9/11 terrorist attack

A series of terrible terrorist attacks shook the United States and the whole world on September 11, 2001. It was on that fateful day in the twin towers of the World shopping center Two planes controlled by al-Qaeda terrorists crashed in New York. The Pentagon was attacked in the same way, and a fourth plane controlled by suicide bombers fell to the ground in Pennsylvania.

The terrible disaster claimed the lives of almost 3 thousand people (excluding 19 terrorists). It united people all over the world, since among the victims of the terrorist attack were not only Americans, but also citizens of 91 countries.

Even after 17 years, new facts are emerging about the 9/11 terrorist attack. I collected 10 of the most amazing ones.

Not the first terrorist attack

The World Trade Center towers have been subject to terrorist attacks before. On February 26, 1993, a car loaded with explosives crashed into the World Trade Center building. It exploded in the underground garage of the North Tower and provoked a powerful blast wave. Six people were killed in the incident, and another 50,000 employees and visitors experienced difficulties due to lack of oxygen in the building. The truck that crashed was driven by Ramzi Jozefs, who later fled to Pakistan. He was soon found in Islamabad and extradited to the United States for trial. In 1997, Jozefs was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Coincidence or not?

Four years before the terrorist attack Federal agency The Office of Emergency Management (FEMA) has published the book "An Emergency Response to Terrorism." On the cover of the collection there was a photo of the northern tower under an optical sight. It was at the place indicated in the photo that the first plane under the control of terrorists crashed.

Ominous number 11

The name New York City has 11 letters, just like the word Afghanistan. Also, in one of the hijacked planes there were 92 passengers (9+2=11), and on board the other - 65 passengers (6+5=11). Terrorists attacked New York on September 11, or 11.09 (1+1+9=11). The name Ramsin Yuseb (the perpetrator of the 1993 Twin Towers bombing) has 11 letters, as does the name George W Bush.

However, the most frightening fact is another fact. One of the most famous symbols of the United States of America is the eagle.

In the main holy book of Muslims - the Koran - under number 9.11 the following verse is written:

“And it is written that the son of Arabia will awaken the terrible Eagle.

All the lands of Allah will feel the wrath of the Eagle,

And while some people will tremble in despair,

Many will rejoice: for the wrath of the Eagle will purify the lands of Allah

And peace will come."

Conspiracy theory and radio-controlled airplanes

Many Americans are of the opinion that al-Qaeda members did not hijack the planes. In their opinion, the attack on Manhattan was not planned by the US authorities in order to later explain the military intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as to explain several laws passed that, among other things, allow intelligence agencies to have access to the personal lives of Americans.

But this theory is questionable due to certain difficulties. Boeing's remote control technology, which could be used to direct aircraft, does exist, but it is extremely difficult to do. It would require airline employees to coordinate and four remote control teams (one for each hijacked plane). And this is already a lot of people who would be privy to the government’s plan.

World Trade Center Rental

At the end of June 2001, the twin towers of the World Trade Center were leased (one might say bought) for $3.2 billion by entrepreneur Larry Silverstein. On the day of the tragedy, he was in one of the towers. However, Silverstein's wife called him to remind him of an appointment with a dermatologist. So, he left the World Trade Center and saved his life.

Photo of George Bush after the tragedy

US President George W. Bush said that terrorists attacked the Twin Towers out of hatred for freedom and democracy. It was only in 2015 that photographs emerged taken at the emergency management center in Washington after a couple of hours after the terrorist attack took place. The photographs show the American leader, US Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and senior staff. Note that Cheney is watching the news about the tragedy in a very interesting position.

99 days of fire

The fire at the site of the World Trade Center ruins lasted 99 days, and cleanup work took 261 days. All this time, tens of thousands of people were engaged in removing garbage, of which 18 tons were collected. The building's steel structures, taken to a landfill, were later sold to China and India. The Chinese firm Baosteel bought 50,000 tons of steel at a price of $120 per ton.

The youngest victim of a terrorist attack

Christine Hanson, who was flying with her parents to Disneyland, was killed in the terrorist attack. The girl was two years old. In total, three children under the age of five died as a result of the tragedy. More than three thousand children were left without one or two parents on September 11th. During this period, a record number of psychologists worked with children.

American Depression

70% of Americans became depressed after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. More than 33,000 New Yorkers have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is usually diagnosed for people who come from hot spots. In addition, alcohol consumption in Manhattan increased by a quarter, and tobacco and marijuana consumption increased by 10%.

Barack Obama and the elimination of Osama bin Laden

The identities of all the terrorists who carried out the attack have been established. It turned out that they were legally in America, and many of them were trained in US flight schools. Later, in a video message, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden admitted that it was he who oversaw the work of 19 terrorists on four planes. 10 years after the bloody terrorist attack, American intelligence agencies eliminated Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Behind this in live observed by then US President Barack Obama along with his team.

In 2011, a World Trade Center memorial appeared on the site of the destroyed Twin Towers in New York. In 2018, in New York, survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attack and relatives of the victims will come to the Ground Zero site. Two beams of light will be projected into the sky in memory of the victims. The Pentagon will also hold special services for the families of the victims.

Attack on the World Trade Center in New York.

September 11 attacks, also called "9/11", were a series of hijackings and suicide attacks carried out by 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group Al-Qaeda against targets in the United States, the worst terrorist attacks on American soil in US history.

Main consequences of the attack

About 2,750 people were killed in New York, 184 in the Pentagon (Washington), and 40 in Pennsylvania (where one of the hijacked planes crashed). Police and firefighters in New York City were hit particularly hard, with hundreds rushing to the scene of the attack and more than 400 police officers and firefighters killed.

All 19 terrorists died. The attacks became the basis for a huge US counterterrorism effort.

Preparing an attack

In 1996, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed met with bin Laden in Afghanistan. He suggested that he carry out attacks on hijacked planes, which would be flown by pilots studying in the United States. Al Qaeda had to provide manpower, money and support. They hoped that this would change the entire situation in the Middle East. The participants in the conspiracy established a worldwide network; meetings were held in Malaysia, the participants in the attack studied in the United States, the coordinators of the plan sat in Hamburg, money transfers came from Dubai, functionaries were recruited throughout the Middle East, and orders from the leadership came from Afghanistan.

Three of the killer pilots and one of the planners lived in Hamburg, where they were members of a local Islamist cell. In 1999, they were planning to go to fight in Chechnya and came into contact with an Islamist recruiter. But he reoriented them to prepare a terrorist attack against the United States and sent them to Afghanistan to bin Laden. He preferred to use jihadists who studied in the West. One of the Hamburg terrorists named Atta was appointed commander of the operation.

The hijackers, most of whom were from Saudi Arabia, had established themselves in the United States, many long before the attack. They traveled in small groups, and some of them received flight training. Communication was maintained via email.

The preparations maintained ties between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq.

Attack

On August 29, 2001, the command was transmitted to carry out the attack on September 9. On September 5, chief planner Binalshib left Germany for Pakistan and sent a courier to bin Laden with a report of readiness.

On September 11, 2001, groups of attackers boarded four local airline planes at three airports East Coast. Shortly after takeoff, they killed the crews, possibly with bladed weapons they had smuggled with them. The hijackers then took control of the planes - all large and bound for West Coast with full fuel.

At 8:46 a.m., the first American Airlines plane to take off from Boston crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York. Most who saw it at first thought it was an accident: a small plane accidentally crashed into a building. The second plane, a United Airlines plane, also from Boston, struck the south tower 17 minutes later. At this point it became clear that the United States was under attack.

Both buildings were heavily damaged by the impact and a fire broke out. Many people who found themselves above the fires jumped from windows in order not to die from the fire.

The third American Airlines plane, taking off from Dulles Airport near Washington, D.C., struck the southwest side of the Pentagon (near the city) at 9:37 a.m. A fire started in part of the building. Minutes later, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered the grounding of planes across the country.

At 10:03 a.m., the fourth United Airlines plane, taking off from Newark, New Jersey, crashed near Shonkville in rural Pennsylvania. Its passengers, who learned about what was happening by mobile phones, prevented the terrorists.

At 9:59 am south tower The World Trade Center collapsed and the north tower fell 29 minutes later. Clouds of smoke and debris quickly filled the streets of Lower Manhattan. Office workers and residents fled in panic, trying to outrun the billowing clouds of debris. A number of other buildings adjacent to the twin towers suffered serious damage, and several subsequently fell. The fire at the site of the World Trade Center smoldered for more than three months.

Rescue efforts began almost immediately with help from across the country and the world. More than 400 New York City police officers and firefighters died during the initial rescue efforts. In total, almost 3,000 people and 19 terrorists were killed.

America's reaction

US President George W. Bush, who was in Florida at the time, was informed about the attack and was taken to military base. At 8:30 p.m., Bush addressed the nation from the Oval Office and laid out his administration's foreign policy principle: "We will not discriminate between the terrorists who did it and those who harbor them."

Television footage of the attack on the World Trade Center was seen by the whole world. The losses were great, the stock exchange fell, and there was no air traffic until September 13.

Al-Qaeda considered this a victory. IN Arab countries there was a celebration going on. In the Palestinian Authority there were mass celebrations with shooting in the air, candy and leaflets were distributed in the streets calling on Muslims to be proud of their victory over the United States. Adults and children waved portraits of bin Laden. Containers of weapons sent to the Palestinian Authority, intercepted by Israeli customs at the port of Ashdod in June 2002, also contained a shipment of “propaganda” lighters depicting the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, along with an image of Osama bin Laden.

Two days later, enhanced security measures were put in place and work resumed air transport. The whole world showed solidarity with the United States; Even in Tehran there was a mourning demonstration. Very quickly the culprits were identified: al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden. The Afghan government, which consisted of the extremist Taliban group, refused to hand them over.

Based on the NATO charter on assistance to a member of the bloc that was subjected to aggression, a joint military operation was carried out against the Taliban. Within months, thousands of fighters were killed or captured, Afghanistan was liberated, and Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders were forced into hiding. They were never able to take control of an entire country again. However, the war in Afghanistan dragged on due to the unwillingness of local resistance forces to the Taliban to establish effective governance of the country.

In addition, the US government began an intensive search for other al-Qaeda agents and sympathizers around the world and placed the fight against terrorism at the center of its foreign policy. The captured terrorists were stored in a prison at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, leased from Cuba, where Cuban laws apply. At first there were 800 of them, by 2011 there were 175 left.

Security measures within the United States have been significantly tightened in places such as airports, government buildings and sports centers. To facilitate this, Congress quickly passed the USA Patriot Act of 2001, which significantly but temporarily expanded the search and surveillance powers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other law enforcement agencies. In addition, the Ministry of National Security was created.

In 2002, the United States took action to destroy Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, which had aided the world's wide variety of terrorist forces. In 2003, an international coalition overthrew Saddam's regime and cleared Iraq of its supporters as part of the concept of preventive strikes against terrorist regimes.

The commission of inquiry, established in 2002, submitted its report two years later. She revealed numerous cases of lack of cooperation between the services responsible for national security. As a result, criminals who were known to the CIA were allowed into the United States and were not neutralized because they were not reported to the FBI. Some of the criminals who were preparing the second wave of attacks came to the attention of the FBI, but were not properly checked. Measures have been taken to establish cooperation under the leadership of the Ministry of Homeland Security.

Bin Laden was searched for 10 years. All this time it was assumed that he was hiding in the area of ​​​​the Afghan-Pakistani border, controlled by tribes that did not obey anyone. In 2011, he was discovered at a Pakistani military base in the city of Abbottabad, living in a house under the protection of the Pakistani army. On May 2, 2011, a special forces team of Navy SEALs landed there and eliminated the criminal.

Declassified details

In 2013, Wikileaks, an organization dedicated to disclosing classified information from governments and individuals obtained through hacking, posted a large volume of US government documents on the Internet.

Among other things, documents related to the activities of Islamic terrorists were declassified. In particular, it turned out that funding for al-Qaeda structures comes from Saudi Arabia, and the US government cannot get the Saudi government to do anything against it.

Additionally, a group of individuals from Qatar, possibly involved in the September 11, 2001 attacks, were spotted in the United States in 2011. Their movements were monitored and reported, but no measures were taken against them.

TBILISI, September 11 – Sputnik. The largest terrorist attack in human history was committed in the United States exactly fifteen years ago.

On September 11, 2001, suicide bombers from the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda captured four passenger aircraft, pointing two of them at the symbol of business New York - the World Trade Center towers, and the other two - at the Pentagon and, presumably, the White House or the Capitol. All aircraft except the last one reached their targets. The fourth hijacked plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

19 terrorists are also listed as killed in the attacks, 15 of them were citizens Saudi Arabia, two - United United Arab Emirates, one from Egypt and one from Lebanon.

Chronology

At 8:46 a.m. (hereinafter local time), an American Airlines Boeing 767 flying from Boston to Los Angeles crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center (WTC) on Manhattan Island in New York between the 93rd and 99th floors. There were 81 passengers (including five terrorists) and 11 crew members on board the plane.

At 9:03 a.m., a United Airlines Boeing 767 en route from Boston to Los Angeles crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center between the 77th and 85th floors. There were 56 passengers and nine crew members on board the plane.

At 9:37 a.m., an American Airlines Boeing 757 flying from Washington to Los Angeles crashed into the Pentagon building. There were 58 passengers and six crew members on board the plane.

At 10:03 a.m., a United Airlines Boeing 757 flying from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco crashed into a field in southwestern Pennsylvania, near the city of Shanksville, 200 kilometers from Washington. There were 37 passengers and seven crew members on board the plane.

As a result of a severe fire, the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed at 9:59, and the North Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed at 10:28.

At 18:16, the 47-story building of the World Trade Center complex, located in close proximity to the World Trade Center towers, collapsed.

The exact amount of damage caused by the September 11 terrorist attacks is unknown. In September 2006, US President George W. Bush reported that the cost of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States was at a low estimate of $500 billion.

Investigation and search for those responsible

On November 27, 2002, the United States established an independent commission to investigate the September 11 terrorist attacks (9/11 Commission). On July 22, 2004, the commission released its final report on the investigation into the circumstances of the tragedy. One of the main conclusions of the 600-page document was the recognition that the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks took advantage of “deep administrative failures” in the work of the US government.

The only defendant in the United States in the case of the terrorist attacks is a French citizen of Moroccan origin, Zacarias Moussaoui. He was arrested in August 2001 after he graduated flight school in Oklahoma and trained on a Boeing 747 simulator in Minnesota. In April 2005, Moussaoui was found guilty of intending to carry out a terrorist attack, which was supposed to be the fifth in a series of tragic events of September 11, 2001. On the personal instructions of Osama bin Laden, he was to hijack a plane and ram the White House in Washington - the terrorist himself stated this at trial. In May 2006, by a decision of the federal court in Alexandria (Virginia), where the trial took place, Zacarias Moussaoui was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Six other suspects in the attacks were arrested in 2002 and 2003, spent several years in CIA prisons, and in 2006 were taken to a camp at the US base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In February 2008, the US Department of Defense charged six prisoners with murder and war crimes as part of the investigation into the September 11 attacks.

Charges were brought against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who, according to the 9/11 Commission report, is a central figure in the preparation of the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001; Yemeni-born Ramzi Binalshib (another spelling Ramzi bin al-Shiba), who provided organizational support to terrorists and transferred money to them; Mohammed al-Qahtani, who, according to investigators, on September 11, 2001 was supposed to become another, the 20th hijacker of four American planes; as well as Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, Mustafa Ahmed Hawsawi (other spelling Mustafa Ahmad Khausawi) and Walid bin Attash.

In May 2008, the Pentagon dropped charges against Mohammed al-Qahtani.

After President Barack Obama ordered the suspension of all military prosecutors at Guantanamo Bay in January 2009 and vowed to close the facility, the military was forced to drop the charges. However, this promise of the president remained unfulfilled.

Having received no support in Congress, the head of state in early March 2011 ordered the resumption of military trials against terrorism suspects held in the Guantanamo Bay prison.

In early April 2011, US Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed that the accused Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other defendants in the September 11 case would not appear before a US civilian court, but before a special military commission at the Guantanamo Bay base.

On May 31, 2011, US military prosecutors again charged five suspects, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, with involvement in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack.

On May 5, 2012, a military tribunal formally charged five suspects with involvement in organizing the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack in the United States. They are accused of conspiracy, attacking civilians, intentionally causing physical harm, murder, violating the laws of war, causing destruction, hijacking and terrorism.

All five defendants refused to answer whether they plead guilty.

In July 2014, a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay ruled that one of the five accused in the attack, Ramzi Binalshiba, should be tried separately because of a report from military doctors that he had a “serious mental illness.”

Hearings in the case of those accused of involvement in organizing the terrorist attack continue.

Iran's responsibility

In March 2016, New York District Judge George Daniels entered a default judgment requiring Iran to pay $7.5 billion to relatives and other representatives of those killed at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The judge determined that Iranian authorities must pay another three billion to insurers who covered property damage and other material losses. Earlier, Judge Daniels ruled that Tehran could not prove its non-involvement in providing assistance to the organizers of the terrorist attack, and therefore the Iranian authorities bear a share of responsibility for the damage caused during it.

Memorial and new World Trade Center

On September 11, 2011, the World Trade Center Memorial was opened on the site of the destroyed Twin Towers in New York. It consists of two square fountain pools located right at the bases of the former twin towers, along the inner walls of which streams of water cascade into square holes located at the bottom of each of the pools. The names of 2,983 terrorist victims (including six who died in the 1993 World Trade Center attack) are carved into bronze slabs that line the parapets of both fountains.

© photo: Sputnik / Vladimir Fedorenko

The site of the World Trade Center bombing in New York. Archive photo

In November 2014, the new World Trade Center complex opened. It is the fourth tallest skyscraper in the world - its height is 541 meters. Construction began in April 2006 on the corner of a 65,000-square-meter site where the twin towers of a destroyed shopping center previously stood.

Since 2002, September 11 has been celebrated in the United States as Patriot Day; since 2009, after the approval of Act 111-13 of the US General Law, this date is also referred to as the national Day of Service and Remembrance.

On September 11, 2001, three planes flown by terrorists crashed into the skyscrapers of the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York and the Pentagon building. The fourth crashed in Pennsylvania. The attacks killed those in the buildings and on the hijacked planes. In addition, the disaster claimed the lives of firefighters and police officers, thanks to whose efforts it was possible to save about 30 thousand people. On weekdays, over 55 thousand people worked at the World Trade Center; the daily number of visitors and tourists reached 150 thousand. On July 15, 2002, the search for the remains of victims of the terrorist attacks was officially completed.

On August 20, 2002, the first official list of those killed in New York as a result of the World Trade Center collapse was published. It includes 2,819 people from 80 countries, including three Russians. A total of 157 people were killed on the two planes that crashed into the World Trade Center skyscrapers. 343 firefighters died. 1,102 people were identified by relatives or using DNA analysis. According to statistics, of the ten people who died in New York, eight were men; the average age of the dead was forty years. Mostly these were employees engaged in mental work: from developers software to bank employees and insurance company employees. Many were at the peak of their careers. About ten people were executives, founders or presidents of companies. At least 59 people served as vice presidents. Of the identified victims, fifteen were under twenty-one years of age, including three three-year-old children.

As a result of the terrorist attack in Washington, when a plane crashed into the Pentagon building, 184 people were killed: 120 employees and 64 passengers and crew members. 44 people died on a plane that was hijacked by terrorists but crashed in Pennsylvania before reaching Washington. The total number of deaths was more than three thousand people, about six thousand were injured. On September 12, 2001, US President George W. Bush made a televised address to the nation in connection with the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. He said he had ordered the use of the “full intelligence and law enforcement resources” of the United States to find and punish the perpetrators of the attacks. The head of the White House said that the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks carried out an “act of mass murder.” According to him, terrorists sought to create chaos in America, but they failed to do so.

On September 15, the US President, in his weekly radio address to the country, said that the US was planning a “comprehensive offensive” against terrorism. The US is planning a "broad and sustained campaign to defend our country and destroy the evil of terrorism." George W. Bush warned Americans that they would need patience because the coming “conflict will not be short,” as well as determination because “the conflict will not be easy.” Bush called the terrorists' actions "barbaric." He said that the United States will work together with other countries of the world, including Russia, India, and Pakistan, to punish the perpetrators and organizers of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

On September 11, 2001, a series of terrorist attacks were carried out in the United States, which resulted in the death of 2,977 people. According to the official version, the destructive attacks were carried out by members of the Al-Qaeda group*, but there are facts that can refute the generally accepted point of view.

Quick version

The official version of what happened is as follows. Early in the morning of September 11, 2001, four Boeing passenger planes were hijacked in the air by Arab terrorists. The hijackers were armed only with box cutters and gas canisters. Two aircraft attacked the twin towers of the World Trade Center, located in the southern part of Manhattan, the third plane was sent to the Pentagon building, the fourth did not reach the Capitol and crashed in the middle of a field in Pennsylvania.

This version was formed literally a few days after the tragedy and the American government never changed it. Such hasty conclusions suggest that Washington was preparing for this in advance.

We have already encountered a situation where the White House “knew for sure” that Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction, Muammar Gaddafi was sponsoring international terrorism, and Bashar Assad was using chemical weapons.

None of these accusations were ever confirmed. However, these suspicions became a pretext for the use of armed forces sanctioned by the US authorities in Iraq, Libya and Syria. It is expected that after the events of September 11, the Americans intensified military operations in Afghanistan.

Immediately after the explosions, the head of Al Qaeda* Osama bin Laden declared his non-involvement in the terrorist attacks. Unusual behavior for a man who always gladly took responsibility for terrorist attacks that were carried out with his participation. Later, bin Laden still admitted to involvement in the events of September 11, however, as some argue, he was only a person similar to the leader of Al Qaeda*.

Strange destruction

Probably not everyone knows that during the attack on New York, three buildings of the World Trade Center (WTC) collapsed. In addition to the well-known twin towers No. 1 and No. 2, there was also skyscraper No. 7. The government commission created to investigate the events of September 11 chose to remain silent about this fact. House number 7 is a 47-story high-rise building, noticeably inferior in height to its twin brothers.

In particular, it housed the New York branch of the CIA headquarters. This building escaped the plane's hit, but by 5 p.m. it had collapsed in the same pattern as the Twin Towers.

According to authorities, the cause of the building's collapse was burning fragments that fell on it from collapsing skyscrapers, as well as the ensuing fire. However, much closer to the towers were the WTC buildings numbered 3, 4, 5 and 6, and they all survived. Maybe there was another reason for the fall of the 7th house?

As for the twin towers, researchers are still concerned with a curious question: why did not only the upper floors of the building collapse, but also the lower ones? The official version is inexorable: when the building was destroyed, the top took the rest of it with it.

However, here too a problem arises. Parts of the tower’s structure did not fall in different directions, but folded straight under the base, like a house of cards.

The designers of the World Trade Center unanimously declare that when constructing high-rise buildings, the possible impact of an airplane on them was taken into account, as is the case with all skyscrapers. If a catastrophic scenario does occur, they say it cannot lead to devastating consequences of this magnitude.

The footage of the disaster clearly shows that the planes crash into the buildings in completely different ways: the airliner “entered” the northern tower directly in the center, and the southern one at an acute angle, cutting off the edge of the high-rise. At the same time, the destruction of the towers was surprisingly uniform and symmetrical, as in a prepared explosion. And then something strange happens: the southern tower, less damaged by the explosion, collapses first, and only half an hour later the northern tower, where the consequences of the disaster should have been more impressive, falls.

Experts analyzed the video of the collapse of the towers and almost unanimously stated that this is how industrial demolition of buildings occurs. And indeed, if you carefully watch the slow-motion footage of the disaster, you can see how blast waves run across the entire height of the building at equal distances - as if a pre-placed charge had detonated.

Here are two more facts that will make you think. Shortly before the terrorist attack, the floors into which the planes subsequently flew were closed for repairs. And a few weeks before the tragedy, the owner of the twin towers, Larry Silverstein, insured them for $3 billion, and insurance against terrorist attacks was prescribed as a separate clause.

Selective fire

If you believe the official findings, then in a monstrous fire, hundreds of thousands of tons of steel structures melted, and hundreds of tons of concrete were ground into dust.

Is it possible that ignited aviation kerosene, the combustion temperature of which is less than 1000°C, will cause hardened steel, which melts at no less than 2000°C, to “quiver”? In this case, a critical loss of strength occurred in 50 massive load-bearing beams at once, which is only possible if the fuel was evenly spilled over all areas of the floor.

The explosions left passengers on both Boeings with charred and unidentifiable body parts. Meanwhile, the passport of Mohammed Atta, one of the plane hijackers, which became one of the main pieces of evidence in favor of the guilt of Al Qaeda*, turned out to be completely unharmed. According to the commission, the document miraculously survived a powerful explosion, fell out of the plane and landed safely near the building.

The US government was in such a hurry to come to the desired conclusion that it was not even going to pay attention to such incidents. Further more.

The investigative commission announced the identification of some of the passengers and crew members of the aircraft using “DNA residues.” And this is after the fire virtually completely destroyed the hull of the airliner, made of high-temperature-resistant aircraft aluminum.

It is curious that despite the “remnants of DNA” being fantastically preserved, the black boxes were considered completely destroyed by fire. Looking at this, one can only believe that the fire acted selectively, completely not guided by the laws of the physical world.

Without a trace

The third hijacked Boeing, American Airlines Flight 77, crashed into the Pentagon, according to official data. In order to inflict the most significant damage to the building and people, the terrorists sent the plane along the lowest possible trajectory. It is known that the height of the Boeing 757 is 13 meters, the Pentagon is 24 meters.

Based on this, the final kilometers of the airliner's flight had to take place at an altitude of only a few meters above the ground, which is an almost impossible task for pilots who have just completed express courses.

Moreover, such a maneuver was absolutely unjustified, since, according to many experts, it would not have led to such damage as with a fall at an angle. It would be difficult for even an inexperienced pilot to miss in this case, given the impressive area of ​​the Pentagon - 117,363 sq.m. It turns out that the terrorists, who carefully planned the terrorist attack, chose a more difficult and less effective path.

However, the main incident is ahead. Independent researchers who studied photographs of the disaster were alarmed by the fact that the Boeing, when it hit the building, did not leave any traces of its wings. Their wreckage was not found nearby. Moreover, inside the destroyed section of the building there were no hints of aircraft fragments. According to official findings, they were all destroyed by a powerful explosion and fire, which is very doubtful.

All of the above facts suggest another reason for the destruction in the Pentagon - a planned explosion. But if we assume that the Boeing 757 did not crash into the Pentagon, where did the plane itself disappear with the passengers and crew of this ill-fated flight?

As for the fourth Boeing, which did not reach the Capitol and fell in the fields of Pennsylvania, there are fewer questions about it. However, there are still inconsistencies. Authorities claim that the cause of death was an impact with the ground, but they could not find any significant number of fragments of the plane at the alleged crash site. Eyewitnesses say that the debris was scattered for many kilometers. According to researchers who do not share the official point of view, the airliner could have been shot down in the air by a missile fired from a fighter.

The official version says: passengers, having contacted their relatives by mobile phones, learned that two planes had already crashed into buildings in Manhattan and decided to prevent the hijackers’ plans. It was as a result of the struggle that ensued on board that the plane lost its course and went into a steep dive. However, experts say that the ability to use cellular communications in flight appeared only in 2005.

Avoid discrepancies

Everything about this story is alarming, including the behavior of senior American officials. Thus, President George Bush for a long time ignored the invitation to speak before Congress, but when he agreed to the meeting, he set conditions that at first glance defied logical explanation. He insisted on limiting the conversation to no more than an hour and requiring Vice President Dick Cheney to be invited to the event. At the request of the head of the White House, only two people were to be present from the commission investigating the tragedy.

After lengthy debates, it was finally possible to agree on the participation of 10 commission members and remove the time limit. During the meeting, everyone expected to hear from the president comprehensive, and most importantly, reliable information about what happened, but everything turned out to be much more complicated. Bush did not allow videotaping, audio recording, or even shorthand recording of the meeting. In addition, Bush and Cheney refused to take an oath that could assure listeners of the veracity of what they said.

In April 2004, the performance finally took place. However, to this day it is not known what Bush and Cheney told the congressmen. Many people point out the absurdity of this situation. It looks like this if one witness agreed to speak in court only in the presence of another witness. Why is this necessary? Probably in order to avoid inconsistency in testifying.

The world is increasingly convinced every year that the terrorist attacks were planned by US intelligence agencies to justify the actions of the US military in the Middle East. But final conclusions do it prematurely. For now, we can say with certainty only the following: if the US authorities did not carry out the terrorist attacks themselves, then at least they did not interfere with their planning.

*Al-Qaeda is a terrorist group banned on the territory of the Russian Federation