scope and shock of the events themselves are partially to blame for the paucity as well as the poverty of the response by the field of International Relations. Perhaps we witness once again what happened at academic conferences after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when social scientists were reluctant to posit cause and effect from a single data point. Or perhaps something more is at work, a great deal more. After terrorist hijackers transformed three commercial jetliners into highly explosive kinetic weapons, toppled the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, substantially damaged the Pentagon, killed over 3000 people and triggered a state of emergency—and before the dead are fully grieved, Osama bin Laden’s head brought on a platter, justice perceived as done, and information no longer considered a subsidiary of war—there is very little about 9/11 that is safe to say...
eBook - ePubThe American Century
A History of the United States Since the 1890s
- Walter LaFeber, Richard Polenberg, Nancy Woloch(Authors)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...C HAPTER N INETEEN 9/11 Causes and Consequences Smoke billows over New York City after the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. (Library of Congress) The terrorist attacks on September 11,2001, which caused the deaths of 3,000 Americans, including 400 police and firefighters, dramatically transformed the nation's politics, economy, law, and foreign policy. In the wake of the tragedy, George W. Bush, the first president in more than a century to have been elected with fewer popular votes than his opponent, suddenly saw his approval ratings soar. Republicans exploited the fear of terrorism to cement their control of Congress in the election of 2002 and to reelect the president in 2004. That same fear led Congress to adopt sweeping restrictions on civil liberties with little public protest. For a time, the Supreme Court set some limits on the government's restriction of individual rights, but the appointment of two highly conservative justices suggested that the Court might not continue to play that role. Above all, the fear of terrorism provided a rationale for the president to launch an invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and then, in 2003, to attack Iraq. After more than four years of conflict, with U.S. military deaths approaching 4,000 and with Iraq in shambles, U.S. public opinion turned sharply against the Bush administration's policies. In 2006, Democrats recaptured control of both houses of Congress. By mid-2007, 60 percent of Americans thought the United States should not have invaded Iraq, and President Bush's approval rating sank to below 30 percent. Seventy-two percent of Americans, more than at any time in the past quarter-century, told pollsters, "Generally things in this country are seriously off on the wrong track." The Supreme Court Chooses a President In the presidential election of 2000, Republican candidate George Bush received half a million fewer votes than Democratic candidate Al Gore...
eBook - ePubThe American Century
A History of the United States Since 1941: Volume 2
- Walter LaFeber, Richard Polenberg, Nancy Woloch(Authors)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...C HAPTER N INETEEN 9/11: Causes and Consequences Smoke billows over New York City after the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. (Library of Congress) The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, which caused the deaths of 3,000 Americans, including 400 police and firefighters, dramatically transformed the nation’s politics, economy, law, and foreign policy. In the wake of the tragedy, George W. Bush, the first president in more than a century to have been elected with fewer popular votes than his opponent, suddenly saw his approval ratings soar. Republicans exploited the fear of terrorism to cement their control of Congress in the election of 2002 and to reelect the president in 2004. That same fear led Congress to adopt sweeping restrictions on civil liberties with little public protest. For a time, the Supreme Court set some limits on the government’s restriction of individual rights, but the appointment of two highly conservative justices suggested that the Court might not continue to play that role. Above all, the fear of terrorism provided a rationale for the president to launch an invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and then, in 2003, to attack Iraq. After more than four years of conflict, with U.S. military deaths approaching 4,000 and with Iraq in shambles, U.S. public opinion turned sharply against the Bush administration’s policies. In 2006, Democrats recaptured control of both houses of Congress. By mid-2007, 60 percent of Americans thought the United States should not have invaded Iraq, and President Bush’s approval rating sank to below 30 percent. Seventy-two percent of Americans, more than at any time in the past quarter-century, told pollsters, “Generally things in this country are seriously off on the wrong track.” THE SUPREME COURT CHOOSES A PRESIDENT In the presidential election of 2000, Republican candidate George Bush received half a million fewer votes than Democratic candidate A1 Gore...
eBook - ePubHuman Rights
Social Justice in the Age of the Market
- Koen De Feyter(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Zed Books(Publisher)
...US courts consistently took the civil rights in the American constitution and not international human rights law as their point of reference. The standard for judging the behaviour of other states had always been US society, which was held to be morally privileged. September 11 would in any case not affect the US position on economic, social and cultural rights. Its opposition to those rights would simply continue. To Amnesty’s credit, the plan to launch a major campaign on economic, social and cultural rights (along the lines suggested by the working group) was not shelved. Nevertheless, huge resources went into addressing the human rights impact of post-9/11 security measures, and in preventing long-established international human rights treaties from being swept under the carpet in the ‘War against Evil’. September 11 has not encouraged a balanced approach to human rights. Its direct impact on human rights has been negative. The problem of the selective use of human rights was illustrated by the appeal to ‘human rights’ made by coalition forces for the purposes of justifying the military intervention in Iraq. Finally, 9/11 and its aftermath may well have hurt human rights efforts to improve the living conditions of those marginalized by dominant political and economic forces. The direct impact on human rights of the 11 September attacks and their aftermath In international law, the 11 September attacks constituted a crime against humanity, as defined in the Statute of the International Criminal Court. 1 This was a large-scale massive attack aimed at civilians, consciously planned as part of a strategy to achieve political aims. The attacks were also an example of a globalized form of terrorism perpetrated by a non-state actor, and arguably planned in parts of the world far removed from the region where the attack occurred. The large-scale use of indiscriminate violence for political purposes is in itself very worrying from a human rights perspective...
- Damon DiMarco(Author)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Santa Monica Press(Publisher)
...TIMELINE OF EVENTS Tuesday, September 11, 2001 Note: All times are offered in EDT The Planes Take Off 7:58 A. M.: American Airlines Flight 11 leaves Boston for Los Angeles. 8:01 A. M.: United Airlines Flight 93 leaves Newark for San Francisco. 8:11 A. M.: American Airlines Flight 77 departs Washington, D.C., for Los Angeles. 8:12 A. M.: United Airlines Flight 175 leaves Boston for Los Angeles. The Attacks on the Towers 8:45 A. M.: Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower (WTC 1) of the World Trade Center. A burning hole is torn in the building. 9:04 A. M.: Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower (WTC 2) of the World Trade Center. Now both Towers are on fire. The First Response 9:15 A. M.: President Bush makes his first statement about the attacks from Sarasota, Florida. He says the nation is the victim of an “apparent terrorist attack.” 9:18 A. M.: The FAA shuts down all New York area airports. 9:21 A. M.: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey closes all bridges and tunnels into and out of New York. The NYSE and NASDAQ stock markets close. 9:40 A. M.: The FAA grounds all flights in the United States. This is the first time in U.S. history that all airline operations have been stopped. The Crisis Continues 9:45 A. M.: Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon; the White House and Capitol are evacuated. 9:57 A. M.: President Bush takes off from Florida. 10:05 A. M.: The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses, showering escapees and emergency rescue workers with tons of rubble. 10:09 A. M.: Heavily armed Secret Service agents are deployed around the White House. 10:10 A. M.: A section of the Pentagon collapses from the damage inflicted upon it. Flight 93 crashes in Somerset County, Pennsylvania; cell phone accounts from passengers on board confirm that the plane was hijacked. 10:15 A. M.: Some 11,000 people evacuate the United Nations. 10:25 A. M.: The FAA reroutes all international flights bound for the U.S...
