Changes

But it was not until September 11, 2001 (9-11) that Islamic terrorism hit American soil.  A group of 19 Muslims, most from Saudi Arabia, hijacked American airlines and flew one into each tower of the World Trade Center, a third into the Pentagon (probably after the pilot had trouble locating the White House from the air), and a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania as the passengers attempted to retake control of the plane from the terrorists.  Nearly 3,000 people died when the World Trade Center collapsed from the resulting fire, as millions watched it live on television.  An outpouring of support for American followed, with only Saddam Hussein of Iraq refusing to fly his flag at half-mast at the United Nations.

But it was not until September 11, 2001 (9-11) that Islamic terrorism hit American soil.  A group of 19 Muslims, most from Saudi Arabia, hijacked American airlines and flew one into each tower of the World Trade Center, a third into the Pentagon (probably after the pilot had trouble locating the White House from the air), and a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania as the passengers attempted to retake control of the plane from the terrorists.  Nearly 3,000 people died when the World Trade Center collapsed from the resulting fire, as millions watched it live on television.  An outpouring of support for American followed, with only Saddam Hussein of Iraq refusing to fly his flag at half-mast at the United Nations.

President George W. Bush responded by attacking Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan, after the Taliban in charge of that nation refused to hand him over.  Bin Laden is the leader of the terrorist organization called al Qaeda (spellings vary in translating that name from Arabic).  Bin Laden fled, but al Qaeda was broken up in Afghanistan, the Taliban was overthrown, and many of Bin Laden’s top aides were killed by the end of 2001.  Although a democratic provisional government has replaced the Taliban there, the persecution of Christians continues.  In 2006, one Christian was targeted for execution by the Afghanistan country merely for converting from Islam, and the United States did not intervene.  International pressure causes a suspension in the punishment.

President George W. Bush responded by attacking Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan, after the Taliban in charge of that nation refused to hand him over.  Bin Laden is the leader of the terrorist organization called al Qaeda (spellings vary in translating that name from Arabic).  Bin Laden fled, but al Qaeda was broken up in Afghanistan, the Taliban was overthrown, and many of Bin Laden’s top aides were killed by the end of 2001.  Although a democratic provisional government has replaced the Taliban there, the persecution of Christians continues.  In 2006, the Afghanistan country sentenced a citizen to death for converting from Islam to Christianity, and the United States did not intervene.  International pressure causes a suspension in the punishment.

In 2003, the United States invaded Iraq after Saddam Hussein refused to cooperate with inspectors of his nuclear facility and Americans feared that he had weapons of mass destruction (WMD).  The Iraq War was initially very successful for Americans, as Baghdad was captured quicker than expected.  The use of new body armor by American soldiers saved many lives that would have been lost at an earlier time.  At the end of 2006 Saddam Hussein himself, after being captured by an American soldier and tried by the Iraqis, was hanged for his crimes.  But in early 2007, three years after President Bush had announced victory in the war, he asked the American people to send 20,000 more troops to Iraq to try to finish the job.  Terrorists there have caused a continuing stream of violence and killings for over three years.

In 2003, the United States invaded Iraq after Saddam Hussein refused to cooperate with inspectors of his nuclear facility and Americans feared that he had weapons of mass destruction (WMD).  The Iraq War was initially very successful for Americans, as Baghdad was captured quicker than expected.  The use of new body armor by American soldiers saved many lives that would have been lost at an earlier time.  At the end of 2006 Saddam Hussein was captured by an American soldier and then tried by the Iraqis and hanged for his crimes.  But although military victory for Americans appeared swift and decisive in Iraq in 2003, terrorism continued to cause a continuing stream of violence and killings for over three years there, until a massive "surge" in 2007 and 2008 by American forces reduced the resistance and counter-attacks.  The election of Barack Obama as President of the United States in 2008 led to the announcement that the United States would withdraw most of its troops in 2009.

===Migration===

===Migration===