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| “ | The target of the terrorists was not only New York and Washington but the very values of freedom, tolerance and decency which underpin our way of life. | „ |
| ~ British Prime Minister Tony Blair |
The September 11 attacks, also commonly known and abbreviated as "9/11" refers to the infamous and tragic attack on the World Trade Center Twin Towers and Pentagon on September 11, 2001 by militant Islamists loyal to Osama Bin Laden - it involved the use of passenger planes as weapons in a forced-suicide attack similar to the famous kamikaze pilots of World War II.
No end of conspiracy theories have been spawned by the attacks, the most common being that the United States government itself carried it out and pinned it on Islamic terrorists to justify invading the Middle East for its oil.
9/11 is often stated as being amongst the most devastating terrorist attacks on America, claiming many lives and sparking the international "War on Terror" campaign that continues to play an important role in the world. It is also regarded as one of the most important events of the 21st century.
Hijackers
American Airlines Flight 11
United Airlines Flight 175
American Airlines Flight 77
United Airlines Flight 93
- Ziad Jarrah (Pilot)
- Ahmed al-Haznawi
- Ahmed al-Nami
- Saeed al-Ghamdi (Co-pilot)
Trivia
- The youngest victim of the attack was two-year old Christine Hanson, who was a passenger of Flight 175.
- The event is considered "The Day That Changed America".
- Ted Olsen, whose wife died during the attack, was born on September 11, 1940.
- Pornograpic actor Lexington Steele (real name: Clifton Britt) worked as a stock broker before entering pornography and was employed by Oppenheimer Financial, which operated out of the Twin Towers. Steele first entered pornography in 2001, and says that, had he not decided to change careers and kept working as a stock broker, he would have been killed in the attack.
- Another celebrity who was almost killed in the attacks was Seth MacFarlane, best known as the creator of the adult cartoon Family Guy. MacFarlane was supposed to return to Los Angeles on American Airlines Flight 11 - one of the four planes hijacked - from Boston after giving a speech at the Rhode Island School of Design the previous day, but his travel agent got departure time for the flight mixed up, causing him to arrive ten minutes late; by that time, the gate had closed.
- The attack occured on the 28th anniversary of Augusto Pinochet's coup d'etat in Chile.
- The attacks surpassed the Oklahoma City Bombing as the deadliest terrorist attack to occur on American soil.