Anupama Nair
New York is a city of dreams, the city of the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and many more. New York symbolizes modern America. Did you know New York was previously called New Amsterdam? New Amsterdam was the colony of the Dutch East India Company in Colonial America. In 1674, New Amsterdam became a British colony and was christened New York after the Duke of York, and in 1686 it became the first city in the British colonies to receive a Royal Charter.
On September 11, 2001 life in New York was like any other day – crowded metros as people rushing to work, the traffic which is like any other day. However, few would have imagined life would change drastically after a terror attack by Islamic jehadi group Al Qaeda would leave the world shocked. I still cannot forget the sight of the plane hitting the famous World Trade Center and both the towers crashing. World again witnessed the cruelty of Islamic terror that claimed the lives of many thousand innocents.
The attack of World Trade Center was predicted by the great Nostradamus three centuries ago. This is one of the most sensational prediction of Nostradamus. He stated “Earthshaking fire from the center of the Earth, will cause tremors around the New City. Two great rocks will war for a long time”. On the morning of September 11, 2001, the two towers (two great rocks) of the World Trade Center were attacked in New York City (New City).
The September 11 attacks, were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the militant Islamist terrorist group Al Qaeda against the United States of America. The 9/11 terror attacks wrought death and devastation, changing the world forever. We can trace the origins of al-Qaeda to 1979 when Russia invaded Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden traveled east to Afghanistan, where he helped organize Arab Mujahadeen to fight against the Russians. They traveled to Afghanistan because they viewed the war as a holy cause to help fellow Muslims and defeat Communist invaders.
In 1996, Osama issued his first fatwa ordering American soldiers to leave Saudi Arabia. In a second fatwa in 1998, he outlined his objections to American foreign policy with reference to Israel, and the presence of American troops in Saudi Arabia after the Gulf War. Bin Laden used Islamic texts to exhort Muslims to attack Americans until the stated grievances were reversed. This was the dreadful history of Al Quadea.
The plane traveling from the North Eastern United States to California were hijacked mid-flight by 19 terrorist all belonging to the peaceful community. The hijackers were organized into three groups of five hijackers and one group of four. Each group had one hijacker who had received training and took control of the aircraft. Their obvious goal was to crash each plane into a prominent American building, causing mass causalities and complete destruction of the targeted buildings.
The first plane to hit its target was American Airlines Flight 11. It was flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Complex at 8:46 am. At 9:03 am, the World Trade Center's South Tower was hit by United Airlines Flight 175. Both 110-story towers collapsed within an hour and forty-two minutes, leading to the collapse of the other World Trade Center structures and significantly damaging surrounding buildings.
A third flight, American Airlines Flight 77, flying from Dulles Airport, was hijacked in Ohio. At 9:37 am, it crashed into the west side of the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, causing a partial collapse of the building’s side. The fourth, and final flight, United Airlines Flight 93, was flying to the capital Washington DC. The patriotic passengers of the plane attempted to regain control of the aircraft away from the hijackers and finally diverted the flight from its intended target and it crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania at 10:03 am. Investigators claimed the target of the terrorists were either the White House or the US Capitol.
The 9/11 attacks led to the US invasion of Afghanistan in pursuit of Osama bin Laden, the butcher responsible for the attacks. Unfortunately, Laden continued to evade the American manhunt. While the US operations in search for Osama bin Laden was initially in Afghanistan, the US agencies, believed that ‘their most wanted man’ was hiding somewhere else.
Intelligence agencies suggested that the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks was hiding in Pakistan in Abbottabad, only two-hour drive from Pakistan’s capital Islamabad.
Osama Bin Laden was killed by US forces in Abbottabad thereby ensuring such terrorist attacks do not occur again and many innocents are not killed by the terrorists again. The destruction of the World Trade Center harmed the economy of New York City and created a global recession. Many countries strengthened their anti-terror legislation and expanded the powers of their own intelligence agencies to prevent such terrorist attacks. The U.S. and Canadian civilian airspaces were closed until September 13, while trading was closed until September 17.
The attacks cost the lives of 2,977 innocents, over 25,000 injuries, and substantial long-term health consequences, in addition to at least $10 billion in infrastructure and property damage. It is the largest and deadliest terrorist attack in the history of mankind.
“At ground zero of the attacks in New York, stands the National September 11 Memorial and Museum and the One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the US now”. The west side of the Pentagon building was rebuilt in its original shape that now overlooks the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial at the southwest side. To remember and honor the brave and patriotic passengers and crew of Flight 93, the “Flight 93 National Memorial” had been built near the crash site that showcases the flight path of the flight with a marble “Wall of Names” of the passengers and crew members.
The US President Joe Biden said “We honor all those who risked and gave their lives in the minutes, hours, months and years afterwards”. He further added, “no matter how much time has passed, these commemorations bring everything painfully back as if you just got the news a few seconds ago”. Queen Elizabeth said “my thoughts and prayers, and those of my family and the entire nation, remain with the victims, survivors and families affected, as well as the first responders and rescue workers called to duty”. Indian Prime Minister stated “this date in the history of the world is known for the attack on humanity, but this date also taught a lot to the whole world. He said that a century ago in 1893, Swami Vivekananda introduced the world to the human values of India at the World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago”.
The commemorations come at a difficult time for the President Biden, who has faced strong criticism in recent weeks over the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, which ended a US presence that began less than a month after the 11 September attacks.
All I can say the whole world needs to unite against terrorism and I hope we do not witness such terror attacks again.
