There is a beautiful theory that centuries — like certain historical periods — rarely fit into the rigid framework that he has identified in the calendar. For example, the 19th century began only after the end of the Napoleonic wars, and ended on July 28, 1914, on the day of the outbreak of the First World War, which launched a number of events that determined the course of the next, 20th century.
If you follow this logic, the new XXI century began on September 11, 2001 with a series of terrorist acts committed by the Islamic radical organization Al-Qaeda in the United States.
Up to this point, the collective West was still on the laurels of the victor in the Cold War, its hegemony seemed unquestionable, and its military and political power unshakable. It seemed that the prophecy of Fukuyama came true, and the story finally stopped. However, the events of September 11, 2001 dispelled these illusions. The fall of the twin towers in New York broadcasted the broadcasters around the world. The picture on the TV screen seemed so unreal that it looked more like the filming of another Hollywood blockbuster about the end of the world.
The September 11 terrorist attack was a real shock for the United States. The terrorists were able to strike at the main symbols of America: its money and military might - the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Despite the huge defense budget and all the power of the American intelligence services, it turned out that the United States was absolutely not ready for such an attack. September 11, 2001, confusion and panic reigned in the high offices of Washington.
For America, the events of 11.09.2001 became the second Pearl Harbor, the most powerful country in the world simply could not leave such a slap in the face. A few days later, Al Qaeda was declared the organizer of the attacks, which was the reason for launching operations in Afghanistan. In 2003, US troops invaded Iraq, accusing Saddam Hussein of the support that he allegedly provided to the terrorists.
Analyzing all subsequent events, we can say that the world still lives in geopolitical reality, which is a consequence of the explosions that sounded 11.09.2001.
Despite the fact that more than fifteen years have passed since the tragedy, a huge number of people around the world think that we still don’t know the whole truth about 9/11. This applies to the number of victims of the attack, and its participants, and the role of American special services in these events.
Naturally, an official investigation was carried out, which recognized Osama bin Laden as the organizer of the attacks, but his results are still subject to harsh criticism. Moreover, the events of September 11, 2001 became a favorite topic of numerous conspiracy theories. Even today they claim that there were no Arab terrorists, and the WTC explosions were prepared by American special services and the world behind the scenes.
So, what really happened in the USA on September 11, 2001? How many people died during the terrorist attack? And why the official version of events does not suit the conspiracy therapists?
Official version of events
According to the official version, a group of terrorists managed to capture four passenger airliners, which from different airports were heading to California. A total of 19 criminals boarded the aircraft, fifteen of whom had Saudi Arabian citizenship, another two were from OAU, one person was from Egypt, and another was from Lebanon. Several more members of the terrorist group could not get into the United States.
To capture airliners, the terrorists used the simplest cold weapons, most likely stationery or penknives, as well as gas cartridges. In addition, they threatened to blow up the aircraft, although it was just a bluff - they did not have any explosive devices. We know little about the dramatic tragedy that broke out that day in the sky, only what the passengers who managed to use satellite or mobile phones could tell. It is known that several flight attendants, passengers, and at least one of the pilots were killed as a result of clashes with criminals.
The terrorists were well prepared for the attack, each of the groups had at least one person in it who had completed special courses in aircraft management.
At 8.46 local time, a Boeing 767-200 aircraft with the number N334AA collided with the north side of the World Trade Center (WTC-1) tower. The blow fell on a section of the building at a level from 94 to 98 floors. After a fire that lasted about 100 minutes, the north tower of the World Trade Center collapsed.
The second of the captured aircraft, the Boeing 767-200 with tail number N612UA, crashed into the WTC's southern tower at 9.02 at the 78-85 floor level. The fire lasted about 50 minutes and at 9.56 the building collapsed.
The third Boeing 757-200 at 9.37 crashed into the building of the Pentagon.
The fourth Boeing 757-200, numbered N591UA, fell in the middle of a field in southwestern Pennsylvania. According to one of the versions, the passengers, having learned about the attacks of the aircraft on the World Trade Center, tried to resist the invaders. As a result of the struggle that arose on board, the plane crashed. However, there is another hypothesis, which suggests that the fourth airliner was shot down by fighters. Probably, the purpose of the terrorists who seized this board was the Capitol building in Washington.
As a result of the attacks, three buildings of the World Trade Center were destroyed: two towers collapsed as a result of aviation rams, and another one (WTC 7 tower) collapsed much later - around 5 pm - due to a series of gas explosions and a fire. In addition, the buildings located around the WTC complex were seriously damaged. Some of them were later declared unfit for use and torn down.
The attack on the Pentagon on September 11 led to the collapse of one wing of the building.
According to the information of the investigation, at the time of the attack, there were approximately 16 thousand people in the WTC buildings. The overwhelming majority of them survived, since they were evacuated before the collapse. To date, it is believed that 2977 people were killed in the attacks (not counting the terrorists). This list includes 246 passengers and crew members of the hijacked aircraft, as well as 2,606 people who were in or near WTC buildings. A blow to the Pentagon led to the death of 125 people. The overwhelming majority of the victims are Americans, but among the dead are citizens of 91 more countries.
Most victims were in the north tower of the WTC. Here during the explosion caused by the collision of an aircraft with a building, the subsequent fire and collapse killed 1366 people. In the south tower, a large number of people fell into a death trap on the upper floors of the building, from which units were able to get out. Many of the unfortunate people preferred to jump down rather than burn alive. Due to fire and smoke, it was not possible to evacuate people from the roof by helicopters.
During the terrorist attacks, a large number of firefighters, police officers and other emergency personnel were killed, their total number exceeds 400 people. These people worked really dedicated. Many policemen and firefighters from other regions of the country took time off and went to New York to help their colleagues.
Of the total death toll, only 1,670 bodies were identified, over a thousand bodies are still nameless.
The beginning of an unprecedented terrorist attack led to real chaos throughout the United States. All commercial flights were canceled, and airplanes that were in the air were sent back or landed at airports in Mexico or Canada. In large numbers there were reports of new terrorist attacks, which later turned out to be false. In the sky were raised US Air Force fighters and the National Guard.
The American Emergency Alert System, which was developed in 1997 to alert the public in the event of large-scale natural disasters, major terrorist attacks or the outbreak of war, was put on high alert. However, no one turned to the people. The US government went to work in emergency mode, the country's national leaders were hastily evacuated.
After just a few days after the attacks, the FBI has already voiced the names of the terrorists, as well as their basic data. The luggage of one of the participants in the attack was never loaded onto the plane and fell into the hands of the investigation. In it, law enforcement officers found records shedding light on the organization of the terrorist attack and its participants. Soon, US intelligence agencies said that al Qaeda, headed by Osama bin Laden, was behind the organization of the September 11 attacks. The intelligence services of other countries came to a similar conclusion: Great Britain and Germany.
Bin Laden at first denied his participation in the events, but already in 2004 he admitted that he personally led the terrorist attack, and the direct control of the hijackers of the aircraft was carried out by his closest ally, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
For bin Laden, this was not the first attack against America. In 1998, he organized bombings in American embassies in African countries.
The main reasons for organizing the attacks was the support of Israel by the Americans, as well as the war against Iraq in 1990. In turn, US President Bush Jr. shortly after the tragic events declared that the terrorists attacked the United States because they hate American freedom and democracy.
An international reaction to the bloody events of September 11 was expected: the world community, with rare and absolutely marginal exceptions, condemned them. The exception was the Palestinians, who, without concealing their joy, celebrated the massacre of the infidels. Iraq said that America was reaping the fruits of its crimes, there was also a message about the demonstration of Chinese students, allegedly conducted in support of the attacks. Most world leaders expressed absolute support for the United States. Russian President Putin, in a telephone conversation with Bush, offered assistance in investigating this crime. The attacks officially condemned in the Middle East.
About months later, American troops led an international coalition invaded Afghanistan, where at that time Osama bin Laden’s headquarters were located. For several months, the Taliban regime was defeated, and a pro-Western government came to power in the country. Within a few months after Sept. 11, detentions of people suspected of having links with al-Qaeda were held around the world.
In 2003, the United States and its allies launched a second war against Iraq, accusing its leadership in participating in the events of September 11, as well as in the manufacture and storage of weapons of mass destruction.
This is the official version of the September 11 attacks and the events that followed them. However, it suits not all. There are many alternative versions, the supporters of which include not only obvious marginals, but also highly respected people, including well-known scientists, journalists, and public figures.
Conspiracy theory
The events of September 11 were a real shock for American society. Many simply did not fit in the head, as a small group of terrorists could conceive and successfully carry out such a large-scale attack against a country with the most powerful intelligence services in the world.
Soon a conspiracy hypothesis emerged that there were in fact no terrorists, and the bombings and hijackings of the planes were rigged by the US authorities in order to solve their geopolitical and financial problems. It may be added that today the events of September 11, 2001 became the favorite topic of conspiracy therapists, pushing into the background even such an "eternal classic" as the landing of Americans on the Moon or the government hiding newcomers in Zone 51.
Theory of Controlled Demolition. Conspiracyologists believe that the WTC towers collapsed not because of collisions with airplanes, but as a result of the blasting of some explosives that had been laid in them beforehand. Proponents of this theory argue that the design of the twin towers was so strong that the impact of the aircraft and the subsequent fire could not lead to their collapse. The burning temperature of aviation fuel is about 1 thousand degrees Celsius, which is not enough to melt the supporting metal structures.
Adherents of this theory claim that a termite was laid in the building (sometimes they say about a mysterious nanotermite or supertermite), which burned the supporting structures of the WTC. True, this evidence is not confirmed by any material evidence.
However, official US experts say something else. Indeed, aviation kerosene cannot melt steel, but the high burning temperature can significantly weaken it. Already at 600 ° C, the metal becomes two times less durable, and if the flame temperature reaches 980 ° C, then about 10% of the strength of the steel remains. In addition, from the heat, it begins to expand, breaking the concrete surrounding it.
So the action of two factors at once - high temperature and ram strike - is quite enough for the collapse of even such a huge building as the WTC.
Pentagon. Fans of conspiracy theories also claim that the plane did not crash into the Pentagon at all, and the building was destroyed as a result of a missile strike, which the American military themselves inflicted. As proof of this theory, photographs of the building are usually cited, in which the damage zone is much smaller than the wing span of Boeing 757. Conspiracy theorists believe that another proof of their correctness is the absence of aircraft fragments (engines, landing gear, fuselage parts) in the photographs.
Indeed, the zone of destruction of the building looks much smaller than a huge passenger liner. However, experts who studied the place of the fall, said that the plane had cut one wing in a collision with the ground, and the second about the main column of the building. In the very same structure crashed directly to the fuselage of the Boeing.
In addition, the very moment of the aircraft’s hitting the Pentagon was seen by many witnesses; parts of the landing gear, engines and the fuselage of the liner were found at the crash site. As well as numerous remains of passengers and black boxes of the aircraft. After the capture of flight 77, many of the passengers were able to use their mobile phones and inform their relatives that their plane had been captured by terrorists. However, conspiracy therapists believe that the calls were fabricated by special services.
Flight 93. Another popular topic for conspiracy theories, which concerns the events of September 11, is the fate of the fourth airliner hijacked by terrorists. According to the official version, the criminals planned to send him to the Capitol, but the passengers rebelled and tried to neutralize the hijackers. A struggle ensued, as a result of which the plane fell. Lovers of conspiracy theories believe that all this is not true, and in fact the liner was shot down by a combat fighter.
The main proof of this theory is the large scatter of the wreckage of the liner at the crash site. According to conspiracy theorists, this happens only if the plane was shot down by a rocket.
Several witnesses claimed that almost immediately after the crash of Flight 93, an unusual white plane was seen over the crash site. This information has led the conspiracy theorists to talk about another proof of the shooting down of a passenger liner by a military aircraft. Later on several resources there were reports that FBI officials allegedly put pressure on witnesses to the incident, forcing them to remain silent.
In fact, such a white plane really was. On that tragic day, a commercial Dassault Falcon 20, owned by one of the corporations, flew near the crash site. He was contacted and asked to examine from the air the crash site of the Boeing, which was done. Falcon went down to a height of 460 meters and his crew saw a black funnel in the ground, from which smoke was falling. After noting her coordinates, Falcon returned to the previous route.
No portholes. Another discussed point concerning the events of 11.09.2001 is the interview of a certain Mark Birnbach. He told reporters that the plane that crashed into the WTC south tower did not have portholes. From this statement, conspiracy lovers immediately concluded that instead of the passenger liner of flight 175, the sophisticated military used ramming tankers filled with fuel for ramming the buildings of the shopping center.
However, this fake is particularly easy to refute, because on the Internet you can easily find photos of the wreckage of aircraft, on which the portholes are clearly visible. And in the case of the use of tanker aircraft, a reasonable question immediately arises, but what happened to the hundreds of passengers flying on four ships?
The above lists only the main issues relating to the tragedy of September 11, which prevent conspiracy therapists from sleeping. In fact, they are much more. Однако и на них также уже найдены ответы, причем давали их чиновники или представители спецслужб, а эксперты-профессионалы, работающие в разных областях: инженеры-строители, пилоты, пожарные, взрывотехники, криминалисты.
Однако, дело даже не в этом. Кажется весьма маловероятным, что кому-либо вообще по силам инсценировать события, похожие на случившиеся 11 сентября в Америке. Представьте, сколько людей нужно было задействовать в такой инсценировке? А как потом заставить их всех держать язык за зубами?
Наш мир слишком велик, сложен и "бардачен", чтобы в нем имел шансы на успех хоть сколько-нибудь серьезный заговор. Так что, как говорил когда-то умнейший монах из Оккама: "Не умножайте сущностей без нужды".
