America stops for September 11th. Commemorations of the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 which shocked the world and cost the lives of almost 3 thousand people were celebrated in New York. Four planes were hijacked by Al Qaeda terrorists to strike the United States. Two crashed within minutes of each other on the Twin Towers, one fell on the Pentagon while the fourth crashed in Pennsylvania.
The commemoration ceremony was held at Ground Zero with Vice President JD Vance and the four former presidents, George W. Bush, Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. President Trump instead participated in the Pentagon commemorations. “I confirm that we will never forget what happened on September 11th and that today we fight in accordance with that oath,” declared the American president, speaking at the September 11th ceremony at the Pentagon. “Today we are fighting hard and we have no choice but to win.” US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth dedicated part of his speech to the ongoing conflict against Iran: "In the last six months, we have brought the most prolific state sponsor of terrorism in the world to its knees."
25 years after the attacks of September 11, 2001, Sky TG24 presents historical images and stories of a day that changed our lives forever. In New York, relatives of the victims will gather at the National September 11 Memorial Plaza for the annual reading of the names of those killed in the September 11 attacks and the attack on the World Trade Center in 1993. In the historical images, the attack on the Pentagon, the place where United Flight 93 crashed and the devastation of New York immediately after the collapse of the Twin Towers, with firefighters and rescue workers among the rubble of the World Trade Center shrouded in smoke from Ground Zero.
Thousands of people will gather in New York, Washington and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to commemorate the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks. At 8:46 a.m. Eastern Time, American Airlines Flight 11 hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. At 9:03, however, United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower: the building collapsed at 9:59, followed 29 minutes later by the collapse of the North Tower.
"It's a difficult job. I pray for you." Former mayor Rudy Giuliani said this to his successor Zohran Mamdani who today went to shake his hand during the ceremonies in memory of the September 11th massacres. In recent days Giuliani, in an anti-Islam tirade with a right-wing broadcaster, had warned Mamdani, who is Muslim, to show up at Ground Zero. The mayor, aware of the attack, nevertheless approached his predecessor and extended his hand which the former mayor did not refuse. Mamdani's gesture of courtesy brought out a different Giuliani: respectful and, at least in appearance, almost toned down. Asked about the meeting as he left the ceremony, Mamdani did not reveal what exactly the two said to each other. "We held out our hands and exchanged a few words of courtesy," said Mamdani: "I think for all of us today the focus is on the families, on the rescuers, on being here to hear the names of all the people who were stolen from us 25 years ago and remember how their families have found the strength to carry on in all this time. I feel a deep admiration for everything that these families have given to us all."
To the September 11 attacks ''the response was immediate. The Allies remained alongside the United States and Article 5 of NATO was used. We defended solidarity, security and freedom". This was declared to Tg2 Post by the Italian ambassador to the United States Marco Peronaci. ''The firefighters and the people of the whole country gave an extraordinary display of resistance'', added the diplomat. In terms of security, Peronaci stated, ''it has become essential to work together'' and subsequently ''it was realized that traditional attacks are accompanied by hybrid attacks''. Today, he continued, ''together we are looking for a trade off between security and freedom''.
Omar Bin Laden, one of the 20 children of the al-Qaeda leader, has tried over the years to build his own identity away from his father's political and ideological legacy. Today he dedicates himself to painting, creating mainly works that portray landscapes and scenes of daily life.
"The response was immediate. The Allies remained alongside the USA and Article 5 of NATO was used. We defended solidarity, security and freedom. Twenty-five years later, we can say that freedom won". The Italian ambassador to the United States, Marco Peronaci, stated this on September 11th on Tg2post.
25 years have passed since the terrorist attack on the iconic skyscrapers of the Big Apple. Present at the commemoration were the mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani and also several former presidents of the United States. Donald Trump instead participates in the ceremony at the Pentagon.
"9/11 reminded us of the terrible power of hate. The 25 years since then have shown us the even greater power of the American spirit to resist, prevail and win. And today our country is stronger than ever; it has never been as strong as it is in this moment." These were the words of the President of the United States at the Pentagon during the September 11 commemorative ceremony.
The CIA publishes 69 intelligence reports intended for American presidents which broadly review what the agency had discovered about Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda before September 11th. The documents, reports the New York Times, do not reveal anything new but offer details on what the CIA said to presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush in the months and years preceding the attack. In a briefing on September 10, 1998, in the report sent to Clinton, a CIA analyst warned that Al Qaeda could have crashed "a plane loaded with explosives into an American city." Another July 1998 document, delivered to Clinton five weeks before Al Qaeda attacked two embassies in Africa, outlined the group's intention to strike America, citing four "questionable sources." The last briefing on 9/11 was on August 28, 2001. The report reiterated that Al Qaeda represented a threat but made no reference to attacks in the United States. What was cited were "kidnappings, the use of rockets and mortars but also rudimentary attacks of a chemical or biological nature". The note closed by stating that "even inexperienced couriers and bombers make mistakes that reveal details of the plot.
"The attack on the Twin Towers 25 years ago was the second enemy attack on its own territory that pushed the United States into war. But the enemy was not a hostile state, as had happened with the bombing of Japan at Pearl Harbor in 1941. This was the first act of war by a non-state terrorist organization, al Qaeda. And precisely for this reason it was a new beginning, the beginning of a military conflict that, especially in the Middle East, would see, now together against each other, state and non-state actors. Iraq, Syria and Lebanon became the main theaters of this conflict, which we would often struggle to decipher; and certainly to govern. The USA lost the compass of world governance there, despite alternating events, it has never found again". Former prime minister Giuliano Amato writes this in an editorial for 'Formiche' on the anniversary of September 11th. "Having said this - continues Amato - we cannot fail to remember that we are not only at the 25th anniversary of the Twin Towers, we are also at the 15th anniversary of the massacre carried out on 22 July 2011 on the Norwegian island of Utoya by the supremacist Anders Breivik, who killed 69 young Labor members and injured 110 to attack Muslim immigration and therefore the 'deconstruction' of national culture, for which he held the Labor Party responsible. We would have discovered Breivik's many links with the world of European far-right supremacists only later and we would have experienced the many attacks committed, in different European cities, by members of this real network." For Amato "it is impossible not to grasp the connection between the two events and the sequences that followed both. It is impossible not to perceive that the outbreaks of hostility and hatred that have marked our societies and have powerfully contributed to their radicalization started from here. It is no coincidence that in our time we speak of the age of hatred and hate speech has entered forcefully among us. On the part of those who practice it, or even organize it, there is a constant reference to religions as the source of the truths of which they are the intransigent bearers. This is not the case. It is a lie that only those who spread existing feelings of ignorance and distrust can be capable of, together with the cynical predators of consensus who exploit and amplify such feelings, as opposed to the righteous who work to dilute them 2019 by Pope Francis and the great Imam of Al Azhar al-Tayyib, or to the Pact between Italian religions last June. The two anniversaries, that of the Twin Towers and of Utoya, should push everyone to follow them and not to persevere in the sad and senseless campaigns of hatred".
Donald Trump appears to doze off during a ceremony at the Pentagon for the September 11 terrorist attacks. During the participation, together with the first lady Melania, the tycoon closed his eyes, sparking comments on social media, mainly on the lack of respect shown given the importance of the initiative. The presidential couple at the Pentagon honored the victims of the third plane hijacked by terrorists, which crashed into the headquarters of the US Department of Defense, causing a total of over 180 deaths.
"Today is an important day, a day of strong people and, at the same time, a deeply tragic day. Twenty-five years ago, on September 11, people were victims of an attack. A terrible attack, a tragedy in the United States. Almost 3,000 people from 90 countries around the world were killed, including Ukrainian citizens": Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky stated this on X. "At the time", continues the Kiev leader, "NATO demonstrated its strength. And it is very important that there was a response to terrorism and that Article 5 was invoked. This shows that, if people want to preserve their civilization and the right to defend their rights, their freedoms and their values, there must be a response to any enemy or terrorist." “We honor all the heroes who did everything they could to save the lives of others that day: police officers and firefighters, but also simply people who cared for others, including those of Ukrainian origin. We express our respect, admiration and condolences to them,” adds Zelensky.
The wars following 9/11 caused nearly one million victims around the world, even far from the battlefields. According to Brown University's "Costs of War" project, between 2001 and 2023, US military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and Pakistan resulted in the deaths of more than 940,000 people, including more than 432,000 civilians. In addition to the more than 7,000 deceased US soldiers, the death toll includes more than 8,000 military contractors and over 12,000 soldiers belonging to NATO forces and other US allies. The researchers report that the suicide rate among US military personnel - once lower than that of the general population - has also increased significantly since 2004.
