December 8, 2014

In a ceremony in Kabul, United States-led NATO forces closed its combat command in Afghanistan. The NATO flag was lowered and put away, marking the withdrawal of most foreign troop in Afghanistan more than 13 years after the country was invaded in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The intention behind the invasion was to crush the terrorist organization behind the attacks–al-Qa’ida–and to capture its leader–Osama bin Laden.

NATO forces quickly brought down Afghanistan’s Taliban-controlled government, which had sheltered al-Qa’ida. However, much of the al-Qa’ida organization escaped into other countries, particularly across the border into Pakistan. (American military forces finally tracked down and killed bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.)

A United States Marine works with an Afghan soldier on marksmanship. Training will be the primary mission of remaining U.S. forces in Afghanistan. (Department of Defense)

After 13 years of intermittent combat, the Taliban remains an active force in Afghanistan, regularly launching offensives and carrying out terrorist attacks. The United States currently plans to maintain 13,000 troops there. The remaining U.S. forces are to continue the training of the Afghan army.

Additional World Book articles:

• Afghanistan War
• Terrorism: America’s New Enemy (a special report)

May 15, 2014

Standing before one of the foundational walls of the destroyed World Trade Center, President Barack Obama and other speakers today helped to officially dedicate the National September 11 Memorial Museum. The museum was built to honor the memory of those killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the February 26, 1993, World Trade Center bombing. In his remarks, President Obama described the museum as a “sacred place of healing and hope” and insisted that “no act of terror can match the strength and character of our country.”

The September 11 terrorist attacks, also called 9/11, were the worst acts of terrorism ever carried out against the United States. The terrorists hijacked four commercial jetliners and crashed two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and one into the Pentagon Building near Washington, D.C. Hijackers crashed the fourth jet in a Pennsylvania field to prevent it from being reclaimed by passengers. The attacks killed about 3,000 people, including the 19 hijackers.

The museum lies seven stories below the ground-level National September 11 Memorial, which includes twin reflecting pools that lie in the footprints of the North and South towers. The walls of the new museum are lined with some 23,000 photos and images connected to the attacks. On display are 12,500 objects associated with the tragedy, including 2,380 objects donated by survivors, families of the dead, first responders, and others involved in the rescue efforts and the investigation and cleanup. Visitors can also listen to 1,995 oral histories and watch 580 hours of film and video. In addition, the museum incorporates remnants of structural columns that now mark the footprints of the original Twin Towers and sections of the retaining wall, known as the slurry wall, originally built to keep the Hudson River from flooding the World Trade Center site when it was first excavated. Earlier this week, about 14,000 unidentified or unclaimed remains from people killed on September 11 were moved to a repository adjacent to the museum.  The museum is “a collective story about how people can be good to one another in times of crisis,” curator Jan Ramirez told CNN. “We’ve put out our first draft of history.”

The National September 11 Memorial stands on the site of the former World Trade Center towers in New York City. Twin reflecting pools lie in the footprints of the two towers. Waterfalls cascade into the pools. The names of people who died in the attacks are inscribed on bronze panels surrounding each pool. (© Richard Levine, Alamy Images; AP Photo)

Additional World Book articles:

• Terrorism
• United States, History of the (September 11 terrorist attacks)
• Terrorism: America’s New Enemy (a Special Report)
• New York City (2001) (a Back in Time article)
• Washington, D.C. (2001) (a Back in Time article)

September 11, 2012

The 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks was observed today in New York City; Arlington, Virginia; and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. In New York, relatives of the victims of the World Trade Center attacks read out the names of the dead. Governor Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, and former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani attended the observance but did not speak.

In Arlington, President Barack Obama addressed survivors and relatives of the 184 people killed at the Pentagon, the U.S. Department of Defense headquarters. He declared that their loved ones would never be forgotten and that the dead had “helped us make the America we are today.”

Vice-President Joe Biden was the principal speaker at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville. In remembrance of the dead, President Obama and Vice-President Biden and their Republican challengers, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, set aside campaigning for the day.

The World Trade Center towers billowed flames and smoke on Sept. 11, 2001, after terrorists crashed hijacked airliners into the two buildings. (AP/Wide World)

Nearly 3,000 people were killed on Sept. 11, 2001, in attacks by members of al-Qa`ida, the Afghanistan-based terrorist organization headed by Osama bin Laden. After hijacking four commercial airliners, the terrorists flew two jets into the Trade Center twin towers, which subsequently collapsed. Terrorists crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon. The attackers in the fourth airliner were overtaken by passengers, preventing them from crashing the plane into another Washington, D.C., landmark, possibly the White House or Capitol. The jet went down in an open field near Shanksville, killing all aboard. The September 11 terrorist attacks prompted the administration of President George W. Bush to send forces into Afghanistan in October 2001 to clean out terrorist camps. That war continues in 2012.

Additional World Book articles:

• Afghanistan War
• National September 11 Memorial and Museum
• Afghanistan 2001 (a Back in Time article)
• New York City 2001 (a Back in Time article)
• Washington, D.C. 2001 (a Back in Time article)
• Terrorism: America’s New Enemy (a special report)
• Passport to Reform: The INS and Homeland Security (a special report)