As a matter of fact, I had painted all my walls black and had blocked the views from my window. The 11th anniversary of 9/11 with the 'war on terror' and all its attendant costs is a fit moment for an audit of American values, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, The 9/11 memorial at Ground Zero in New York. Unlike me and my wife and another couple who were staying in the apartment, they, sensibly, had not been sampling cocktails in a nearby bar until the early hours. The country was under attack and there was now evidence of it just a few miles away from my home. September 10, 2001 | 4:00am GIRL CRAZY At the Mainstage, 14th Street Y, 344 E. 14 St. When I took this photo, I was on the grounds by the Statue of Liberty. The death toll at the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., was 184, and 40 individuals died outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Minister backs down in fight to keep WA live sheep exports afloat, 'This is a new start': Socceroos to host Ecuador as next World Cup cycle begins. November 3, 2014: One World Trade Center officially opens on the site of the Twin Towers. Throughout his stay in the United States, Atta kept Binalshibh updated on the plots progress via e-mail. September 10 - More than 135 Taliban were killed and 75 captured in an attack by opposition forces on Taliban positions in Eshkamesh and Chal . It took about four hours to make the trip as the roads were grid-locked with traffic exiting the city. This was not any ordinary traffic jam, however. Michael Jackson performs his second 30th anniversary (of his career) concert in New York. 10:07 am After passengers and crew members aboard the hijacked Flight 93 contact friends and family and learn about the attacks in New York and Washington, they mount an attempt to retake the plane. Long story short, at one point I mentioned that it was way too early to even begin to speculate on President Bush's place in history. We were visiting New York City on a house trade with a friend that week to visit my daughter and check out the city. I recall watching the towers fall and wondering how it would change America. The pub was full of people who had been evacuated from downtown, many of whom were unable to get home. The Twin Towers falling just a decade after the collapse of the Soviet empire was the greatest propaganda victory in the history of global jihadism. The plane was believed to be headed to the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. It includes classified documents, airport security footage of the hijackers, and cockpit voice recordings from United Airlines Flight 93. It was 12 years since the. September 10, 2001 is the 253 rd day of the year 2001 in the Gregorian calendar. I made a point of visiting the WTC site and to me, having only seen it for such a short time in September of 2001, it didn't even seem like the same place. I guess the remaining days of our holiday could have been considered as our honeymoon. I only found it after we developed it a few weeks later. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. original sound - Spirit of Dani . A survey conduct by the American Red Cross in 2011 showed that a majority of Americans, including nearly six in 10 teenagers, approved of using torture. I did not usually bring it to work. There are 112 days remaining until the end of this year. We were having breakfast upstairs. READ MORE: How United Flight 93 Passengers Fought Back on 9/11. It wasn't until we were back from our run (the day was an absolutely perfect fall day and we had driven to an area where they had some beautiful wooded trails) and I had showered that the phone rang, and it was my sister from Canada checking to see if I was okay. Eight people share the photos they took of New York City and Washington DC the day before the infamous terrorist attacks, and answer three questions about their experiences at the time. We were paying down the national debt and there was a $127bn surplus for the fiscal year ending on 30 September. The twin towers were so impressive that Roger Walters couldn't help but snap another photo of the buildings he'd seen many times before. I experienced loss at a very early age when my father suddenly died in an accident; that not only shaped my life and work but gave me so much perspective. Back then, our most recent recollection of war was Desert Storm, a six-week campaign that ousted Saddam Hussein from Kuwait with fewer than 150 US military personnel killed in action. I had started going at the end of May, but always felt an uneasiness being inside of the building. We watched together in stunned silence the live TV images of men and women jumping from the top floors of the World Trade Center as the flames engulfed them, choosing one form of certain death over another. On the morning of Tuesday September 11, I was in New Jersey preparing to leave for the airport when I received a call telling me to turn on the television. Having met a fellow traveller the day before on the ferry ride back from Ellis Island to Manhattan, we were planning to meet up again that morning around 8:45am at the World Trade Centre. I immediately called to my friend where I was staying and we went to the neighbour's to see on television what was happening. What do you recall about that day, and the circumstances in which you took the video? A justified sense of fear had started, which lasts to this day worldwide. American Airlines flight 11 and United Airlines flight 175 were flown into the World Trade Centers north and south towers, respectively, and American Airlines flight 77 hit the Pentagon. I'm sure we would not have survived being on the observation deck as I think I would have tried to go to the roof expecting to be helicoptered off, rather than going down through the stairwells. Because they didnt know how many people were read more, Shortly after the Twin Towers fell on September 11, 2001, the nation began to mourn, and around the country Americans began to commemorate the victims and demonstrate their patriotism. Updates? Now when I look back on it, I am glad that I do not have a picture of it. United Airlines flight 93 crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers attempted to overpower the hijackers. In fact, we couldn't stop talking about it when we met the next evening. We landed very early in the morning at LAX and were probably only asleep for a few hours before my phone was ringing off the hook. We watched on television as members of the Iraqi armed forces put down their weapons and surrendered by the tens of thousands, something they did in part because they trusted United States military personnel would provide them food, shelter, medical care and humane treatment. September 11 attacks, also called 9/11 attacks, series of airline hijackings and suicide attacks committed in 2001 by 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda against targets in the United States, the deadliest terrorist attacks on American soil in U.S. history. There is ample room for debate about how and why America got to where it is today, but as election day approaches on 6 November, Americans need to ask themselves about the direction they want the nation to move in the years ahead. Thats because Afghanistan was the epicenter of militant jihadism, which was thriving. However, moments later we saw another explosion from the other tower which we all greeted with an array of expletives and from that moment on everything became surreal. Overall, I think I'm still haunted by the experience, and take life a little more casually. On October 7, 2001, a U.S.-led coalition begins attacks on Taliban-controlled Afghanistan with an intense bombing campaign by American and British forces. The DNC started running attack ads in New Jersey in an effort to get Jim McGreevey elected governor of the state. On 10 September, the US economy was strong, although it had begun to slow down after a sustained period of growth. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. The phone rang and Juan answered it; it was my friend Susanna asking whether I was home or at the studio. During one of these meetings at my house a few days later, I remembered having the footage and I decided to make a film of it right away and give a copy to the rest of the people at the residency. It seemed completely unreal to see it again, like it was some special effect out of Hollywood. I'll never forget the posters of the missing people that started to appear all over the city and friends and families gathering outside hospitals hoping to find their loved ones safe - tragically mostly in vain. All four of us just sat there in our nightclothes staring as events unfolded before us live on TV; we were unable to comprehend that these catastrophic events were occurring just four miles away. George W. Bush declared a global war on terrorism, and lengthy wars in Afghanistan and Iraq followed. My home is located in Alexandria, Virginia, not five miles away from the Pentagon. Perhaps if the United States sustained such a commitment in Afghanistan along with its NATO partners and willing NGOs it would have offered an opportunity to build something better, and ultimately chip away at the Talibans ability to retake power. By the time she left to meet me, the attack had already taken place. As the ferry made its way across the Upper New York Bay I recall the excellent view of the Downtown skyline and the unique perspective you get from the bay. Police and fire departments in New York were especially hard-hit: hundreds had rushed to the scene of the attacks, and more than 400 police officers and firefighters were killed. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. I remember looking at her and thinking, "are you for real?". Down at Union Square, the closest you could get to Ground Zero, a large crowd gathered in silence around a shrine of floral wreaths, US flags and photos of the missing. I had never really heard of the WTC growing up in LA. Those attacks were then followed in quick succession by the USS Cole bombing in 2000, and then Sept. 11. Originally I was planning on staying the whole night making a 24-hour video, but my husband Juan called me around 11pm and suggested I go home because according to him I had no water and sleeping over would be very uncomfortable. The attack remains one of the most traumatic. Reuters Daily Briefing All the news you need to start your day. Today, it stands at 60%, up a bit from 53% in 2008. I remember looking at people in the cars beside me. Even though I do not recall any of the details of Monday 10 September, sometimes I think about how America might be different if we could turn back the clock. While there we spontaneously decided to get married and tied the knot in NY City Hall on September 7. This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced. May 2, 2011: Osama bin Laden is killed by U.S. Navy Seals. December 2001- June 2004: The Victims Compensation Fund provides over $7 billion in aid to people with 9/11-related illness and the families of the deceased or injured in exchange for not suing the airlines. Even as the events of September 11, 2001, were unfolding, the questions people were asking amid the scenes of chaos were an indication that the world was about to change. Mike Horan says the date stamped on this photo, which he posed for less than 24 hours before the Twin Towers fell, transforms an otherwise unremarkable holiday snap. January 2, 2011: The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 is signed into law by President Barack Obama. I remember going to my office to see if I could pull up some additional information on the internet about the Pentagon incident. It renews and expands the Victim Compensation Fund. Omissions? Mohammed came up with the tactical innovation of using hijacked planes to attack the United States, and al-Qaeda provided the personnel, money, and logistical support to execute the operation. I had been in the north-east since the previous week attending to my mother's funeral. My sister's fiance called from his office in Connecticut to say that we should remain where we were and that there were rumours that more planes were heading for other iconic buildings, including the United Nations building. At work the next day, I first learned of the attack just after Flight 11 hit the North Tower. I was on Capitol Hill the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, working as a foreign policy adviser for New Yorks senior Senator, Charles Schumer. He formerly served as a foreign policy adviser and speechwriter in the United States Senate (1999-2003). My wife must have dawdled a bit because she saw a plane overhead and thought to herself, "gee, that's very low". 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We then went to a nearby pub where we had arranged to meet my sister. Soon after I awoke, I was showered and ready to head back into New York; the friends I was staying with were on the New Jersey side. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! As planes were crashing into the Twin Towers, regular people saw the tragedy take place. I started to call the rest of the artists just to make sure no-one was in the building, but Michael never answered and a few hours later we were told he was among the thousand that were missing. The apartment we were in was on 51st St, off 1st Ave, and just four blocks away from the UN building. Attitudes of the American public have changed significantly, too. PHOTOS: September 11: Photos of the Worst Attack on American Soil. On September 10, 2001 this speech was given by the Secretary of Defense informing the American people that the Pentagon lost 2.3 TRILLION dollars. We had arrived in the World Trade Centre on the PATH train and as we exited the complex I took this picture. ': Remote NT mayor questions response time for flood evacuations, 'I can't love you unconditionally': The text message Ellen received after coming out to their mother. It had rained overnight on the 10th/11th so we went to the top of our hotel on 56th street to check the view. The notion that 20 years was long enough in Afghanistan which seems to be the main argument of the Biden administration is no way to direct foreign policy in such a vital region, with so much on the line in terms of both national security and moral values and leadership. It was just before 9am when we switched on the news channel and we could see a picture of one of the Twin Towers with smoke bellowing from the top floors. One of the fire houses that lost I think 14 men was nearby. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Rick King, who was assistant fire chief of Shanksville, Pa., on Sept. 11, 2001, stands near a cross made from steel from the World Trade Center, outside the fire station in Shanksville on July. Abu Walid al-Masri, an Egyptian who was a bin Laden associate in Afghanistan in the 1980s and 90s, explained that, in the years prior to the attacks, bin Laden became increasingly convinced that America was weak. What are the important events that happened on September 10, 2001? Then the TV broke in with news that a small plane had apparently hit one of the towers; from then on the story unfolded. Since the event I have become more educated on the motives behind the attack, which I suppose was the primary objective of the terrorists, to highlight their cause to the world in the most spectacular way imaginable. Eight people share the photos they took of New York City and Washington DC the day before the infamous terrorist attacks, and answer three questions about their experiences at the time. The plot played out across the globe with planning meetings in Malaysia, operatives taking flight lessons in the United States, coordination by plot leaders based in Hamburg, Germany, money transfers from Dubai, and recruitment of suicide operatives from countries around the Middle Eastall activities that were ultimately overseen by al-Qaedas leaders in Afghanistan. On Tuesday 11 September 2001 suicide attackers seized US passenger jets and crashed them into two New York skyscrapers, killing thousands of people. Additionally, a cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security was created. I felt permanently altered that day. 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