9/11 Terrorism Impact

Introduction The horrific terrorist attacks conducted on September 11, 2001 (regularly referenced as 9/11), grievously effected the lives of countless Americans, and forever changed the course of the nation’s history. The once seemingly impervious nation became defenseless, as a faceless enemy emerged, converting large passenger jets into offensive weapons. The unanticipated siege resulted in the death of approximately 2,977 Americans, with another 6,000 wounded. The horrendous event highlighted significance of terrorism threats in America, while propelling the terrorist syndicate Al Qaeda to international stardom, eventually becoming the face of terrorism in the new millennium. Spanning the thirteen years subsequent to the attacks …show more content…
As the Taliban obtained control of Afghanistan in 1996, bin Laden relocated the Al Qaeda headquarters, along with approximately twelve terrorist training camps, back to Afghanistan, forging a strong alliance with the Taliban. This robust alliance provided bin Laden an impenetrable safe haven, allowing him the freedom and ability to expand his area of influence, while escalating Al Qaeda operations worldwide. By 2012 Al Qaeda was assessed to operate within 100 countries, increasing the consortium’s operational footprint from the Middle East to the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Albania, Uganda, etc. In 2001, shortly after the United States began a military campaign targeting Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, Usama bin Laden relocates to Pakistan, where he is eventually killed by US forces on May 01, 2011 in the town of Abbottabad. Undeterred by the death of bin Laden, Al Qaeda formally announced his succession by Ayman al-Zawahiri, and its continued expansion into South Asia. While support for Al Qaeda has fluctuated throughout its history, the organization endures, continuing global operations, and expanding its area of influence/area of operations, thus posing a significant threat to international …show more content…
Most notably are the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in which Al Qaeda operatives hijacked passenger planes, converting them into offensive weapons by flying them into key infrastructure. Additionally, Al Qaeda conducted the February 26, 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, the August 08, 1998 attack against the American embassy in Nairobi, in which a truck bombs killed approximately 240 people, and the October 12, 2002 bombing in Bali, which resulted in the death of 202 people and hundreds more