Significance of the date of the September 11, 2001 attacks
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On September 11, 2001, it was believed 19 al-Qaida operatives hijacked four planes in the Eastern United States; the significance of why 9/11 was chosen for the date of the attacks has been widely debated since. The hijackers crashed two planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a fourth into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to regain control of the plane.
The attacks are often referred to simply as September 11 or 9/11. The latter is from the U.S. style for writing short dates and is pronounced "nine-eleven". Within the United States, the typographic styling of the 9/11 designation alludes to 9-1-1 (also written 911, pronounced "nine-one-one" in either case), the emergency telephone number used by the U.S. and Canada. Furthermore, the two "ones" in 9/11 are seen by some as being representative of the two towers of the World Trade Centers. For these symbolic reasons and for convenience, 9/11 has become a common domestic term for the attacks.
There was some initial speculation that the correspondence between 911 and the date 9/11 as mentioned above was intentional, suggesting perhaps, "Starting now, life in America is about emergencies rather than ease". The coincidence in any case has emotional resonance and may contribute as much as slips of the tongue to Americans sometimes saying "nine-one-one" when they mean "9/11". Subconscious awareness of it may also contribute to the enhanced identification with public-safety personnel.
It was also suggested, but apparently never confirmed, that the number may have had some religious significance to the hijackers. Most Americans seemed to quickly accept press commentators' opinion that the date carried no symbolic significance. An obvious possibility is some type of Koranic reference. Surah 9:11 does not appear relevant, but Surah 9:111 is highly relevant because it firmly promises heavenly gardens to those who slay and are slain in Allah's way. 111. "Surely Allah has bought of the believers their persons and their property for this, that they shall have the garden; they fight in Allah's way, so they slay and are slain; a promise which is binding on Him in the Taurat and the Injeel and the Quran; and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? Rejoice therefore in the pledge which you have made; and that is the mighty achievement."
Historians noted that September 11 echoed the date in 1683 of the Battle of Vienna, the final turning point in a 250-year struggle between the forces of the Christian West and the Islamic Ottoman Empire. September 11 was also the date in 1922 when the British Mandate of Palestine was promulgated at Jerusalem. Construction of the Pentagon began on September 11, 1941, exactly 60 years before the building was attacked. September 11 was also the date of one of America's most notorious interventions in another country, the deposition of President Salvador Allende in Chile in 1973. Although these symbolic and historically significant events occurred on the same date in the solar Gregorian calendar, the corresponding dates vary in the lunar Islamic calendar.
September 11, 2001, was also the 11th anniversary of George Bush's 1990 address to the United Nations where he called for a "New World Order".
Others speculated that the date was chosen for purely operational reasons, that the attack timetable was accelerated due to the arrest of Zacarias Moussaoui, or because on that date many New York fire and rescue vehicles were out of the state for training purposes. It was also the day of the New York City mayoral primary, which was postponed to a later date after the attacks. Also, the United States Congress was back in session on Tuesday; the Capitol has been rumored to have been the target for the fourth plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. After the attacks, the number appeared again: The terrorist attacks in Madrid on March 11, 2004 occurred exactly 912 days after September 11, 2001, hence there were 911 days between the two events.
