Nineteen terrorists from Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network divided in four teams took part in the attacks. The first plane -American Airlines Flight 11 that left Logan Airport, Boston, Massachusetts, at 07.45 for Los Angeles with 81 passengers and 11 crew members- was hijacked soon after take-off (at about 08.21) by five terrorist led by a Saudi named Atta. They changed the plane route to New York City where they crashed it into the north tower of the World Trade Centre at 08.46. A second plane, United Airline Flight 175 that had left Boston Airport for Los Angeles with 56 passengers and 9 crewmembers was also hijacked. This plane too changed direction towards New York City and was crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Centre at 09.03. A third plane, American Airlines flight 77 from Dulles airport in Washington DC to Los Angeles, with 58 passengers and 6 crewmembers was also hijacked. It turned around and crashed into the Pentagon at 09.43. A fourth plane, United Airlines flight 93 from Newark to San Francisco, with 38 passengers and 7 crewmembers was the last one to be hijacked. However in this case the passengers had been informed of what happened to the other three planes. Its crashing in Pennsylvania was a mystery at first, as there was no obvious reason to crash it there in the open country. It was assumed later, on the base of mobile phone conversations initiated by some passengers, that the passengers fought with the hijackers and brought the plane down at 10.03. The authorities later said that this plane's target was the White House or the capitol in Washington DC. There were no other victims in this case beside the passengers and the crew. The passengers were helped by the fact that there were only four terrorists on this plane compared with 5 on the others. The passengers will be remembered for the phrase attributed to a passenger to start the assault on the terrorists: "Let us roll!"

However on August 9, 2003, we were told that the crash of the United Airline flight 93 in Pennsylvania was not caused by the passengers but according to the FBI, by a hijacker. We were first told that the passengers heard on their mobile phones that three planes had hit the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon and that they then took over the plane to prevent the terrorists to hit the White House. Now Robert Mueller, the FBI director, said that it was the terrorist pilot, Ziad Jarrah, who decided to crash the plane because of the passengers' reaction. As a result 33 passengers, 7 crewmembers and 4 terrorists died. The truth of what really happened on board will never be known with certainty.

In New York City, the two towers collapsed, the south tower at 10.05 and the north tower at 10.28. Most of the people inside were able to escape before but many were trapped in them. In addition, hundred of firemen and policemen went inside to help, and many of them died under the weight of the collapsing floors. At the Pentagon in Washington DC, a part of that huge building went on fire, and hundred of people were thought to be dead.

At about 09.30, Andrew Card, the president's Chief of Staff, told George W. Bush, who was attending a school meeting in Sarasota, Florida, what was happening in New York City and at the Pentagon. The president did not react immediately; he only left the school at 09.57, and flew away in Air Force One. For safety reason he first went to an Air Force Base in Louisiana, then to another one in Nebraska, before coming back to Washington DC from where he spoke to the nation. After offering his condolences to the families of the victims and his wishes to the wounded, he told the American people that the terrorists responsible for this tragedy would be punished for what they did. "The US will chase them wherever they are and, bring them to justice, or kill them." He mentioned the name of Osama bin Laden as the probable organiser of these terrorist acts.

For an unknown reason the US Vice-President Cheney was nowhere to be seen. Later on, the media said that he had been in a secret location outside Washington DC for security reason. In January 2002 he was still hiding, and people begin to wonder why.

It soon became known that the 19 hijackers of the four planes were fanatic Muslims, most of them from Saudi Arabia. These men came to the US with student visas and, at least four of them frequented flying schools in Florida. They were mainly interested in flying Jumbo Jets, and they showed no interest in the taking off and landing procedures. The schools were not suspicious being quite happy to accept the high cost of the lessons. In cash!! Three teams of five men of Arab origin hijacked the first three planes while the fourth team had only four members (the fifth one was unable to get a visa to enter the US). The hijackers were armed with some kinds of knives; they killed some of the passengers and some crewmembers while taking over the planes.

The first plane hit the 80th floor of the north tower of the World Trade centre at 08.46 AM, local time, and the second hit the 60th floor of the south tower 15 minutes later. The combination of the impact and the heat generated by the burning of the fuel -nearly the full load- must have damaged the steel structures of the towers. They gave in at the impact level about one hour later, and the fall of the upper floors caused the collapse of the whole structures. It was believed at first that more than 10,000 people had died, but the figures were first reduced after a few days to something between 6 and 7,000, and to slightly less that 3,000 by December 2001, passengers and crew of the four planes included.

Only a small section of the huge Pentagon building was involved in the attack, but 189 people died (125 inside the building and 64 on the plane) and 110 were injured, 8 badly burned. The plane containing 20,000 gallons of jet fuel, hit the building at 350 miles per hour destroying 2 millions square feet of it.

The American authorities, soon followed by the Canadians', closed all plane traffic in North America. The planes that were on their way towards the US were sent back or diverted onto foreign airports, mainly in Canada. The National Airport in Washington DC remained closed for a few weeks. The US Immigration Office sent back many would-be immigrants and asked their countries of origin not to let any others come to the US. The only civilian planes that were authorised to fly these days were private planes taking all the members of the bin Laden family resident in the US -about 20 of them- back to Saudi Arabia. Why they were authorised to leave the country against the advice of the police and secret services is open to speculation, but it is known that the bin Laden and Bush families are close business associates, if not friends and this could be the reason.

Soon after September 11, the American authorities led by President George W. Bush told the media, that is the whole world, that Osama bin Laden was responsible for these terrorist attacks, that the US would search for him wherever he was, and bring him to Justice in the US. However, they also clearly hinted that they would prefer to have him killed. Most countries of the world agreed that the people behind the terrorist attacks had to be severely punished. Doing nothing would be interpreted as an authorisation to do it again. As all nations fell that they too were vulnerable to such attacks, they agreed that this had to be stopped, and the terrorist organisations destroyed!!

Soon some people wondered if a man alone (Osama bin Laden), or even a small group of terrorists (al-Qaida), could have put together such a plan, and go through with it. It is obvious that it is not easy to hijack four planes within one hour in three different airports. The planning had to be perfect, and the organisation meticulous. It was not something put together in a few days, or a few weeks; most probably this action was decided one or two years in advance. Here again the American authorities came with a possible explanation, although they did not come with any clear evidence. Accordingly, Osama bin Laden is the head of a terrorist organisation that goes under the name of "al Qaida"; it operates from Afghanistan where they are under protection of the Taliban regime that has been running the country for the last five years; the planning of the attacks took a few years.

In September 2002 we were told that the USA ignored serious advance warnings that an air attack on US soil was planned for 2001. An aide to the moderate Taliban Foreign Minister, Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, informed US diplomats in Peshawar, Pakistan, as well as UN representatives in Kabul, that al-Qaida was going to strike. The information did not go up the line.