The day terror changed the world
That people could hijack passenger planes and deliberately fly them into buildings, killing thousands of innocent people, was almost unimaginable. What kind of evil could drive people to conceive and carry out such an act? However, this was exactly what happened on September 11, 2001, 25 years ago.
David Mukholi. (File)
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OPINION
That people could hijack passenger planes and deliberately fly them into buildings, killing thousands of innocent people, was almost unimaginable. What kind of evil could drive people to conceive and carry out such an act? However, this was exactly what happened on September 11, 2001, 25 years ago.
September 11, now known as 9/11, began as an ordinary, calm day. People were going to work, travelling and getting on with their lives. Several documentaries about the attacks have described the morning as one of clear blue skies, an image that, in retrospect, evokes the calm before the storm.
At 8:46am, American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Centre in New York. At first, it looked like a terrible aviation accident. Then, at 9:03am, United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower.
The US was under a co-ordinated terrorist attack. The terrorists had hijacked four passenger planes and turned them into weapons. A third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, crashed into the Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Department of Defence, at 9:37am. The fourth, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into a field in Pennsylvania at 10:03am. It was believed to have been targeting Washington, D.C.
At 9:59am, the South Tower collapsed. Twenty-nine minutes later, at 10:28am, the North Tower also came down. The two 110-storey landmarks were reduced to twisted steel, rubble, smoke and dust.
The world was shocked. Americans were horrified and devastated. A country, widely regarded as secure and powerful, had suddenly demonstrated its vulnerability. Across the world, the attacks became the dominant story on radio and television broadcasts and newspapers. There was scarcely any other story that mattered that day; the attack continued to dominate the news for weeks.
The images became part of the world’s collective memory: the burning towers, the enormous clouds of smoke and dust, the destruction at the Pentagon and the scenes of people desperately trying to escape. There were also deeply disturbing images of people falling or jumping from the burning buildings. The attacks were not merely an assault on buildings. They were an assault on the sense of security that had shaped the lives of millions.
Although the terrorists demonstrated that the US was vulnerable, the country did not descend into complete chaos. Its institutions continued to function. Security systems were activated. The country’s airspace was effectively shut down. President George W. Bush was moved to safety and remained aboard Air Force One for a period because the space was considered safer. Vice President Dick Cheney was taken to a secure location beneath the White House.
As rescue operations continued, American authorities began investigations promptly. Every piece of information mattered. The identity of the attackers, their networks, their previous activities and their motives all came under scrutiny.
Within hours, attention focused on Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. The organisation had claimed responsibility for the August 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania). The American Embassy in Kampala was not attacked. At the time, the embassy was housed on Parliamentary Avenue, in a building shared with the British High Commission. Following the growing terrorist threat, both countries eventually relocated their embassies from the city centre.
By the time the 9/11 attacks happened, terrorism had been developing into a global enterprise in which violent groups increasingly sought high-profile and vulnerable targets to attract attention and advance political causes.
The American response was immediate and far-reaching. President Bush described the attacks as “acts of war” and vowed that the US would make no distinction between terrorists and those who harboured them. America invaded Afghanistan, where Bin Laden was based, and began a global campaign against al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations.
Between 1991 and 1996, Bin Laden lived and operated in Khartoum, Sudan, backing Islamic fundamentalists and was a direct threat to Uganda.
The US demonstrated that terrorist organisations could be pursued, disrupted and dismantled. It even applied controversial means including extraordinary renditions, detention without judicial processes and interrogation practices, like waterboarding.
One of the most visible legacies of 9/11 was the transformation of security. Airports around the world introduced much stricter screening procedures. Passenger travel shifted permanently from basic check-ins to multi-layered physical screening. Air travel became more controlled, and passengers were required to arrive earlier for flights to allow time for enhanced security checks. The changes reflected a new understanding of the vulnerability of modern transportation systems.
The attacks also transformed intelligence and international security co-operation. Governments shared more information, monitored terrorist networks more closely and expanded their capacity to track the movement of suspected extremists. They established advanced monitoring of international banking networks to cut off terror financing and expanded domestic digital surveillance. This permanently altered the delicate balance between national security imperatives and individual civil liberties.
The pursuit of al-Qaeda continued for years and diminished the group’s capabilities, particularly with the killing of its top leaders, including Bin Laden. It demonstrated the consequences of terrorism and why it should not be allowed to fester. That is perhaps one of the most important lessons of 9/11.
The attacks changed the world not only because of the extraordinary violence inflicted that morning, but also because of what followed. Governments and security agencies around the world learnt that terrorists could turn ordinary objects, such as passenger planes, into deadly weapons. This prompted tighter security measures, even when some of them came into conflict with civil liberties.
The world has never looked at security in quite the same way since.
Twenty-five years later, 9/11 remains a reminder of how quickly an ordinary day can become a historic turning point. The blue sky was still there that morning. By the end of the day, however, the world had changed.
X: @dmukholi1, dmukholi@newvision.co.ug