September 11, 2001, was the worst day to be an American. The cause of this brought destruction to many. Al-Qaeda had mastered a plan to kill thousands of people in a day. This had all been learned by Osama Bin Laden. After the attacks, many were convinced the destruction of the World Trade Building were caused by something else.
Many conspiracy theorists have thought the government helped. In finding the reason to why Al-Qaeda had brought out such an attack, the Quran is deciphered. The Americans stationed in Islam’s Holy Land are in danger as Osama Bin Laden plans to go to war with the United States.
Nineteen soldiers of Al-Qaida hijacked four airplanes headed towards the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and one other one crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Jihadist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed designed the plot to attack the World Trade Center. It was perfect, for he had already attended college in America, which would help for why an Islamic man was in America. It also made it easier for Al-Qaeda to operate in the United States. In 1996 Khalid went to Afghanistan to join forces with Osama bin Laden.
Bin Laden approved his plan for the attack on the World Trade Center and started plotting immediately. Bin Laden’s company supplied money, training, and guidance for his plan to work. Everyone working with Osama bin Laden and Khalid was Arabs.
They were recruited from all over Saudi Arabia, and some were hired in Germany. The Arabs that were key to the Trade Center plan entered the United States in 2000. Their primary goal “was to attack the World Trade Center1 as the symbol of capitalism, the Pentagon as the symbol of American power, and the Capitol or White House as the source of American political authority” (Jensen)3. The plan was entirely put together, and their goals would soon be accomplished (Jensen)3. The hijackings were timed to happen one after another. The Arabs overpowered and killed the flight attendants and pilots with box cutters that they had snuck through security.
“Each plane had over 20,000 gallons of fuel, easily capable of being used to take down a building” (Jensen)3. The Arab pilots turned the planes towards and flew into their targets with ease. The first three plane attacks happened so fast nobody knew what to do until the fourth one occurred. People on the fourth plane found out what had happened via phone, so they devised a plan to overtake the terrorists. Their plan worked successfully to an extent they saved lives of many. For years afterward, the United States government did a lot of critical research into how this happened. Both plane crashes of World Trade Center occurred 15 minutes apart from each other.
The planes were half full of people when the aircraft crashed. The plane didn’t tear down the buildings, but the burning of the 20,000 gallons of jet fuel melted the steel beams, causing both buildings to catch fire and soon collapse (Jensen)3. On September 20, 2001, days after 9/11, George W. Bush addressed the U.S. Congress saying Osama bin Laden was the one responsible for the attacks on September 11, 2001. He said “Americans are asking: Who attacked our country? The evidence we have gathered all points to a collection of loosely affiliated (connected) terrorist organizations known as Al- Qaeda. They were the same murderers indicted for bombing American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, and responsible for the bombing of the USS Cole” (“National Archives and Records Administration”)5.
The exact role of Osama bin Laden in the terrorist attacks was the main thing the U.S. government debated. In the battle coming up to September 11, 2001, his primary role was providing funds and organization. Al Qaeda was started mainly as an organization to carry out missions for Arabs, rather than as corporations to control the Arabs (Jenson)5. The two planes struck at 8:46 A.M.
and 9:03 A.M. when the buildings, 110 stories tall, were only half full. The towers survived the impact of the massive aircraft, but the burning fuel weakened their steel support systems, and both collapsed straight down, leaving a gigantic hole in lower Manhattan. The four plane crashes killed nearly three thousand people. The tragic events of September 11 left the world in shock and Americans were shattered by the massive number of fatalities (Jensen)5.
Although Al-Qaeda claimed the attacks, some people think the United States government helped in the terrorist attacks. One of the theories was that “a load of fuel from the aircraft was the cause of structural failure. No kerosene fire can burn hot enough to melt steel.” The posting is entitled “Proof Of Controlled Demolition At The WTC.” (“Debunking the 9/11 Myths: Special Report – The World Trade Center.”)2. In this theory, many think the melted steel came from a controlled demolition, as burning steel melts at 2750°F (“Debunking the 9/11 Myths: Special Report – The World Trade Center.”)2.
There was no proof of Demolitions, in which New York deputy fire chief Vincent Dunn, author of The Collapse Of Burning Buildings: A Guide To Fireground Safety, said “What happens is that the steel tries to expand at both ends, but when it can no longer expand, it sags and the surrounding concrete cracks” (“Debunking the 9/11 Myths: Special Report – The World Trade Center.”)2. Vincent Dunn debunked this myth in saying the reason for the steel bending was the fire was hot enough for it to lose its structural strength. Another theory is that when the buildings collapsed, puffs of smoke emerged.An advertisement in The New York Times for the book Painful Questions: An Analysis Of The September 11th Attack claims the result of this was “The concrete clouds shooting out of the buildings are not possible from a mere collapse. They do occur from explosions” (“Debunking the 9/11 Myths: Special Report – The World Trade Center.”)2. This theory was also resolved with the Statement “Once each tower began to collapse, the weight of all the floors above the collapsed zone bore down with pulverizing force on the highest intact floor.
Unable to absorb the massive energy, that floor would fail, transmitting the forces to the floor below, allowing the collapse to progress downward through the building in a chain reaction” (Debunking the 9/11 Myths: Special Report – The World Trade Center.”)2. This process was known as ‘pancaking,’ which does not require an explosion to occur.
The reason for the dust was “each floor contained a huge volume of air. NIST lead investigator Shyam Sunder said, “When you have a significant portion of a floor collapsing, it’s going to shoot air and concrete dust out the window” (Debunking the 9/11 Myths: Special Report – The World Trade Center.”)2. These two myths are two of many that people have claimed to state was the reason for the terrorist attack happening.
In thinking that the government would help the terrorists plan an attack such as this is crazy. The reason for why the attack occurred is that Al- Qaeda planned and carried out the attacks. Even though the government wasn’t responsible for 9/11, there is speculation that they knew about the attacks. Months before the terrorist attacks, the government got word that an attack was imminent. The speechwriter for George W. Bush said: “It turns out the front-runner for the GOP nomination is a 9/11 ‘truther’ who believes Bush knew 9/11 was going to happen but did nothing to stop it” (Chait)1. To some people, this was not a surprise as they believed “Bush knew there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq but lied to the American people to get us into a Middle East war” (Chait)1. Donald Trump said this statement but was criticized for bashing his fellow Republican.
Even though the Bush administration knew about the attacks, they had no chance as they ignored the countless warnings of terrorist attacks on US soil. In fact, “The Bush administration ignored pleas by the outgoing Clinton administration to focus on Al Qaeda in 2000, and ignored warnings by the CIA to prepare for an upcoming domestic attack” (Chait)1. In knowing of the attacks a year before has to be seen as a coverup by the Administration. After the attacks happened, the Bush Administration administered a report that they had lied to the public saying “”Our executive order did not direct us to deal with the use of intelligence by policymakers, and all of us were agreed that that was not part of our inquiry.
” It was not until a subsequent commission that the administration’s culpability was investigated. And that commission, which became known as the “Phase II” report, found that the Bush administration did indeed mislead the public: “The Administration repeatedly presented intelligence as fact when in reality it was unsubstantiated, contradicted, or even non-existent” (Chait)1. This report helped conspiracy theorists as they had evidence the government lied.
In saying this, there was no way this attack could be stopped, as the United States government were clueless of when the attacks were going to happen. Also, with the United States being at war with Al-Qaeda, they had their hands full. Before September 11th happened, the United States and Al-Qaeda had been at war since August 23, 1996.
The man in charge, Osama Bin Laden published a 30-page fatwa, “Declaration of War Against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places,” (Tierney)6. This article was published stating the announcement of the first global jihad against the United States. Bin Laden and the people of Islam had “suffered from aggression, iniquity, and injustice imposed on them by the Jewish-Christian alliance and their collaborators” (Tierney)6. The main reason for his attack was the United States were still in Saudi Arabia. After the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, bin Laden offered to stay and protect his home nation. The Saudi forces, however; decided it was better than the United States were the best option. Six years after his proposal, the US forces were still there. Over this time, the United States had become the most powerful enemy in the Middle East.
Bin Laden saw this as a threat, which he wanted to get rid of. Bin Laden wrote to Muslims saying they “should abandon their petty local fights and unite to drive the Americans out of Saudi Arabia: “destroying, fighting and killing the enemy until, by the Grace of Allah, it is completely defeated” (Tierney)6. In this message, he managed to start a war against the United States (Tierney)6. To understand the reason for why extremist groups would commit such attacks is all told through the Quran. This historical text has many interpretations, which allow for many ways of applying themselves to the text. Many believe that “the dynamism of classical Islamic scholarship has led to the common refrain that Muslims cannot “reform” until they cease to regard the Quran as the word of God” (Lumbard)4.
Due to the one-dimensional thinking, many people have not been able to understand the meaning of the Quran fully. The media, who had always put the extremists first, helped in causing so many people to misinterpret it. From the first century to today, Muslim scholars recognize the meaning of the text is based on that person’s interpretation.
Muhammad Ali, One of Islam’s most revered characters, states “This Quran is only writing, lines between two covers, that cannot speak without the intervention of an interpreter. Only human beings can speak on its behalf” (Lumbard)4. Muslim scholars have always known that texts have historical contexts.
So, without the proper knowledge of the Quran, people shouldn’t comment on the Quran. The “occasions of revelation” help lead interpreters in knowing which texts have the most information and which are limited. Many of the historical contexts are kept off limits. The most famous text is Quran 9:5, known as “The Sword Verse”: Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wheresoever you find them, capture them, besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they repent, and perform the prayer and give the alms, then let them go their way.
This phrase is a key context that is misinterpreted. What this phrase means refers to when tribes had declared war on Islam. Today, the Quaran is misinterpreted. The conscience of many people had led them to misinterpret this text.
Qadi Abu Baker says “It is clear that the intended meaning of the verse is to slay those idolaters who are waging war against you.” (Lumbardi)4. In this text being misinterpreted, the Muslims “casts aside historical context and interpretive tradition, passages such as 9:5 are employed by strident ideologues to advocate a state of perpetual warfare” (Lumbardi)4. In this text, it has given insight into the reason why Muslims will fight for what they believe in. The misinterpretation of many people has led many Muslims to refer to 9:5. This anger is all caused by people not having a higher cosmos, which is what has led to extremest warfare. There is no reason for this violence to have happened.
There is no substitute for what the did, but their message continues to be to interpret their holy book correctly. The attacks on 9/11 killed many people. Osama Bin Laden was responsible as he managed to start a hate group from scratch. This was all out of the anger of the United States overpowering his country. Since Osama was able to convince other people of Islam they were under attack, they were able to act in retaliation. Their Quran says they have the right to fight back if they’re under attack or feel threatened. Osama Bin Laden led his jihad, as they attacked the World Trade Center Towers on September 1st, 2001. This was the most significant terrorist attack on United States soil, but this offense was only the start.
Many jihad extremist groups continue to attack cities and kill thousands of people. In conclusion, there are many things to think about than just the story of what happened.
