Reflection Essay On 9/11

The 11th of September 2001 the date that still stand out in many people’s mind. It was the day USA got hit by a terror attack by 4 captured airplanes and resulted in thousands of lives and millions of dollars in repairs both to the buildings and to the mental health of the people who survived and witnessed it. Never before had such an extensive terrorist attack cost so many lives. 

Many people followed it on their television and in the radio.

It was the first major attack against the US since pearl harbor got bomb. I think the reason it still stands so much out in people’s minds is because it took so many civilian people´s lives in comparison to Pearl Harbor where many of the lives taken was soldiers or at least was at a military base. It was also the first ever terrorist attack where a civil passenger airplane got hijacked and used as a weapon. I also think it came as a shock to American military because they were properly prepared for an airplane or missile to enter their air zone instead of something inside their zone attacking them. 

I think they chose to attack WTC, the pentagon and properly an administration building was to hit the economy, the military and politic powers. They properly did it as some kind of showing that they were not just some little groups of people far away making empty threats, but they was serious. They were properly also trying to embarrass the Americans and give some kind of unsafe felling around the world.

There were 19 hijackers in all 4 pilots and the rest was there to hold up the passengers.

All the pilots came from a good childhood and did not grow up poor. The rest of the attacker came from poor provinces and did not have any good education or a wife. Most of the suicide attackers chose to join the al-Quedas training camps to become a holy warrior in Chechnya. 

None of the terrorist on board on the airplanes was the minds behind the attack the big mind behind it was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, he was on of the people in the top administration in al-Qaeda. The plan was originally planed before 1993 the same year that his cousin blew up a truck under a building killing 6 people and injuring around 1000 people. 

In the originally plan they were to hijack 10 planes where 9 of the should be used as weapons and the last one he would land in an international airport after having killed all the passengers and there he would give a speech criticizing the US´s foreign policy.

The plan did not get presented for Osama Bin Laden before 1999 where he gave a green light for it. What happened to the originally plan and the outcome I don’t know but I think reality struck them in the meantime, but I am not here to complain about it. 

The preparation between the go signals and the attack was used to train pilots and terrorist for a fight on board. In advance of the attack the terrorist had done some homework on how much security there was before a domestic flight took off. They unfortunately figured out a way to smuggle pocketknife on board. 

The official responde to the attacks was a message from George W. bush where he wanted Osama Bin Laden alive or dead, he didn’t care he just wanted him. A couple of days latter he said “you are either with us or against us.” 

The consequences for al-Qaeda were that many of their leaders either got captured or killed in the war against terrorism. 

The 3. of October the US and UK hit Afghanistan with air attacks with NATO to back them up along with all of Europe and most of the world. 

So all in all 9/11 2001 was a example of how to raise hell for 20 years in just few hours, and also a eye opener for many people to show that most of the world helped to bring down the terrorism.