9/11

From RationalWiki
(Difference between revisions)
Jump to: navigation, search
(Copyedit.)
Line 1: Line 1:
'''September 11, 2001''' was the day the World Trade Center in New York and part of the Pentagon outside [[Washington, D.C.]] were destroyed in the worst [[Terrorism|terrorist]] attack in US history.  The death toll has been estimated at over 3,000 people. Due to the peculiar and secretive actions of President [[George W. Bush]] and Vice President [[Dick Cheney]],<ref>These actions were likely part of a Cold War-era continuity of government programs, but the Bush administration's lack of candor, and  continuing obsession with secrecy, was a significant early blow to their credibility.</ref> as well as the subsequent blaming of 9/11 on the government of Iraq, 9/11 has become a magnet for [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theorists]].  
+
'''September 11, 2001''' was the day the World Trade Center in [[New York|New York City]] and part of the [[Pentagon]] outside [[Washington, D.C.]] were destroyed in the worst [[terrorism|terrorist]] attack in [[United States|US]] history.  The death toll has been estimated at over 3,000 people. Due to the peculiar and secretive actions of [[George W. Bush|President George W. Bush]] and [[Dick Cheney|Vice President Dick Cheney]]<ref>These actions were likely part of a Cold War-era continuity of government programs, but the Bush administration's lack of candor, and  continuing obsession with secrecy, was a significant early blow to their credibility.</ref>, as well as the subsequent blaming of 9/11 on the government of Iraq, 9/11 has become a magnet for [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theorists]].  
  
While the international community condemned the attacks, some Muslims in the Middle East viewed them as part of a legitimate ''jihad''. Many Palestinian people celebrated the attack in refugee camps in Lebanon.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1538664.stm See images of celebration in BBC]</ref>
+
While the international community condemned the attacks, some [[Islam|Muslim]]s in the [[Middle East]] viewed them as part of a legitimate ''[[jihad]]''. Many [[Palestine|Palestinian]] people celebrated the attack in refugee camps in Lebanon<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1538664.stm See images of celebration in BBC]</ref>.
  
 
==What ''really'' happened==
 
==What ''really'' happened==
The story as pieced together by government and civilian authorities was that 9/11 was a followup to the failed Bojinka plot, created by the Islamist terrorist organization al-Qaeda under the auspices of founder [[Osama bin Laden]]. On the morning of September 11, 19 men, mostly from Saudi Arabia, hijacked four planes out of Boston, New York City, and Washington, DC, and without giving away their intentions redirected the planes on kamikaze missions towards four American landmarks on the East Coast -- the Twin Towers of the WTC in New York, the [[Pentagon]], and an unknown fourth location theorized by some to have been the White House or the Capitol building (the last plane was brought down, probably through passenger interference, in an open field outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania). The attacks resulted in the complete collapse of the World Trade Center twin towers in New York City (now known as Ground Zero) and heavy damage to one side of the Pentagon<ref>The remainder of the Pentagon held up quite well, because at the time it was constructed it was intended for use as a library, which requires a sturdier structure than an office building.</ref>, and the deaths of over 3000 people, some 400 of whom were police, fire fighters (with 3/4 of the responder casualties) and EMS workers in and around New York City alone.  
+
The story as pieced together by government and civilian authorities was that 9/11 was a followup to the failed Bojinka plot, created by the Islamist terrorist organization [[al-Qaeda]] under the auspices of founder [[Osama bin Laden]]. On the morning of September 11, 19 men, mostly from Saudi Arabia, hijacked four planes out of Boston, New York City, and Washington, DC, and without giving away their intentions redirected the planes on kamikaze missions towards four American landmarks on the east coast—the Twin Towers of the WTC in New York, the Pentagon, and an unknown fourth location theorized by some to have been the White House or the Capitol building (the last plane was brought down, probably through passenger interference, in an open field outside of Shanksville, [[Pennsylvania]]). The attacks resulted in the complete collapse of the World Trade Center twin towers in New York City (now known as Ground Zero) and heavy damage to one side of the Pentagon<ref>The remainder of the Pentagon held up quite well, because at the time it was constructed it was intended for use as a library, which requires a sturdier structure than an office building.</ref>, and the deaths of over 3000 people, some 400 of whom were police, fire fighters (with 3/4 of the responder casualties) and EMS workers in and around New York City alone.  
  
 
Later analysis showed that the World Trade Center towers, constructed as a stack of floors anchored between the building's facade and a central steel girder cage, had much of their steel structure weakened (not melted) by large amounts of burning jet fuel, a lot of which had been atomized on impact; a third tower on the site, WTC 7, was badly damaged by falling debris from the tower collapses and was on fire<ref>WTC 7 contained several large tanks of diesel fuel stockpiled by New York City's emergency management agency, and the main towers were still on fire at the time of their collapses.</ref>, and collapsed several hours later of its own accord. The Pentagon, where the impact site was in an area of the building that had been recently renovated and not fully reoccupied, had heavy but highly compartmentalized damage and light casualties.
 
Later analysis showed that the World Trade Center towers, constructed as a stack of floors anchored between the building's facade and a central steel girder cage, had much of their steel structure weakened (not melted) by large amounts of burning jet fuel, a lot of which had been atomized on impact; a third tower on the site, WTC 7, was badly damaged by falling debris from the tower collapses and was on fire<ref>WTC 7 contained several large tanks of diesel fuel stockpiled by New York City's emergency management agency, and the main towers were still on fire at the time of their collapses.</ref>, and collapsed several hours later of its own accord. The Pentagon, where the impact site was in an area of the building that had been recently renovated and not fully reoccupied, had heavy but highly compartmentalized damage and light casualties.
Line 15: Line 15:
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
*{{wpa|September 11, 2001 attacks|the September 11, 2001 attacks}}
 
 
*{{wpa|Bojinka|the Bojinka plot}}
 
*{{wpa|Bojinka|the Bojinka plot}}
 +
*{{wpa|September 11, 2001 attacks|the September 11, 2001 attacks}}
  
 
==Footnotes==
 
==Footnotes==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
  
[[category:history]]
+
[[Category:Conspiracy theories]]
[[category:conspiracy theories]]
+
[[Category:History]]
 +
[[Category:United States]]

Revision as of 02:57, 4 February 2009

September 11, 2001 was the day the World Trade Center in New York City and part of the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C. were destroyed in the worst terrorist attack in US history. The death toll has been estimated at over 3,000 people. Due to the peculiar and secretive actions of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney[1], as well as the subsequent blaming of 9/11 on the government of Iraq, 9/11 has become a magnet for conspiracy theorists.

While the international community condemned the attacks, some Muslims in the Middle East viewed them as part of a legitimate jihad. Many Palestinian people celebrated the attack in refugee camps in Lebanon[2].

Contents

What really happened

The story as pieced together by government and civilian authorities was that 9/11 was a followup to the failed Bojinka plot, created by the Islamist terrorist organization al-Qaeda under the auspices of founder Osama bin Laden. On the morning of September 11, 19 men, mostly from Saudi Arabia, hijacked four planes out of Boston, New York City, and Washington, DC, and without giving away their intentions redirected the planes on kamikaze missions towards four American landmarks on the east coast—the Twin Towers of the WTC in New York, the Pentagon, and an unknown fourth location theorized by some to have been the White House or the Capitol building (the last plane was brought down, probably through passenger interference, in an open field outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania). The attacks resulted in the complete collapse of the World Trade Center twin towers in New York City (now known as Ground Zero) and heavy damage to one side of the Pentagon[3], and the deaths of over 3000 people, some 400 of whom were police, fire fighters (with 3/4 of the responder casualties) and EMS workers in and around New York City alone.

Later analysis showed that the World Trade Center towers, constructed as a stack of floors anchored between the building's facade and a central steel girder cage, had much of their steel structure weakened (not melted) by large amounts of burning jet fuel, a lot of which had been atomized on impact; a third tower on the site, WTC 7, was badly damaged by falling debris from the tower collapses and was on fire[4], and collapsed several hours later of its own accord. The Pentagon, where the impact site was in an area of the building that had been recently renovated and not fully reoccupied, had heavy but highly compartmentalized damage and light casualties.

The cleanup took many months, complicated by the jet fuel fire under the WTC debris and the need to recover the bodies of the dead.

Conspiracy!

See the main article on this topic: 9/11 conspiracy theories

In the wake of 9/11, much criticism surrounded the actions of President Bush, who, after being informed of the attack, had returned to reading a children's book to a classroom in a Florida elementary school before boarding Air Force One for a complex and poorly-explained series of flights to random locations, and Vice President Cheney, who was evacuated to an "undisclosed location" (which quickly became a cliche of political comedy). Such criticism eventually gave rise to conspiracy theories, especially after Bush announced plans to invade Afghanistan (thought at the time to be harboring Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda's leadership) and later Iraq (which had no involvement at all in 9/11). This group of conspiracies, known collectively as the 9/11 Truth movement, makes varying assertions, most of which lay the culpability on Bush as either a plotter or enabler of the attack, and some of which implicitly or explicitly claim Jewish involvement in the attack.

External links

Footnotes

  1. These actions were likely part of a Cold War-era continuity of government programs, but the Bush administration's lack of candor, and continuing obsession with secrecy, was a significant early blow to their credibility.
  2. See images of celebration in BBC
  3. The remainder of the Pentagon held up quite well, because at the time it was constructed it was intended for use as a library, which requires a sturdier structure than an office building.
  4. WTC 7 contained several large tanks of diesel fuel stockpiled by New York City's emergency management agency, and the main towers were still on fire at the time of their collapses.
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Community
Tools
support