9/11 - A Day that Needs to be Remembered

Years passed since the horrible attack against the United States of America.. How has the world recovered since and how have the attacks influenced our lives? My first piece on this blog will be covering the event and the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks from a non-American perspective.

What led to September 11?

Islamic extremism was a rising force in the Middle-east near the end of the 20th century. Multiple factors contributed to the rise of bin Laden's al-Qaida (Al-Qaeda) that stood behind the terrible 9/11 attacks. During the Soviet-Afghan war, thousands of Muslim volunteers from a number of different countries fought on the Afghanistan side and contributed to the Soviet retreat from the country. The aftermath of the war led to an expansion of these groups, and their main cause was fighting for the Islamic struggles throughout the world..

The assassination of Anwar Sadat and the Iranian revolution were also a major factor in the rise of these extremist groups. In 1988, Osama bin Laden and Abdullah Azzam formed Al-Qaeda and the group nearly immediately became a synonym for Islamic terrorism and jihad throughout the world. Al-Qaeda, just like most of these terrorist organizations became more and more anti-American, as the States were continuously showing support for Israel, the arch-nemesis of the Islamic world in these areas..

Abdullah Yusuf Azzam - Photo source: menafn.com

Al-Qaeda was a part of a number of major operations in the Middle-east. They were recruiting volunteers from all parts of the world, and they were doing military training to children. The organization carried out six major attacks, with their operations culminating at the beginning of the 21st century. Attacks in Kenya, Tanzania, Yemen, and most notably, the United States of America, killed thousands of lives in the name of Islamic terrorism. A day that we all remember to this day, the 11th of September 2001 - here's what happened..

September 11 attacks

Four airliners headed to California were hijacked by Al-Qaeda terrorists. The attack that resulted in 2,977 deaths and countless injured people were executed by 19 extremists, mainly from Saudi Arabia. Two of the planes crashed into the "twin towers" in New York, while the third plane crashed into the Pentagon. A fourth plane was headed to D.C., but didn't reach its destination after the passengers rose up to the terrorists and crashed the plane into a Pennsylvanian field.

9/11 attack at World Trade Center - Photo source: theconversation.com

The World Trade Center towers collapsed, and New York suffered the biggest damage in infrastructure - over $10 billion. 2,606 people died in or near the World Trade Center and 125 people near the Pentagon lost their lives. A lot of people suspect that the fourth plane was headed towards the Capitol. The brave passengers of the United 93 flight managed to fight the terrorists and force them to crash the plane into a field in Pennsylvania..

The aftermath of the attacks

The whole world was devastated.. The biggest terrorist attack of all time resulted in nearly 3,000 immediate victims and changed the world forever. The president at the time, George W. Bush soon started the invasion of Afghanistan and the War on Terror begun. Thousands and thousands of American soldiers were deployed in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and other Middle-east countries. Saddam Hussein was captured and then executed, and in 2011, Osama bin Laden was killed.

The attack had an impact on the whole planet. Airports introduced security measures never seen before, and countries started investing more in surveillance in order to prevent such attacks from happening again. President Bush introduced the USA PATRIOT Act which allowed authorities to surveil and tap domestic and international phones, strengthened border security, and increased penalties on acts of terrorism. 

2,977 is the number of people that lost their lives on that day. Countless others still suffer the consequences and the families of the victims will never recover. Neither will we...

9/11 is a date that mustn't be forgotten. It is a date that reminds us all of the ever-growing danger of Islamic extremism and the day that the world witnessed that danger first-hand. As the world continuously tries to secure their countries from further terrorist attacks, it is our duty to honor the 9/11 victims and never stop the fight against terrorism.