{"id":23009,"date":"2021-09-10T19:59:55","date_gmt":"2021-09-10T23:59:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=23009"},"modified":"2021-09-10T19:59:58","modified_gmt":"2021-09-10T23:59:58","slug":"never-forget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=23009","title":{"rendered":"Never Forget"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0September 11th attacks, often referred to as\u00a09\/11, were a series of four coordinated\u00a0terrorist attacks\u00a0by the militant Islamist terrorist group\u00a0al-Qaeda against the\u00a0United States of America\u00a0on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001.
On that morning, four commercial\u00a0airliners\u00a0traveling from the\u00a0northeastern United States\u00a0to\u00a0California\u00a0were\u00a0hijacked\u00a0mid-flight by\u00a019 al-Qaeda terrorists. The hijackers were organized into three groups of five hijackers and one group of four. Each group had one hijacker who had received\u00a0flight training\u00a0and took over control of the aircraft. Their explicit goal was to crash each plane into a prominent American building, causing\u00a0mass casualties\u00a0and partial or complete destruction of the targeted buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first plane to hit its target was\u00a0American Airlines Flight 11.\u00a0It was flown into the North Tower of the\u00a0World Trade Center\u00a0complex in\u00a0Lower Manhattan\u00a0at 8:46 am. Seventeen minutes later at 9:03 am, the World Trade Center\u2019s South Tower was hit by\u00a0United Airlines Flight 175.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both 110-story towers\u00a0collapsed\u00a0within an hour and forty-two minutes, leading to the collapse of the other World Trade Center structures including\u00a07 World Trade Center, and significantly damaging surrounding buildings.
A third flight,\u00a0American Airlines Flight 77, flown from\u00a0Dulles International Airport, was hijacked over\u00a0Ohio. At 9:37 am, it crashed into the west side of\u00a0the Pentagon\u00a0in\u00a0Arlington County, Virginia, causing a partial collapse of the building\u2019s side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth, and final flight,\u00a0United Airlines Flight 93, was flown in the direction of\u00a0Washington, DC.\u00a0This flight was the only plane not to hit its intended target, instead crashing in a field near\u00a0Shanksville, Pennsylvania\u00a0at 10:03 am. The plane\u2019s passengers attempted to regain control of the aircraft away from the hijackers and ultimately diverted the flight from its intended target. Investigators determined that Flight 93\u2019s target was either the\u00a0White House\u00a0or the\u00a0U.S. Capitol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, suspicion quickly fell onto al-Qaeda. The United States formally responded by launching the\u00a0War on Terror\u00a0and\u00a0invading Afghanistan\u00a0to depose the\u00a0Taliban, which had not complied with US demands to expel al-Qaeda from Afghanistan and extradite al-Qaeda leader\u00a0Osama bin Laden.
Although bin Laden initially denied any involvement, in 2004 he formally claimed\u00a0responsibility for the attacks. Al-Qaeda and bin Laden cited\u00a0US support of Israel, the presence of\u00a0US troops in Saudi Arabia, and\u00a0sanctions against Iraq\u00a0as\u00a0motives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After evading capture for almost a decade, bin Laden was located in a hideout in\u00a0Abbottabad, Pakistan and subsequently\u00a0killed during Operation Neptune Spear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The destruction of the\u00a0World Trade Center\u00a0and nearby infrastructure seriously harmed the economy of New York City and created a global\u00a0economic recession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many countries strengthened their\u00a0anti-terrorism legislation\u00a0and expanded the powers of\u00a0law enforcement\u00a0and\u00a0intelligence agencies\u00a0to prevent terrorist attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US and Canadian civilian airspaces were closed until September 13, while\u00a0Wall Street\u00a0trading was closed until September 17. Many\u00a0closings, evacuations, and cancellations\u00a0followed, out of respect or fear of further attacks.
Cleanup of the\u00a0World Trade Center site\u00a0was completed in May 2002, and the Pentagon was repaired within a year.
The\u00a0construction\u00a0of the World Trade Center complex\u2019s\u00a0replacement\u00a0began in November 2006, and the building opened in November 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attacks\u00a0resulted in 2,977 fatalities, over 25,000 injuries, and substantial long-term health consequences, in addition to at least $10\u00a0billion in infrastructure and property damage. It remains the\u00a0deadliest terrorist attack in human history\u00a0and the\u00a0single deadliest incident for firefighters\u00a0and\u00a0law enforcement officers\u00a0in the\u00a0history of the United States, with 340 and 72 killed, respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Numerous memorials\u00a0have been constructed, including the\u00a0National September 11 Memorial & Museum\u00a0in New York City, the\u00a0Pentagon Memorial\u00a0in Arlington County, Virginia, and the\u00a0Flight 93 National Memorial\u00a0at the Pennsylvania crash site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Early on the morning of September 11, 2001,\u00a019 hijackers\u00a0took control of four commercial airliners (two\u00a0Boeing 757s\u00a0and two\u00a0Boeing 767s) en route to California (three of them headed to\u00a0LAX\u00a0in Los Angeles and one to\u00a0SFO\u00a0in San Francisco) after takeoffs from\u00a0Logan International Airport\u00a0in\u00a0Boston, Massachusetts;\u00a0Newark Liberty International Airport\u00a0in\u00a0Newark, New Jersey; and\u00a0Washington Dulles International Airport\u00a0in\u00a0Loudoun\u00a0and\u00a0Fairfax\u00a0counties in\u00a0Virginia.
Large planes with long flights were selected for hijacking because they would be full of fuel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four flights were: American Airlines Flight 11: a Boeing 767 aircraft, departed Logan Airport at 7:59\u00a0am en route to Los Angeles with a crew of 11 and 76 passengers, not including five hijackers.
The hijackers flew the plane into the northern fa\u00e7ade of the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City at 8:46\u00a0am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

United Airlines Flight 175: a Boeing 767 aircraft, departed Logan Airport at 8:14\u00a0am en route to Los Angeles with a crew of nine and 51 passengers, not including five hijackers. The hijackers flew the plane into the southern fa\u00e7ade of the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City at 9:03\u00a0am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

American Airlines Flight 77: a Boeing 757 aircraft, departed Washington Dulles International Airport at 8:20\u00a0am en route to Los Angeles with a crew of six and 53 passengers, not including five hijackers. The hijackers flew the plane into the western fa\u00e7ade of the Pentagon in\u00a0Arlington County, Virginia, at 9:37\u00a0am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

United Airlines Flight 93: a Boeing 757 aircraft, departed Newark International Airport at 8:42\u00a0am en route to San Francisco, with a crew of seven and 33 passengers, not including four hijackers. As passengers attempted to subdue the hijackers, the aircraft crashed into a field in\u00a0Stonycreek Township\u00a0near\u00a0Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 10:03\u00a0am.
Media coverage\u00a0was extensive during the attacks and aftermath, beginning moments after the first crash into the World Trade Center, we will never forget or forgive. <\/p>\n

Share this:<\/h3>