Changes

[[Image:National Park Service 9-11 Statue of Liberty and WTC fire.jpg|right|thumb|250px]]

[[Image:National Park Service 9-11 Statue of Liberty and WTC fire.jpg|right|thumb|300px]]

The '''Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001''' were the deadliest to ever occur on [[United States of America|US]] soil and had far reaching effects on both [[foreign policy|foreign]] and [[domestic policy]].

The '''Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001''' occurred when [[al Qaeda]]-affiliated [[Islam|Islamic]] extremists hijacked four transcontinental airliners and used them to strike targets in the [[United States]], succeeding in destroying the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and a portion of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.; the fourth aircraft, in which the hijackers are believed to have targeted the White House or the Capital Building, crashed into an empty field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after passengers fought back to re-take control.   

The coordinated attacks by [[al Qaeda]] affiliated [[Islam|Islamic]] extremists saw three transcontinental airliners strike the [[World Trade Center]] towers (buildings 1 and 2) in [[New York City]], NY and the [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]] outside of [[Washington, D.C.]] within one hour of each other.  The attacks succeeded in destroying both World Trade Center towers as well as a third building in the complex and significantly damaged the Pentagon (though the Pentagon was still able to function).  A fourth airliner crashed in a field in Shanksville, [[Pennsylvania|PA]], failing to reach its objective.

 

[[Image:Sep 11 2001.jpg|right|thumb|300px]]

The sheer-audacity of the attack and the heavy loss of life that resulted from it caused the Bush Adminstration to declare a war on terror with the determination to hunt down terrorists world-wide; within two months of September 11, [[Afghanistan]] was completely occupied by American forces, driving the ruling Taliban from power and causing the main suspect of the attacks, [[Osama bin Laden]], to flee into hiding.

The events of the day are often referred to simply as "September 11th" or "nine-eleven" (often written as "9/11").

==The Attacks==

==The Attacks==