2.4 9/11 Attacks

WHO? Nineteen hijackers, all members of al Qaeda.

WHAT? Inflicted 3,000 deaths and $40 billion in damages by subverting US aviation infrastructure.

WHEN? From start to end, the attacks took less than two hours.

WHERE? The attacks succeeded in striking the centers of US financial and military power.

WHY? Because Osama bin Laden wanted US forces withdrawn from Saudi Arabia.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, 19 hijackers formed into four teams and made their way to three airports. Within a matter of hours they successfully negotiated security measures designed to flag suspicious passengers and screen for weapons. At 7:59 am, the first team took off from Boston Logan airport aboard a Boeing 757 fueled for transcontinental flight. Within 40 minutes, all four teams were airborne aboard similar flights originating from Logan, Dulles, and Newark airports. Shortly after gaining cruising altitude, the hijackers attacked. They subdued the cabin using pepper spray and razor knives before forcing their way into the cockpit and killing the pilot and copilot. Once in control, they disengaged the transponder and dove the aircraft to lower altitude, effectively disappearing from FAA tracking screens. At 8:46 am, the first aircraft crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Loaded with fuel, the aircraft disintegrated into a giant fireball as it ploughed into the skyscraper. Within minutes, dramatic video was broadcast across network television news. Fifteen minutes later, a second aircraft crashed into the South Tower. The United States was under attack. Fighter interceptors were scrambled from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. But in the confusion of events, they were directed out over the Atlantic to intercept expected enemy military aircraft. A little over 30 minutes after the second crash, a third aircraft crashed into the Pentagon. The alert fighters were too far away to do anything. Passengers aboard the fourth aircraft were warned about the suicide hijackings by cell phone. As the aircraft flew towards Washington DC, passengers and crew rose up against the hijackers. Flight recorders captured the sound of passengers trying to force their way into the cockpit when the hijackers decided to dive the aircraft into the ground.   At 10:03, the last hijacked aircraft crashed into the countryside outside Shanksville Pennsylvania. From start to end, the attacks had taken a little over two hours. More than 2,600 people died at the World Trade Center, including 333 firefighters; 125 died at the Pentagon; and 256 passengers died aboard the four aircraft. All told, the attacks resulted in 3,000 deaths and $40 billion in damages. The death toll was greater than that at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. But where the destruction at Pearl Harbor was inflicted by an armada of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the destruction on 9/11 was caused by only 19 young men, most from Saudi Arabia. Some had been in the United States for more than a year. Though four had pilot training, most were not well-educated. Most spoke English poorly, and some hardly at all. The ensuing investigation by the 9/11 Commission estimated the cost of the attack at less than $400,000. It’s most distinguishing feature, they said, was its “surpassing disproportion”. The hijackers had turned passenger jets into guided missiles. Instead of using WMD, they had achieved WMD effects by subverting the aviation infrastructure. 9/11 demonstrated how to leverage infrastructure to achieve WMD effects without using WMD. Infrastructure, including transportation, water, energy, and communications are an integral component of the US national economy and citizens’ well being. A sobering lesson from 9/11 is that we are surrounded by the means of our own destruction. Join us next time when we talk about what went wrong.