1 / 63

The Road to 9/11

The Road to 9/11. Thinking Skill : Explicitly assess information and draw conclusions Objective : To gain a better understanding of the events that led to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and their overall long term impact on US history and foreign policy. Early Roots - The Road to 9/11.

edith
Download Presentation

The Road to 9/11

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Road to 9/11 • Thinking Skill: Explicitly assess information and draw conclusions • Objective: To gain a better understanding of the events that led to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and their overall long term impact on US history and foreign policy

  2. Early Roots - The Road to 9/11 • Osama Bin Laden -who was he? • “Radical” *– (extreme) Islam—on the rise—why/who did the message appeal to? • al-Qaeda – “The base” • WTC ‘93—legacy of that attack • KSM - planes operation, Who knew? • USS Cole and other pre-911 events, 1990s terrorism and other al-Qaeda attacks—big picture not apparent until later • Bin Laden’s 1996 declaration against US, Clinton, presidential intelligence • Declaration of War • “Planes operation” details, planning, training • *note: the term “radical” is arguably misused by the media

  3. Know the difference between… • Taliban vs. al-Qaeda, What's the difference? • Bin Laden vs. other terrorist leaders • Al-Qaeda vs. specific nations • Iraq vs. Afghanistan • War on Terror vs. War in Iraq • Sadaam Hussein vs. Osama Bin Laden • Fact vs. fiction surrounding events of 9/11/01 (conspiracy theories, etc.) • Perceived threats to terror vs. actual attacks • “911” was the emergency code long before 2001

  4. Al-Qaeda -- “The Base” Strategy 1. Provoke the United States into invading a Muslim country. 2. Incite local resistance to occupying forces. 3. Expand the conflict to neighboring countries, and engage the U.S. in a long war of attrition. 4. Convert al-Qaeda into an ideology and set of operating principles that can be adopted in other countries. Incite attacks against countries allied with the U.S. until they withdraw from the conflict. 5. The U.S. economy will finally collapse

  5. Refuge in Afghanistan Throughout the 1990s, a new force began to emerge. The origins of the Taliban (literally "students") lay in the children of Afghanistan, many of them orphaned by the war, and many of whom had been educated in the rapidly expanding network of Islamic schools (madrassas) either in Kandahar or in the refugee camps on the Afghan-Pakistani border.

  6. Osama Bin Laden

  7. Young Bin Laden in Oxford, 1970s (far right)

  8. 2nd from right- 1971 Sweden

  9. War declared on US in the 1990s • On February 23, 1998 -- bin Laden called on Muslims to kill Americans and their allies where they can, when they can. They declared: “[T]he ruling to kill the Americans and their allies—civilians and military—is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it”

  10. al-Qaeda attacks • Map of major attacks attributed to al-Qaeda:1. The Pentagon, US – Sep 11, 20012. World Trade Center, US – Sep 11, 20013. Istanbul, Turkey – Nov 15, 2003; Nov 20, 20034. Aden, Yemen – Oct 12, 20005. Nairobi, Kenya – Aug 7, 1998 • 6. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – Aug 7, 1998

  11. The USS Cole Bombing, or the USS Cole Incident, was a suicide attack on October 12, 2000 while it was harbored and refueled in the Yemeni port of Aden. Seventeen American sailors were killed, and 39 were injured. This event was the deadliest attack against a United States Naval vessel since 1987.

  12. First WTC attempt – 1993 – Ramzi Yousef

  13. 1993 WTC • Feb.26 1993 - The first major Islamist terrorist attack within the US: the original World Trade Center bombing is carried out by Ramzi Yousef and associates from the Alkhifa Center in Brooklyn. Hoping to kill thousands by toppling the North Tower onto the South, the group detonates a 1500-pound bomb concealed in a rental van in a parking garage beneath the towers. The blast and the smoke from the resulting fires kill six people and injure about 1000. The $5000 terrorist operation does $300 million worth of damage, but the towers remain standing. During the well-conducted investigation into the bombing, US officials get their first glimpses into the activities of Muslim extremists, though for several years they have only a vague understanding of the threat.

  14. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

  15. “the planes operation” • 1994- Using airline timetables, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi Yousef devised a scheme whereby five men could, in a single day, board 12 flights — two each for three of the men, three each for the other two — assemble and deposit their bombs and exit the planes, leaving timers to ignite the bombs up to several days afterward. By the time the bombs exploded, the men would be far away and far from reasonable suspicion. The math was simple: 12 flights with at least 400 people per flight. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 5,000 deaths. It would be a day of glory for them, calamity for the Americans they supposed would fill the aircraft."

  16. By late 2000 and early 2001, the training of pilots and “muscle hijackers” is well underway for what would become the September 11th “planes operation”

  17. Much of the training took place in our own country • Dec.29-30 2000 - Near Miami, Atta and al-Shehhi practice on a flight simulator that has New York City’s topography stored in it.  “It’s an absolute possibility that (they).. practiced running into the World Trade Center.” 

  18. A failure of intelligence? • Mar 2001 -The Russian UN mission submits an “unprecedentedly detailed report” to the UN Security Council on bin Laden’s whereabouts, al-Qaeda’s organization, and Pakistan’s involvement in Afghanistan.  The US evidently does nothing with the intelligence. This is just one of several lost opportunities to connect the dots in time pre 9-11 • Summer 2001 -- FAA receives 52 specific warnings about Bin Laden, Al Qaeda. 5 mention hijackers, 2 mention possible suicide attacks • But beware of “hindsight bias” in assessing failure to respond pre-9/11 • Resources, personnel not what it is today • Airplane security also much weaker—weapons passed through with ease

  19. Spring and Summer of 2001 • Apr.23-Jun.29 --During this time, most of the 13 Saudi assistants to the lead hijackers - often called ‘the muscle’ - arrive in the US and join Atta’s group in Florida.  These men are not informed of the details of the plot until just prior to the attacks.     

  20. August 2001-- In an intercepted phone call to an al-Qaeda leader in Madrid, an operative says “In our lessons we have entered the field of aviation.  We’ve even cut the throat of the bird.”  Another translation of the last sentence could be “We are even going to cut the eagle's throat,” possibly a reference to the impending attacks on America.     

  21. September 11, 2001

  22. September 11th flight paths

  23. Youtube links • National Georgraphic Inside 9/11: Zero Hour Part 1/4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-B6c6xxXug&feature=BFa&list=PL74D38060FE215801&index=7 • News Media morning of 9/11/01 before the attacks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaVYdg9BoNI&feature=BFa&list=PL74D38060FE215801&index=9 • New Media 9/11/01 the initial bulletins http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP5uIPyYDlQ&feature=BFa&list=PL74D38060FE215801&index=8

  24. 9/11 begins • 8:14 AM -- The 9/11 attacks begin: Flight 11 is hijacked over central Massachusetts by Atta and his assistants

  25. “We have some planes” • 8:24-8:38 AM --The Flight 11 hijackers accidentally intermittently broadcast their voices over the radio.  Boston air traffic controllers hear the inadvertent transmission, realize that they're dealing with a hijacking on Flight 11, and send warnings up the FAA chain of command.  A hijacker is heard saying "We have more planes. We have other planes," but the controllers don't yet grasp what he means - only after 9:00 AM do FAA officials realize that they're dealing with multiple hijackings.  

  26. Caught off guard • 8:30 AM-- approximately -- In the last minutes before Flight 11 hits the North Tower, key US government officials and military officers are widely scattered.  President Bush is in Sarasota, Florida, promoting the administration's education proposals.  Vice President Cheney, National Security Adviser Rice, and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld are all in their offices - the first two in the West Wing of the White House, and the latter at the Pentagon. 

  27. Flight 175 • 8:42 am --About this time Flight 175 is hijacked over northern New Jersey.  A brief emergency signal is sent, the plane veers off course, and soon afterwards its transponder code is altered.  Repeated attempts to contact the plane go unanswered. 

  28. 8:45 AM --Still communicating with an American Airlines ground manager, flight attendant Sweeney on Flight 11 says "I see the water. I see the buildings. I see buildings," and notes that the plane was flying very low. 

  29. 102 minutes • 8:46 AM  -- Mohamed Atta crashes American Flight 11 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The plane comes in from the north at about 470 miles per hour, striking the 93rd through 99th floors • Film footage, but not live TV news

  30. Flight 11 striking the north tower

  31. 9:03 am-South Tower is hit • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lKZqqSI9-s&feature=BFa&list=PL74D38060FE215801&index=3

  32. South Tower • 9:03 am --There are probably well over a hundred people milling around the elevators at the 78th floor sky lobby when a violent explosion blasts through, shattering the walls and the elevators, hurling fragments of glass and debris, and engulfing the large room in searing heat and smoke. • Many see this on live TV

  33. Bush learns of the attacks

  34. Watching in horror from “ground zero”

  35. Response to disaster

  36. Flight 77 • 8:53 AM- approximately -- Flight 77 is hijacked over southern Ohio. Flight 77 flies eastwards toward Washington, undetected until 9:32

  37. FAA actions • Initially, there are fears that there will be multiple attacks, at home and abroad.     • 9:26 AM -The FAA halts departures of all aircraft nationwide - civilian, military, and law enforcement - with a few special exceptions.  The momentous decision to call an unplanned national ground stop - the first in American history

  38. Flight 93 • FAA sends out message to all pilots of commercial airlines “beware cockpit intrusion” • 9:28 AM - Just as United Airlines is ordering its planes out of the air, Flight 93 is hijacked over eastern Ohio

  39. Pentagon • 9:37AM - After smoothly executing a 360-degree turn over the Potomac, American Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon, coming in very low, hitting the west face at 530 miles per hour, and piercing three of the building’s five concentric rings. The plane hits an area of Army and Navy offices that had recently been renovated and strengthened, and is still only partly occupied. • No live news footage of this attack • rumors spread of bombs set off at capitol hill

  40. 9:45 AM - The FAA shuts down all US commercial air traffic, and the nearly 4,000 planes in the air - almost a third of all airliners in the world - are soon landed at the nearest available airports. In the next 15 minutes, controllers reroute over 1,100 flights; in the next hour, 75% of all planes in the air are landed. Costs associated with this immense disruption of service deal a very heavy blow to the already ailing airline industry.

  41. 9:57 AM - Passengers on Flight 93 attack the hijackers.  The hijackers try to knock the attackers off balance by flying erratically, but the passengers keep up a sustained assault on the cockpit.

  42. Collapse • 9:58- AM - The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses, killing everyone in the building as well as a number of people on the concourse, in the Marriott, and on neighboring streets. • Watching from Brooklyn, novelist John Updike says "It sank down as if somebody had yanked it." The building falls in ten seconds, hitting the ground at nearly the speed of free-fall. The more than 200,000 cubic yards of concrete in the structure are pulverized by the force of the collapse and explode outward in a gigantic cloud of silicate dust, as bystanders desperately flee. • Popular Mechanics magazine would later publish an issue proving the science of how this is possible - to counter conspiracy theorists in their wild claims

More Related