9/11 and WAR      [Iraq Track Main Page and Menu]

9/11 Happens
On September 11, 2001 America suffers the most devastating attack on U.S. soil since Pearl Harbor. In total, over 3000 people were killed as four jets were hijacked in a suicide mission by 19 Islamic terrorists and crashed into the two World Trade Center towers in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington DC, and in a Pennsylvania field. The terrorists were from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon. They trained for their mission in terror camps in the Middle East, and learned to fly in the U.S. They were members of an international terror group, Al Qaeda, founded by terror mastermind Osama bin Laden. Within days, U.S. President George W. Bush declared "Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists." and "We will make no distinction between the terrorists and the nations that harbor them". The U.S. led "War on Terrorism" is born.

War in Afghanistan
In October 2001, a U.S. and NATO forces along with the Afghan Northern Alliance launched an invasion into the heart of Afghanistan to overthrow the renegade Taliban government harboring and providing training support to Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. With the overwhelming firepower provided by the U.S., Taliban defenses were quickly destroyed and within weeks most of the country was in the hands of opposition forces. In December 2001, Afghanistan inaugurated a new interim government. To this day substantial forces remain in Afghanistan to prevent remaining Taliban fighters from regaining control and to stop further terrorist activities. Although terror training camps and facilities were destroyed, and many terrorists were killed or captured, Osama bin Laden has not yet been apprehended.

Read supporting information on the Taliban and the war in Afghanistan: