Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T04:05:59.505Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

29 - Liberty, Security, and America’s War on Terror

from Part III - New World Disorder?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 November 2021

By
Karen J. Greenberg
Edited by
David C. Engerman ,
Max Paul Friedman  and
Melani McAlister
David C. Engerman
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
Max Paul Friedman
Affiliation:
American University, Washington DC
Melani McAlister
Affiliation:
George Washington University, Washington DC
Get access

Summary

On the morning of September 11, 2001, under memorably clear blue skies, two passenger planes bound for the West Coast were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center’s twin towers in Lower Manhattan. Many sensed correctly at the time that the suicide bombings would forever change the course of American history. Within the hour, another passenger plane smashed into the Pentagon, home to the US Department of Defense, while a fourth plane, headed for an unknown target in Washington, DC, crashed to the ground due to the extraordinary efforts of its passengers who wrested control from the hijackers. The multi-target mission constituted the first and only attack on the mainland by a foreign enemy since the War of 1812; its 2,996 deaths exceeded those suffered at Pearl Harbor.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge History of America and the World , pp. 684 - 706
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×