1. THE DAY AMERICA CHANGED FOREVER 9/11/2001

2. Th e idea of the 9/11 plot came from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who first presented the idea to Osama bin Laden in 1996 The 1998 African Embassy bombings & Bin Laden's 1998 fatwa (in the Islamic faith is a religious opinion concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar) marked a turning point, with bin Laden intent on attacking the U.S. 12/1998, the Director of Central Intelligence Counterterrorist Center reported to President Bill Clinton that al- Qaeda was preparing for attacks in the U.S., including the training of personnel to hijack aircraft EARLY PLANNING Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

3. THE PLOT IS CONCEIVED In late 1998 or early 1999, bin Laden gave approval for Mohammed to go forward with organizing the plot. A series of meetings occurred in spring of 1999, involving Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Osama bin Laden, and his deputy Mohammed Atef Mohammed provided operational support for the plot, including target selections and helping arrange travel for the hijackers Bin Laden overruled Mohammed, rejecting some potential targets such as the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles because "there was not enough time to prepare for such an operation”

4. TIMELINE OF TERRORISTS In late 1999, a group of men from Hamburg, Germany arrived in Afghanistan, including Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, Ziad Jarrah, and Ramzi bin al-Shibh Bin Laden selected these men for the plot, as they were educated, could speak English & had experience living in the west New recruits were routinely screened for special skills, which allowed Al Qaeda leaders to also identify Hani Hanjour, who already had a commercial pilot's license, for the plot 12/8/2000, Hanjour arrived in San Diego joining Hazmi. They soon left for AZ, where Hanjour took refresher training. Marwan al-Shehhi arrived at the end of May, while Atta arrived on 6/3 and Jarrah arrived on 6/27 Bin al-Shibh applied several times for a visa to the U.S., but as a Yemeni, he was rejected out of concerns he would overstay his visa and remain as an illegal immigrant Bin al-Shibh remained in Hamburg, providing coordination between Atta & Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The three Hamburg cell members all took pilot training in south FL In spring 2001, the secondary hijackers began arriving in the U.S. 7/2001, Atta met with bin al-Shibh in Spain, where they coordinated details of the plot, including final target selection. Bin al-Shibh also passed along Bin Laden's wish for the attacks to be carried out as soon as possible

5. THE ATTACK Early on the morning of September 11, 2001, 19 hijackers took control of 4 commercial airliners en route to San Francisco & Los Angeles from Boston, Newark, & Washington, D.C. At 8:46 a.m. American Airlines Flight 11 was crashed into the World Trade Center's North Tower, followed by United Airlines Flight 175, which hit the South Tower at 9:03 a.m. Another group of hijackers flew American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. A fourth flight, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 10:03 a.m., after the passengers on board engaged in a fight with the hijackers Its ultimate target was thought to be either the Capitol (the meeting place of the United States Congress) or the White House

8. FLIGHT 93 On United Airlines Flight 93, a transcript of audio recorded by the cockpit voice recorder revealed that crew & passengers attempted to seize control of the plane from the hijackers after learning through phone calls that similarly hijacked planes had been crashed into buildings that morning One of the hijackers gave the order to roll the plane once it became evident that they would lose control of the plane to the passengers. Soon afterward, the aircraft crashed into a field near Shanksville in Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, PA In a 9/2002 interview conducted an al Jazeera journalist, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who are believed to have organized the attacks, stated that the 4th hijacked plane was heading for the U.S. Capitol, not for the White House They further stated that al-Qaeda initially planned to fly hijacked jets into nuclear installations rather than the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, but it was decided not to attack nuclear power plants "for the moment" because of fears it could "get out of control

9. FLIGHT 93

10. CASUALTIES There were a total of 2,996 deaths, including the 19 hijackers and 2,977 victims The victims were distributed as follows: 246 on the four planes (from which there were no survivors) 2,606 in NYC in the towers and on the ground 125 at the Pentagon All the deaths in the attacks were civilians except for 55 military personnel killed in the attack on the Pentagon According to the Commission Report, hundreds were killed instantly by the impact, while the rest were trapped and died after tower collapse At least 200 people jumped to their deaths from the burning towers landing on the streets and rooftops of adjacent buildings hundreds of feet below Some of the occupants of each tower above its point of impact made their way upward toward the roof in hope of helicopter rescue, but the roof access doors were locked. No plan existed for helicopter rescues, and on 9/11, the thick smoke and intense heat would have prevented helicopters from conducting rescues

11. The attacks created widespread confusion among news organizations and air traffic controllers across the United States All international civilian air traffic was banned from landing on U.S. soil for 3 days Aircraft already in flight were either turned back or redirected to airports in Canada or Mexico Following the attacks, President Bush's job approval rating soared to 90% THE AFTERMATH

12. 9/11 MOTIVES The motives for the attacks include the presence of the U.S. in Saudi Arabia the support of Israel by the U.S. & the sanctions against Iraq These motives were explicitly stated by Al-Qaeda in proclamations before the attacks, including the fatwa of August 1996 & a shorter fatwa published in February 1998 After the attacks, bin Laden & al-Zawahiri published additional video tapes & audio tapes, some of which repeated those reasons for the attacks 2 particularly important publications were bin Laden's 2002 "Letter to America“ & a 2004 video tape by bin Laden 11/2002, Bin Laden described the U.S.‘s support of Israel as a motivation: "The creation & continuation of Israel is one of the greatest crimes & you are the leaders of its criminals”

13. The FBI investigation into the attacks, code named operation PENTTBOM, was the largest and most complex investigation in the history of the FBI, involving over 7,000 special agents U.S. gov’t determined that al-Qaeda, headed by Osama bin Laden, bore responsibility for the attacks, with the FBI stating "evidence linking al-Qaeda and bin Laden to the attacks of 9/11 is clear and irrefutable" The Government of the United Kingdom reached the same conclusion regarding al- Qaeda and Osama bin Laden's culpability for the 11 September attacks WHO’S TO BLAME?

14. The damage to the Pentagon was cleared and repaired within a year, and the Pentagon Memorial was built adjacent to the building The rebuilding process has started on the World Trade Center site. In 2006, a new office tower was completed on the site of 7 World Trade Center The new One World Trade Center is currently under construction at the site and is expected to be completed in 2013 Three more towers were originally expected to be built between 2007 and 2012 on the site Ground was broken for the Flight 93 National Memorial on November 8, 2009, and the first phase of construction is expected to be ready for the 10th anniversary of the attacks on September 11, 2011 MEMORIALS

15. Operation code-named Operation Neptune Spear, was ordered by President Obama and carried out by a team of Navy SEALs After President Obama authorized the mission to kill or capture bin Laden, CIA Director Leon Panetta gave the go-ahead at midday on 5/1 The SEALs encountered bin Laden on the 2nd or 3rd floor of the main building He peered over the third floor ledge at the Americans advancing up the stairs, and then retreated into his room as a SEAL fired a shot at him, but missed The SEALs quickly followed him into his room, and shot him, there were two weapons near bin Laden in his room, but according to his wife Amal, he was shot before he could reach his AK-47 Bin Laden was killed by a shot to his chest followed by one above his left eye CLOSURE? JUSTICE? WE GOT HIM!!

16. LEGACY OF 9/11 U.S. responded to the attacks by launching the War on Terror, invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, who had harbored al-Qaeda terrorists, and enacting the PATRIOT Act. Many other countries also strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded law enforcement powers. Some American stock exchanges stayed closed for the rest of the week following the attack, and posted enormous losses upon reopening, especially in the airline and insurance industries. The destruction of billions of dollars' worth of office space caused serious damage to the economy of Lower Manhattan