Jack Petruccione

September 25th, 2015

Global Studies

9/11 Writing Assessment

On September 11th, 2001, the United States was attacked by a terrorist
organization called Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda is a group of Islamic extremists who despise the
west. To understand why, we need to dig a little deeper. These causes date all the way
back to the late seventies, when the U.S. and U.N. placed heavy sanctions on middle
eastern countries, restricting access to nuclear materials and airplane parts, this angered
a young Osama Bin Laden, because he thought that if the world powers can have these
things, why cant we? Defiance of these sanctions would lead to U.N. resolution 678,
further angering Bin Laden. During the Iran-Iraq war, the United States allowing
Iranian forces to bomb his hometown in Kuwait also angered him, because world
powers were approving the destruction of his hometown and harming his Muslim
brothers, building the hate that he already had for the west. Later on in 1990, when
Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait over oil interests, and Operation Desert Shield was
enacted to protect Saudi Arabia, a holy land fro all of the middle east. Bin Laden felt that
the presence of American troops in Saudi Arabia spoiled the holy sites there. When
Desert Shield becomes Desert Storm, and Bin Ladens homeland is nearly destroyed by
power and oil-hungry nations, he decides to hit back.
This brings us to the morning of September 11th, when an elite group of Al Qaeda
terrorists board four different airline flights, hijacking them once airborne. These pilots
trained in American schools in Florida. Once hijacked, two of these planes would be
purposely flown into the twin towers of the world trade center in New York City. One of
the remaining two would be crashed into the Pentagon. The hijacking aboard the final
jet was overthrown by its passengers, crashing in a field in Pennsylvania.
The two jets that hit the world trade center killed over two thousand people in the
buildings and aboard the aircraft. In total, the incident killed just under three thousand
people. The fires in the rubble burned for days, and the piles of rubble took months to
clear. Of those working in or near the pile of rubble, many developed lung cancers from
the dust and debris.
The world was forever changed when the first plane hit tower one, our nation
formed the Department of Homeland Security and Transportation Security Agency, and
those of middle eastern descent received prejudice from the rest of us, and President
Bush declared a war on terror, which we fight to this day. On the positive side, our
nation was united with patriotism, and a common goal to strike back. To this day, we see
the effects of 9/11 in things like the Patriot Act and airport security. Those of middle
eastern descent still do receive some discrimination in hiring and other fields for their
association with terrorists. All in all, I think society, especially American society, will

Jack Petruccione
September 25th, 2015
Global Studies

never recover from the events of 9/11. People will never view airplanes the same again,
and Al Qaeda has, indirectly taken away some of our freedoms that we wont be getting
back any time soon.