U.S. government response to the September 11 attacks
After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the United States government responded by commencing immediate rescue operations at the World Trade Center site, grounding civilian aircraft, and beginning a long-term response that included official investigations, legislative changes, military action, and restoration projects.
U.S. President Bush speaks with New York governor George Pataki and New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani two days following the September 11 attacks, on September 13, 2001
A New York City Fire Department firefighter looks up at the remains of the South Tower on September 13, 2001, two days following the attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on September 11, 2001. That morning, 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners scheduled to travel from the East Coast to California. The hijackers crashed the first two planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, two of the world's five tallest buildings at the time, and aimed the next two flights toward targets in or near Washington, D.C., in an attack on the nation's capital. The third team succeeded in striking the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense in Arlington County, Virginia, while the fourth plane crashed in rural Pennsylvania during a passenger revolt. The September 11 attacks killed 2,977 people, making them the deadliest terrorist attack in history, and instigated the multi-decade global war on terror, fought in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere.
Top row: The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center burning 2nd row, left to right: Collapsed section of the Pentagon; Flight 175 crashes into 2 WTC 3rd row, left to right: A firefighter requests assistance at World Trade Center site; An engine from Flight 93 is recovered Bottom row: Flight 77's collision with the Pentagon as captured by three consecutive CCTV frames
Osama bin Laden in 1997–1998
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed after his 2003 capture in Rawalpindi, Pakistan
The North Tower shortly after the American Airlines Flight 11 crash. The first such attack.