Washington DC [US], September 11 : The morning of September 11 in 2001 began like any other in New York City. Office workers hurried through crowded streets, tourists paused to admire the skyline, and vendors opened their stalls as sunlight glinted off the glass towers. The rhythm of daily life seemed unshaken until the sudden roar of jet engines broke the calm, and a plane crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, turning an ordinary day into the opening chapter of the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil.
Moments after the initial crash, another plane crashed into the South Tower as onlookers stared at the devastating sight of the two towers turning into rubble in just a few moments.
Meanwhile, another plane tore into the headquarters of the US Department of Defence, the Pentagon, and a fourth had crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.
A total of four airliners were hijacked by 19 people, who were on a suicide mission to put a deep scar in the heart of American history.
This attack, which is said to be the biggest terrorist attack in the history of mankind, shook America to its core, with the Twin Towers in New York turned into rubble, as was the spirit of Americans who witnessed it, and also those who lost their loved ones in this tragedy.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed, thousands more injured, and the United States was thrust into a new era of war and security.
But before the US could realise, 'What had happened with her?', the question came, 'Why did it happen with her?'.
9/11 did not erupt from nowhere. It was the culmination of a decade-long confrontation between Osama bin Laden, the leader of the terrorist organisation al-Qaeda, who was responsible for training those 19 hijackers, and the United States. This battle began far from America's shores but was carried to its heart by the organisation.
The Premise
Osama bin Laden's reasons for launching the attacks were not hidden. They were spelt out in his statements, fatwas, and interviews, and later confirmed by investigators and officials.
Bin Laden's path to 9/11 began during the then-Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in late 1979. The records from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) show that he was one of many wealthy Saudi nationals who were "providing financial and logistical support to the Islamic fighters battling the Soviets."
When the Soviets left, bin Laden's focus shifted. Out of this campaign emerged al Qaeda, created in 1988 "to continue the cause of jihad (holy war) through violence and aggression."
His central grievance stemmed from the continued presence of American troops in countries in West Asia, with the US settlements in Saudi Arabia following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, which the US perceived as a threat to Saudi Arabia.
As per Ahmed S Hashim's "The World According to Usama Bin Laden", in the Naval War College Review, bin Laden expressed his anger with the continued American "occupation" of the land of the holy places in his 1996 epistle, which, according to him, "the corrupt Al-Sauds had permitted at a time when their country suffered from economic distress and demoralisation."
He also noted in his 1996 epistle that one of the most important duties of Muslims is "pushing the Americans out of the holy land".
The Edict That Declared War on America
In February 1998, bin Laden made his case in public. An edict published in Al-Quds al-Arabi titled "Declaration of the World Islamic Front for Jihad against the Jews and the Crusaders" articulated more fully why bin Laden views the US as an enemy and how he proposes to deal with that enemy.
According to the Naval War College Review, the edict had a 'Fatwa', or ruling, which was the most important part of the declaration that stated, "To kill Americans and their allies, both civil and military, is an individual duty of every Muslim who is able, in any country where this is possible, until the Aqsa Mosque [in Jerusalem] and the Haram Mosque [in Mecca] are freed from their grip and until their armies, shattered and broken-winged, depart from all the lands of Islam, incapable of threatening any Muslim."
It also gave three reasons for such actions. First, US troops in Saudi Arabia. Second, sanctions on Iraq, which he claimed had killed a lot of people, "exceeding a million". Third, US support for Israel.
"First For more than seven years the United States [has been] occupying the lands of Islam in the holiest of its territories, Arabia, plundering its riches, overwhelming its rulers, humiliating its people, threatening its neighbours, and using its bases in the peninsula as a spearhead to fight against the neighbouring Islamic peoples. . . . SecondDespite the immense destruction inflicted on the Iraqi people at the hands of the Crusader-Jewish alliance and in spite of the appalling number of dead, exceeding a million, the Americans nevertheless, in spite of all this, are trying once more to repeat this dreadful slaughter. . . . They come again today to destroy what remains of these people and to humiliate their Muslim neighbours. Third While the purposes of the Americans in these wars are religious and economic, they also serve the petty state of the Jews, to direct attention from their occupation of Jerusalem and the killing of Muslims in it."
"Eighty Years of Humiliation"
Bin Laden did not frame his conflict only in terms of military policy. Dennis Ross, a former US envoy, told the 9/11 Commission in 2003 that bin Laden's language invoked history.
In his statement recorded during the "Third public hearing of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States," Ross stated, "Bin Laden in an early videotape after 9/11 spoke of eighty years of humiliation, implicitly referring to the broken promises and the imposition of colonial regimes and borders after World War One. The psychic landscape of the Arab Middle East is shaped by an overwhelming sense of betrayal and humiliation, principally by the West."
Ross underlined that the September 11 plot was also not tied directly to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"But September 11 did not happen because of the absence of Middle East peace. Osama Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda network had been planning this attack even when it looked like we were about to succeed in producing a solution to the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Indeed, had we succeeded either at Camp David or at the end of 2000 with the Clinton ideas in resolving the existential conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, Osama Bin Laden and the Al Qaeda terrorists would have been even more determined to carry out the attack," his statement read.
In his testimony, Ross stated that perceptions of American double standards in the region fuelled the anger and resentment toward the United States, noting that no single factor could explain the hostility, but argued that Washington's perceived inconsistencies in applying democratic principles have played a significant role.
"For one thing, it is essential for understanding the roots of hostility toward us that terrorists exploit. Anger toward the United States in the Middle East preceded 9/11 and, judging by extensive polling, has, if anything, worsened since that time. I don't subscribe to the view that there is only one cause, but I do believe the perception of an American double standard certainly contributes to hostility toward us."
Clinton Administration Warnings and Missed Chances
By the late 1990s, bin Laden was considered the foremost terrorist threat to the United States.
The 1993 failed attempt to bring down the World Trade Center by a young militant, Ramzi Yousef, who had trained in one of bin Laden's camps, coupled with one of al Qaeda's most devastating operations in 1998, when coordinated truck bombs exploded outside US embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, were clear signs that al Qaeda was a growing threat to the United States.
The 1993 attempt couldn't achieve maximum devastation, but the explosion ripped through the lower levels of the North Tower, killing six people and injuring more than a thousand.
The near-simultaneous blasts at US embassies in the East African countries killed more than 200 people and injured 4,500 others within minutes of each other.
As per records from the Clinton Digital Library, many National Security Council briefings warned that 'UBL [Usama bin Laden] and al Qaeda represent the most immediate and serious threat to US security.'
The US, in response to the 1998 US embassy bombings, under then-President Bill Clinton, ordered missile strikes on al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and on a facility in Sudan. Bin Laden was not killed.
"The Clinton Administration spent time and resources tracking down Osama Bin Laden in its attempt to eliminate his terrorist network. These records show that the National Security Council utilised methods at its disposal to keep apprised of the whereabouts of the leader of Al-Qaeda. Published sources describe several unsuccessful military actions specifically targeting Bin Laden. There were also a number of occasions where the Clinton Administration held back from striking Bin Laden and his organisation for fear of collateral damage and the possible ensuing media backlash," as stated in the Clinton Digital Library.
Later, US intelligence placed bin Laden at Tarnak Farms near Kandahar, but a planned strike was called off amid concerns over civilian casualties.
Clinton later reflected on the decision and acknowledged the fallout, stating that "I nearly got him. And I could have killed him, but I would have had to destroy a little town called Kandahar in Afghanistan and kill 300 innocent women and children, and then I would have been no better than him... And so I didn't do it."
These accounts show that the US recognised the seriousness of the threat but struggled to neutralise it before September 2001.
The Strategy Behind September 11
The September 11 operation was planned to hit core American symbols.
Hashim in the review notes that bin Laden wanted to attack the symbols of American wealth and power.
"The attacks were carried out against the symbols of American economic and military power, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon."
The intended target of the fourth plane, likely the Capitol or the White House, is political leadership.
"There are indications that the White House, the symbol of American political power, was also a target."
The review also noted that "The attacks of 11 September 2001 constituted not only a political, economic, and psychological blow but also a cultural shock to Americans."
This showed that bin Laden's objective was not only destruction but also to provoke a long-term response that would reshape US engagement with the Muslim world.
Why America Was the Enemy
Bin Laden's own words provide the clearest answer. His 1998 fatwa said it was a duty "to kill Americans and their allies." He identified US troops in Saudi Arabia, sanctions on Iraq, and support for Israel as his triggers.
Hashim's review confirms that bin Laden viewed US foreign policy as an oppression of Muslims.
"The evidence overwhelmingly shows America and Israel killing the weaker men, women and children in the Muslim world and elsewhere. A few examples of this are seen in the recent Qana massacre in Lebanon, and the death of more than 600,000 Iraqi children because of the shortage of food and medicine, which resulted from the boycotts and sanctions against the Muslim Iraqi people," bin Laden stated in an Islamic magazine in 1996.
"...there is a large number of people in the Middle East whose primary, if not sole, issue with America is its allegedly unfair and 'hypocritical' policies. Ignoring the bubbling dissatisfaction with what the United States does, or allegedly does, would relieve Americans of some painful policy adjustments that may in fact be necessary," the review noted.
Conclusion
The September 11 attacks were not a sudden eruption but the result of years of escalating confrontation between Osama bin Laden and the United States. His grievancesrooted in the presence of American troops in Saudi Arabia, sanctions on Iraq, and unwavering US support for Israelwere codified in his 1996 epistle and 1998 fatwa, both of which framed the killing of Americans as a religious duty.
Testimonies such as that of Dennis Ross before the 9/11 Commission underscore that bin Laden's campaign was not driven by a single policy dispute but by a broader narrative of humiliation, resentment, and perceived double standards in US engagement with the Middle East.
The Clinton administration recognised the scale of the threat, yet despite repeated warnings and limited strikes against al-Qaeda, bin Laden remained beyond reach.
By targeting symbols of America's economic, military, and political power, al-Qaeda's strategy on September 11 sought not only mass destruction but also to provoke a lasting response that would redraw the contours of US policy in the Muslim world.
The flashpoint of September 11, 2001, was therefore not spontaneous. It was the outcome of declared ideology, perceived humiliation, and a strategic calculation that attacking the United States directly would have global consequences.
It's been 24 years since the attack, and a lot has changed in how the act of terrorism is seen in the world and how it is countered. Laden is dead. After the US intelligence agencies in 2010 found information that he might have been living in a compound in northern Pakistan, on May 2, 2011, under orders from President Barack Obama, a special operations unit raided the compound and killed the "most wanted terrorist."
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