The Spiteful Trajectory of the 9-11 Terrorists

WTC at Night
Originally uploaded by corydalus.

Map of SW Asia, #1 in our brief unit on the 9-11 tragedy:

Most of the attackers of the World Trade Center and Pentagon were from Saudi Arabia; 15 of the 19. Also represented among the suicidal cadre: the UAE, Lebanon and Egypt.

Map of the US: Several of the attackers penetrated the US via the Canadian border. Florida? Several attackers attended commercial flight school in Florida. BTW, unlike many stereotypes of hijackers or terrorists, most of the attackers were educated and came from well-to-do backgrounds.

Map of Manhattan: the WTC loomed 110 stories above the Hudson River on the southern tip of Manhattan Island. It was a financial center and the workers in those offices - 30,000 people worked there - were among America's best and brightest. I know this from reading scores of their obituaries in the NY Times. Some 3000 died, including about 125 at the Pentagon and 247 in the planes.

We noted the 5 boroughs of the city: Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, Staten Is and Manhattan Is.

In regards the Islamic connection exploited by Osama bin Laden: the Qu-ran (Koran) prohibits suicide and says that in war the civilians, women and children should be unharmed. So much for the terrorists' understanding of their holy book.

Coleen Rowley of the FBI made an attempt to warn the upper echelon FBI about the suspicious flight students in Florida, Arizona and Minnesota. She believes that the plot could have been interdicted by US authorities. When it was all over, she bravely told America about the FBI's blunders. She was named one of Time Magazine's Men of the Year in 2002.

Also faulted in the tragedy was the lack of coordination between the FBI and CIA.

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Date bars, a delicious and healthy treat, were made for 3rd hour by Keely Kitchura. A focus on the date palm is a smart addition to our study of the Mid East. Thanks, Keely - and your dad.