What is 9/11?

​“9/11” is shorthand for four coordinated terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda, an Islamist extremist group, that occurred on the morning of September 11, 2001. Nineteen terrorists from al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airplanes, deliberately crashing two of the planes into the upper floors of the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center complex and a third plane into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. A fourth-hijacked plane was crashed in a field in Pennsylvania by it's heroic passengers.

​Learning Objective:    All students will be able to identify the key events of the September 11^th attacks and relate the key events to real time through the completion of a timeline activity with 100% participation.

CONTENT ELABORATION: The post-Cold War period and the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, presented new domestic challenges for the United States. Issues impacting national security include:

• the dynamic of balancing national security with civil liberties (USA PATRIOT Act);

• the creation of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA);

• an increase in Islamophobia and xenophobia;

 • increasing fears of domestic terrorism

​USA PATRIOT ACT = antiterrorist bill; The law made it easier to wiretap suspects, track Internet communications, and seize voicemail.  Authorities were permitted to conduct secret searches and seizures.

• Proponents of the Patriot Act claim it provides necessary tools to law enforcement in combating terrorism.

• Critics of the Patriot Act say the law infringes on constitutional rights of privacy.

TSA = Designed to prevent similar attacks in the future. 

​Islamophobia = is an extreme fear of and hostility toward Islam and Muslims which often leads to hate speech, hate crimes, as well as social and political discrimination.

Xenophobia - extreme dislike or fear of foreigners, their customs, their religions, etc.

​Soon after the 9/11 attacks, Xenophonia and Islamophobia levels spiked

​The post-Cold War period and the attacks on September 11, 2001 impacted the military in the following ways: 

• increased defense spending as a result of the war on terrorism;

 • role of the United States and United Nations in addressing political and social unrest in the Middle East;

 and • the control of weapons of mass destruction in areas of the world perceived as a threat to world stability (President Bush warned the United States “will not permit the world’s most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world’s most destructive weapons.”)