I.

Introduction

September 11 Attacks, coordinated terrorist strike on the United States in 2001 that killed more than 3,000 people.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial aeroplanes. Two of the planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. A third terrorist crew crashed their plane into the Pentagon, in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth aeroplane crashed in a field in rural Pennsylvania.

Of the 19 men who carried out the hijackings, 15 came from Saudi Arabia, while the remaining 4 came from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Lebanon. They were affiliated to the Al-Qaeda network, a radical Islamist group led by Saudi exile Osama bin Laden dedicated to waging a holy war (see Jihad) against the United States.

As a consequence of the September 11 attacks, President George W. Bush announced that fighting terrorism and preventing future attacks would be his administration’s top priority. Americans had to accustom themselves to new security measures that complicated their travel, work, and recreation. United States agencies rearranged their priorities, and local governments scrambled to make preparations for potential terrorist attacks, possibly involving biological, chemical, or even nuclear weapons. The attacks also had an international impact, with many Western governments enacting tougher anti-terrorist legislation in response to the threat posed by Al-Qaeda and its affiliate organizations.