Special Report: What Happened on September 11th

By Nicolas Tirado


“On September the 11th, enemies of freedom committed an act of war against our country. Americans have known wars, but for the past 136 years they have been wars on foreign soil,” said President George W. Bush, nine days after the worst terrorist attack in U.S history. It occurred due to four teams of terrorists from the Middle East, all operating from inside the U.S. Each team had boarded an early morning flight, posing as passengers, and then forcibly commandeered the aircraft. President Bush continued to deliver the speech, designating Al-Qaida as the assailants in the September 11th attack, saying, “Americans have known surprise attacks, but never before on thousands of civilians.”

Two fully fueled jumbo jets, American Airlines Flight 11 carrying 92 people and United Airlines Flight 175 carrying 62 people, had departed Boston for Los Angeles. Both jets were diverted by hijackers to New York City where they were piloted by terrorists. The planes crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. Bush stated that Al Qaida is to terror what the mafia is to crime. But its goal is not making money. Its goal is remaking the world and imposing its radical beliefs on people everywhere. President Bush wanted to make clear that Al Qaida is going to be held for their crimes against America.

“This group and its leaders, a person named Osama bin Laden, are linked to many other organizations in different countries, including the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.” he said, Once President Bush said Osama bin Laden the crowd reacted in confusion as to who this person is. Al Qaida is a global militant Islamist organization founded by Osama bin Laden at some point between August 1988 and late 1989, with its origins being traceable to the Soviet War in Afghanistan. It operates as a network comprising a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad and a strict interpretation of sharia law. It has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United Nations Security Council, NATO, the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, and various other countries.


For more information: http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/gw-bush-9-11.htm


Nicholas Tirado is a junior at St. Thomas Aquinas College and is pursuing a degree in Communications Arts.