The September 11 Attacks and the Groups Involved
The September 11 attacks that were carried out on the World Trade Center buildings on September 11th, 2001 are clearly one of the most violent attacks to have ever been conducted on American soil. The attack which left close to 3000 people dead resulted in a series of responses from individuals from different spheres of the society. Broadly, several groups of people were known to have been involved in the entire series of events before and after the occurrence of the attacks. This essay is, therefore, a classification essay aimed at discussing some of the groups of people involved in the 9/11 events. Primarily, the essay will consider the victims, the terrorists, and the government.
The Terrorists
To begin with, the first group of people that shall be considered are the terrorists who took part in the attacks. Al Qaeda was an Islamic terrorist group mainly based in Afghanistan with operators stationed in different parts of the world. The group was stationed in Afghanistan due to the existence of the Taliban regime which was friendly to them and therefore provided them with a safe haven. Under the leadership of individuals such Osama bin Laden and others, the group had conducted a series of terrorist attacks on US embassies in countries such as Kenya and Tanzania which led to missile air strikes from the United States. The group, however, felt the urge to intensify their attacks, and as a result, they targeted to strike the United States at their crucial points. Various key individuals in the terrorist organization were involved in the planning and execution of the attacks. For instance, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was one of the masterminds of the attacks. Khalid had for a long time wanted to cause havoc in the United States, but all his attempts were unsuccessful. However, when he heard of Osama bin Laden's plans, he willingly sided with the latter to harm the country. Another significant group of terrorists that were involved in the attack was the 19 suicide bombers and hijackers who took control of the four commercial planes on the East coast. According to a various intelligent source, the individuals had received training from different parts of the globe; the United States included on how to execute the attacks (Menkus, 2002). Furthermore, some of the attackers were quite familiar with the country with some of them having spent considerable durations of their lifetimes within America. The intelligence reports also claimed that the attackers used coded messages to communicate with one another and with their superiors before conducting the attacks.
The Victims
The other category of people involved in the 9/11 attacks were the victims. As stated in the introductory section, the attacks left close to 3000 people dead, with most of the casualties occurring in New York City. An additional 6000 people were reported to have been injured as a result of the attacks. To begin with, the world trade center and other nearby locations witnessed the largest number of victims. The hijacked planes plunged directly into the region, bursting into flames and as a result, cutting off the entire top section of the building. Individuals and other office workers who were on the top floor offices could be seen jumping to the ground rather than succumbing to the raging flames beneath. A significant portion of the victims also consisted of firefighters and police officers who attempted to respond to the crisis at the points of the incidents. In addition, the Pentagon, which was also struck by the assailants recorded a death toll of around 180 people. The two towers also collapsed following the crashing of the planes into them resulting into spewing of toxic dust to the surrounding regions. Previously, the dust was thought to be harmless. However, recent studies revealed that in less than half a decade, the total number of people who will have lost their lives after inhaling the dust of the explosion would have exceeded those who actually perished on the day of the attack. Currently, there have been approximately 1000 reported deaths arising from the inhalation of the fumes from the collapse of the building (Miller, 2009). Most of the causes of the deaths have been identified as either chronic respiratory disorders or cancer resulting from contact with various carcinogenic materials such as asbestos.
The Government
The last category of people to be discussed in this particular essay is the government of the United States. The 9/11 attacks proved to be the worst attack ever in the history of the country, and therefore the government had to respond swiftly to contain the situation. The then president of the country, George Bush had visited a second-grade school when news of the attacks reached him. As security protocol, he immediately had to be moved to the White House in the presidential plane as he planned for further actions. However, it was clearly evident that following the attacks, the administration would wage war on the Middle Eastern countries which had been harboring the terrorists. In addition, the country partnered with other foreign organizations such as NATO provide additional manpower and resources that were used in combating the terrorists in the region. The government also provided expert help that was used to identify the bodies of various victims of the tragedy (Tramontin " Halpern, 2008). Owing to the magnitude of the attack, some of the victims had been distorted beyond recognition and therefore to help their families identify them, the government provided DNA services to the general public. Also, following the discovery that some of the fumes from the collapsed buildings were carcinogenic, the government came up with programs which compensated the individuals who were affected with the smoke in an attempt of making their life better. The Zadroga act, for instance, was introduced in honor of one of the police officers who was actively involved in the rescue process and who later succumbed to respiratory complications in 2006.
In conclusion, this classification paper has discussed each of the three categories of individuals who were actively involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the world trade center, united airlines, and the pentagon. The essay has highlighted how the terrorists carried out the attacks, the victims and casualties and the various ways through which the government of the United States responded. From the essay, it has been seen that most of the masterminds of the attack had sufficient knowledge on the outline of the country and were thus well prepared to execute the attack. Also, the study has revealed that the Al Qaeda group had various international networks which were coordinated to carry out the attack. Finally, the essay has shown the dedicated efforts of the government towards ensuring that the victims and casualties of the tragedy are compensated sufficiently.
References
Menkus, B. (2002). Puzzles Remain About the September 2001 Attack on the World Trade Center. EDPACS, 29(9), 12-15. doi:10.1201/1079/43281.29.9.20020304/35215.4
Miller, A. (2009). Asthma Following the 2001 World Trade Center Attack. JAMA, 302(21), 2319. doi:10.1001/jama.2009.1746
Tramontin, M., " Halpern, J. (2008). The Psychological Aftermath of Terrorism: The 2001 New York City World Trade Center Attack. PsycEXTRA Dataset. doi:10.1037/e517302011-354
