9-11 that shook the world 15 years ago

Controversy theories still persist

LAHORE: On September 11, 2001, or exactly 15 years ago on this eventful day, the planet was rattled and shaken by a terrorist attack on the United States — the deadliest ever in the history of the world in terms of death toll and the most devastating subversive attempt of its kind on American soil since the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour.

According to innumerable US, European and British media outlets, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre had collapsed as a result of being struck by two jet airliners hijacked by 10 terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda.

Official version said that during the attack, four hijacked airliners had crashed into the Twin Towers, one into the North Tower (1 World Trade Centre) and the other into the South Tower (2 World Trade Centre).

The South Tower collapsed at 9:59 am, less than an hour after being hit by the second hijacked airliner, and at 10:28 am the North Tower collapsed. Later that day, while the 7 World Trade Center was reduced to debris at 5:21 pm from fires that had started when the North Tower had collapsed.

Of the people who died in the incident, at least 2,192 were civilians, 55 were military personnel, 343 were firefighters, and 71 were law enforcement officers. Aboard the two airplanes, 147 civilians and 10 hijackers had also lost lives.

However, many Western conspiracy theorists believe that New York Twin Towers were brought down by a controlled explosion on 9/11.

In one of its recent reports, “The Sun,” a tabloid published in the United Kingdom and Ireland, has stated that people have come up with a new theory on who was to be blamed for the horrific attack,

The newspaper writes: “The September 11 2001 attacks saw the North and South towers of the World Trade Centre in New York collapse to the ground after planes were crashed into them. Video and photographs of them crumbling to the ground are some of the most iconic ever. Another plane was crashed into the Pentagon and one more plummeted into a field, with 2,996 people losing their lives and 6,000 injured. Since the events there have been multiple, unproven, claims linking the attacks not to terrorists but the US government, the new theory rests on a YouTube video that compares the difference between buildings that collapse under a controlled explosion and those that don’t.”

“The Sun” adds: “This small group of conspiracy theorists disagree with the 2002 investigation following the destruction of the Twin Towers, which concluded that the collapse of the buildings was mainly due to fire. The narrative in the video claims that "jet fuel doesn't melt steel beams. According to these far-fetched claims, the only explanation for the vertical collapse of the Twin Towers can be that they were destroyed by a controlled explosion.  Steven Jones, Robert Korol, Anthony Szamboti and Ted Walter, who are all engineers, are the brains behind this wacky theory. The main points they base their evidence of controlled explosion on are: Fires rarely reach a hot enough temperature to make steel structures buckle, most skyscrapers have sprinklers installed that prevent a fire reaching a certain temperature and flame-proof materials are normally used in high-rise buildings to stop them collapsing.”

The British newspaper asserts: “The theorists go on to argue that John Skilling, one of the top structural engineers of the World Trade Centre, said in 1993 that the buildings were created to be strong enough to withstand the force of a plane hitting them. The engineer is quoted as telling the Seattle Times that in the instance of a plane crash "there would be a horrendous fire. A lot of people would be killed, but the building structure would still be there.”

American Government investigations:

Immediately following the attacks, a Building Performance Study (BPS) team had issued its report in May 2002, finding that the aircraft impacts had caused extensive structural damage, including localised collapse and that the resulting fires had further weakened the steel-framed structures, eventually leading to total collapse.

Meanwhile, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States had concluded in its report that 15 of the 19 hijackers who carried out the attacks were from Saudi Arabia, but it said it found no evidence that the Saudi government or senior Saudi officials had individually funded the 9/11 attacks, though the report identifies Saudi Arabia as the primary source of al-Qaeda funding.

The commission was established on November 27, 2002 (442 days after the attack) and their final report was issued on July 22, 2004. The report was originally scheduled for release on May 27, 2004, but a legislative compromise had allowed a 60-day extension through July 26 that year.

In July 2016, according to the Fox News, the US government had released a once-secret chapter from a Congressional report on the 9/11 attacks that addressed Saudi connections to some of the hijackers.

The “Fox News” had stated: “Under wraps for 13 years, the report contains numerous redactions but states some hijackers "were in contact with, and received support or assistance from, individuals who may be connected to the Saudi Government." The report questioned whether Saudis who were in contact with the hijackers after they arrived in the U.S. knew what they were planning. The document -- known as the so-called "28 pages" -- names people the hijackers associated with before they carried out the attacks. It identifies individuals who helped the hijackers get apartments, open bank accounts, attend local mosques and get flight lessons.” 

Following the attacks, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, and the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) had also come up with their findings.

FEMA had suggested that fires in conjunction with damage resulting from the aircraft impacts were the key to the collapse of the towers. Thomas Eagar, Professor of Materials Engineering and Engineering Systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology had described the fires as the most misunderstood part of the towers’ collapse.

After the FEMA report had been published, and following pressure from technical experts, industry leaders and families of victims, the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology had conducted a three-year, $16 million investigation into the structural failure and progressive collapse of several World Trade complex structures.

With assistance from several outside private institutions, it had concluded that no blast sounds were heard on audio and video footage, or were reported by witnesses.

The NIST investigators did not find anything substandard in the design of the WTC towers, noting that the severity of the attacks and the magnitude of the destruction was beyond anything experienced in American cities in the past.

They also emphasised the role of the fires and found that sagging floors pulled inward on the perimeter columns, which had led to the inward bowing of the perimeter columns, hence initiating the collapse of each of the towers.

(References: The CBS News, the September 12, 2001 report of the UN Security Council, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the World Trade Center Building Performance Study and final report on the Collapse of the World Trade Center)

Death toll:

The September 11 attacks killed 2,996 people and injured more than 6,000 others. These immediate deaths included 265 on the four planes, 2,606 in the World Trade Centre’s Twin Towers and in the surrounding area, and 125 at the Pentagon.

Deaths by nationalities:

Overall, 2,605 US citizens, including 2,135 civilians, had died in the attacks, while an additional 372 non-US citizens (excluding the 19 perpetrators) had also perished.

More than 90 countries lost citizens in the attacks.

These included the United Kingdom (67 deaths), the Dominican Republic (47 deaths) and India (41 deaths).  Not fewer than 71 law enforcement officials, 55 US military personnel, 19 hijackers, 11 babies, 343 firefighters had also lost lives.

Verdict in 9/11 insurance battle:

An April 30, 2004 report of the CNN had reported: “A jury handed some bad news to the man leasing the World Trade Center site with a verdict that denied him double insurance payments.

Larry Silverstein contended that the two jetliners crashing into the twin towers about 15 minutes apart should be considered two separate events, which would allow him to collect the maximum from the insurers for each tower, as much as $7 billion.”

The premier news channel had maintained: “The insurance companies insisted that the attacks should be considered a single event, cutting in half the amount Silverstein can collect. The jurors decided that the attacks should be considered a single event for nine insurance companies, which together are responsible for at least $1 billion in coverage. But the 11-person jury could not reach a verdict on Silverstein's dispute with Swiss Reinsurance Co. -- the largest of the World Trade Center's insurers, responsible for 25 percent of its coverage.”

The “CNN” report had gone on to state: “Silverstein had leased the World Trade Center from its owner, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, in July 2001. The 99-year lease requires him to rebuild and he is depending on the insurance payout to do that. The government agency overseeing the project, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., has also factored the payout into its plans. Silverstein has been chosen to develop Freedom Tower, a 2 million-square-foot, 1,776-foot-tall skyscraper, and plans as many as four other office buildings on the site. He is already building a 52-story office tower where World Trade Center 7 stood until it collapsed in the wake of the attacks.”

The prestigious news channel had added: “After leasing the complex, Silverstein negotiated with 24 insurance companies for a maximum coverage of $3.55 billion per catastrophic occurrence. However, the agreements had not been finalised before 9/11. The trial's central issue was whether a document drafted by Silverstein's insurance broker in June 2001 was in effect at the time of the attacks. An appeals court found in 2003 that three other insurers were not bound by the June 2001 document and owed Silverstein $112 million, the amount payable for a single occurrence. Two other companies settled with Silverstein for $400 million.”

Financial losses:

According to the US Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, the losses caused by the 9/11 attacks had exceeded $100 billion.

The Institute had stated: “Including the loss in stock market wealth -- the market's own estimate arising from expectations of lower corporate profits and higher discount rates for economic volatility -- the price tag approaches $2 trillion. The loss of four civilian aircraft was valued at $385 million. The destruction of major buildings in the World Trade Centre with a replacement cost of from $3 billion to $4.5 billion. The damage to a portion of the Pentagon was up to $1 billion. The Cleanup costs were $1.3 billion, the property and infrastructure damage was estimated between $10 billion and $13 billion, the Federal emergency funds (heightened airport security, sky marshals, government takeover of airport security, retrofitting aircraft with anti-terrorist devices, cost of operations in Afghanistan) was calculated at $40 billion, the direct job losses amounted to 83,000, with $17 billion in lost wages, the amount of damaged or unrecoverable property had hit $21.8 billion, losses to the city of New York were $95 billion, the losses to the insurance industry were $40 billion and loss of air traffic revenue was $10 billion.”

According to the October 2002 report of the US Congressional Research, insurance losses due to 9/11 were more than one and a half times greater than what was previously the largest disaster (Hurricane Andrew 1992) in terms of losses.

The losses included business interruption ($11.0 billion), property ($9.6 billion), liability ($7.5 billion), workers compensation ($1.8 billion), and others ($2.5 billion).

It may be recalled that to help the aviation industry, the US federal government had provided an aid package, including $10 billion in loan guarantees, along with $5 billion for short-term assistance.

(References: The Forbes, the Federal Reserve and the New York Times)

New building on Ground Zero:

Ground Zero, where the Twin Towers stood in New York on the day of the September 11 terrorist attacks, is now the site of the 9/11 Memorial. It's located only a few hundred feet from the new One World Trade center Building, which is still known as "Freedom Tower" by many tourists and visitors to New York.

How the world has changed after 9/11:

According to the Washington Post, Bloomberg and Forbes, the United States and the world have changed significantly since 9/11. The United States has become less dependent on foreign fuel.

The United States on May 2, 2011, had killed the al-Qaeda leader who bankrolled the 9/11 attacks. The threat of terrorism remains, as al-Qaeda-related groups still exist and surface in parts of the Middle East and Africa.

It goes without saying that the use of unmanned aircraft for surveillance and missile attacks had outraged many worldwide, as had detention practices from Afghanistan and Iraq to Guantanamo. The defenders of these practices said extraordinary measures were necessary to keep a targeted United States safe.

The intelligence state had mushroomed within the US and Intelligence budgets in America alone have skyrocketed, to the $52.6 billion in 2013.

An anti-authoritarian ferment in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt had toppled longtime military-backed leaders, though rebels and protesters have risen up in Syria, Yemen and Bahrain as well, with mixed results.

After the 2001 attacks, the George W. Bush administration had moved quickly into Afghanistan in the hunt for Osama bin Laden and the fight against the Taliban.

The “Washington Post” had written: “Claiming a link to weapons of mass destruction, Bush regime had then committed the Pentagon to Iraq. The two long wars have sapped America’s appetite for military action, reflected in polls showing nearly two-thirds of Americans oppose even limited military efforts in Syria. From 2005 until 2013, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was an ardent opponent of Israel and its ally, the United States. Iran has supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the terrorist group Hezbollah and its own nuclear ambitions in the face of Washington's objections.”

The esteemed US publication had maintained: “In US, demographic shifts have buoyed Obama and Democrats, who have outsize support among women and gays and lesbians as well. Two overseas wars and the deepest recession since the Great Depression have taken a toll of the U.S. Treasury. At the end of FY 2016 the gross US federal government debt is estimated to be $19.3 trillion.”

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) had not even existed before 9/11. Before 9/11, airport security was contracted out to private companies. The TSA was created to do three things: take responsibility for all modes of transportation; recruit, assess, hire, train and deploy security officers for 450 commercial airports from Guam to Alaska within 12 months; and provide 100 percent screening of all checked luggage for explosives,

In 2013, 50,000 TSA officers were screening nearly two million air travelers each day.

The “Washington Post” had viewed: “The TSA has multiple layers of security operation every day, including Federal Marshals on aircraft, hardened cockpit doors, and even behaviour detection officers. Between 2003 and 2013, the TSA had detected 50 million prohibited items, including 5,000 firearms on passengers attempting to board planes. These days, we are subjected to the occasional pat down, revealing body scans, and a small-scale strip down at the security check. We remove our shoes and belts, and place small quantities of liquids in plastic bags. While this can be aggravating, looking back, it seems rather bizarre that items like box cutters were ever allowed on planes. But they were for years before 9/11. Before, your wife could escort you to the gate without a boarding pass. Now, that is unheard of.”

Since several airlines flirted with bankruptcy post-Sept. 11, they instituted revenue-boosting measures like fees for checked bags and fuel surcharges. They also reduced the number of flights, crammed in more seats, and cut out complimentary snacks, cookies and beverages.