September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack/Responsibility

There were reports that the Palestinian group DFLP (Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine) took responsibility for the crashes, but this was denied by a senior officer of the group soon after. While there are reports of celebrations on the West Bank, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has denounced the attacks.

Next in line to claim responsibility were the talibans of Afghanistan. The Taliban government has since denounced the attack and claimed that it was not connected to Osama Bin Laden, the terrorist who lives in Afghanistan and who the U.S. government has declared the prime suspect. There is no specific evidence linking his group or any other group to the crime, but intelligence experts speak of a "short list" of prime suspects--groups that possess both the means and the motive to carry out the crime. It appears certain that all hijackers have Arabic origins, and none are Afghani.

Virtually all world leaders, including traditional enemies of the United States such as Libyan president Qadhafi?, Palestinian leader Arafat, Iranian president Khatami? and the Afghanistan Taliban government, have denounced the attacks and expressed sympathy for the American people. An exception is [Saddam Hussein]?, the ruler of Iraq who called the attacks the fruits of U.S. crimes against humanity.

A significant minority see the attack as a likely outcome of past United States involvement in the Middle East and surrounding area, and fear that a violent response will only continue the cycle.

A related viewpoint is that such acts of terrorism as this are inevitable due to the economic and social imperialism of the United States and multinational corporations, which creates pockets of hatred in poor countries with minimal control of their political destiny, due to overwhelming economic pressures from outside.

September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack - Full Timeline
Casualties - Missing Persons - Survivors -- Give Blood -- Personal experiences -- Donations
Closings and Cancellations - Memorials and Services
Responsibility - World political effects - World economic effects - Airport security

See also: World Trade Center -- Pentagon -- New York City -- Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Department of Defense -- terrorism -- domestic terrorism -- Osama Bin Laden -- Taliban -- Afghanistan -- Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine -- Palestine -- West Bank -- Gaza Strip -- collective trauma -- September 11

External Links & References

Official document containing information from intelligence and criminal investigation as released by the British PM Tony Blair on his official webside, Oct. 4, 2001: Responsibility for the terrorist atrocities in the United States, 11 September 2001. See:
http://www.pm.gov.uk/
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=97692
http://news.bbc.co.uk/

[THE INVESTIGATION: Fugitive on F.B.I. List Arrested Outside Chicago, New York Times, 9/20/2001]
[Millions of shares sold before disaster, London Times, 9/18/2001]