A terrorist attack of unprecedented proportions changed the world in 2001. Americans commemorated the victims at the crime scenes – the guest list reminded us that elections would soon be held in the USA.
Millions of US citizens remembered the unprecedented attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York and Washington. 23 years after the plane attacks on the World Trade Center in the US east coast metropolis and the Pentagon in the American capital, survivors and relatives of the almost 3,000 victims came together on Wednesday at the so-called Ground Zero in Manhattan. The two presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris also met there again just a few hours after their first TV debate.
At a memorial service in New York attended by US President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris, the names of the victims were traditionally read out. A bell was rung at the time the planes hit the towers. “On this day 23 years ago, terrorists believed they could break our will and bring us to our knees. They were wrong. They will always be wrong. In the darkest hours, we found light,” Biden said. Harris said in a statement that the attacks had shown that “unity in America is possible.”
A touch of election campaign
At the event, the presidential candidate met her Republican opponent Trump, who had also traveled to the meeting place with his running mate JD Vance. TV images showed the two shaking hands and then standing in a row with other dignitaries during the ceremony. The US will vote on November 5. Meetings between Biden and Trump are also rare – they last met in person for the first time in several years during their joint TV debate in June.
Terrorists hijacked four planes
On September 11, 2001, around 3,000 people were killed in the worst attack in the history of terrorism. Jihadists hijacked four planes. After they flew American Airlines Flight 11 into the north tower of the World Trade Center, another plane flew into the south tower a short time later.
The attackers diverted American Airlines Flight 77 to the Defense Department near Washington. A fourth plane crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers resisted the hijackers. It is still unclear what the hijackers’ goal was with the fourth plane.
The victims are also remembered at the Pentagon and in Shanksville. Biden and Harris took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the memorial in Pennsylvania.
After the attacks of September 11, the USA entered the “war on terror”. The invasion of Afghanistan was followed in 2003 by the war in Iraq, the effects of which ultimately led to the founding of the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS). The mastermind of the attacks, Osama bin Laden, was killed by US special forces in 2011 after a long search.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
