9/11.
The term “9/11” is shorthand for the events of 11 September 2001. On that date, four U.S. planes were hijacked by nineteen members of the Al-Qaeda terrorist group. The surprisingly low-tech hijackings—relying largely on boxcutters and pepper spray—were the product of years of careful preparation and surveillance, much of it in the United States. Leaders of the group, for instance, received flight training at American schools. In the early morning, three of the hijacked planes were used as blunt-force missiles loaded with jet fuel. Two of these struck the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, a symbol of American financial might and long a target of international terrorism. The third struck the side of the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C., which houses the Department of Defense. The fourth jet crashed into the rural Pennsylvania countryside—brought down, it seems, during a fight between the hijackers and passengers who had been in communication with friends and family on the ground by cell phone and were thus aware of the broader significance of their plane's takeover. At the World Trade Center the heat from burning jet fuel ultimately led to the complete and catastrophic collapse of the towers. At the Pentagon, where hundreds died, the secretary of defense, ... ...
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