Tag Archives: terrorists

Flight 93

Flight 93

On September 11th, 2001, a tragic event happened.  By the use of four planes, terrorists planned to attack and possibly destroy the World Trade Centers in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington D.C, and the White House, also in Washington D.C.  The flight planning to crash into the White House was flight 93 flown by United Airlines.  The passengers on this flight were planning to go to San Fransisco, California but little did they know they were flying with three hijackers trying to take down the White House.  The two other planes already had crashed into the World Trade Centers when the hijackers began to take down the flight at 9:28.  They took over the cockpit and began to fly the plane around to head to Washington D.C. The new pilots flying the plane made an announcement to remain seated and threatened them that they have a bomb and they weren’t afraid to use it. Many of the passengers had called loved ones or the police to inform them what was going on.  At 9:39, the third plane had crashed into the Pentagon.  The passengers knew they were being hijacked and began to plan a revolt to stop the plane.  At 9:45, Todd Beamer said two words that signaled the passenger revolt and would change many people’s lives: “Let’s roll”. The passengers took over the cockpit and stopped the hijackers from crashing into the White House but, unfortunately, the plane was seen plunging from the sky at a steep angle and no passengers survived. Nobody was hurt on the ground, and the plane landed at a field near a coal strip mine in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.  The strange thing is 22 out of the 44 people on flight 93 weren’t originally supposed to be on that flight.

In my opinion, all the passengers on the plane were exceptionally brave for stopping the hijackers from crashing into the White House.  Because of them, the White House, and thousands of people, were saved.  I also think that there probably are some reasons that some of the people on that plane weren’t scheduled to be on it.  For example Todd Beamer could have left Tuesday night for his work meeting, but decided to spend more time with his family.  He was one of the passengers that took part of the passenger revolt to save the White House.  Adding to this, the plane could have held 200 passengers but, luckily only 44 seats were taken.  I think there was a reason for this small number of people.  For example, if there were more people on the plane, the passenger revolt might not have went so well, and if the plane crashed with more people, more lives would have been lost. It is tragic what happened to the passengers, however, they probably saved thousand of lives and a historical structure.

~Mikayla

Assassination in Afghanistan

In Kabul, Afghanistan there was an assassination of their former president Burahanuddin Rabbani. It was committed by a suicide bomber who waited days to meet the president. The killer hid the bomb in his turban. He then posed as part of a Taliban Peace Convoy and killed him in is room. This was a terrible blow to attempts to bring peace to a country that has had decades of war. This will also most likely delay bringing the troops back from Afghanistan if it has not already.

This assassination was only a few days after a daytime attack on the U.S. Embassy. There was also an attack on the NATO headquarters. These reasons have deepened the fear in the country. The close friends of Rabbani say that a high contact from the Taliban came to speak with him. After insisting on not being searched they got into their meeting. Then he bent his head down and his turban exploded. The friends say it destroyed the windows of his house and shook other houses.

I feel that these events will greatly impact bringing peace to the middle east. I also believe that because of the assassination security will be greatly increased around people of high value. The attacks on the U.S. Embassy and the NATO headquarters will also call for increased security around all U.S. buildings. Since the Taliban attacked the former president of Afghanistan I think they will try to attack the current president of  Afghanistan next. I think that more attacks will occur on U.S. buildings and more assassination attempts of high ranking people will take place.

~Andrew Goggin

One by One

A few days ago the same military unit that got Osama Bin Laden used a drone and jet strike to kill an American born terrorist. This terrorist was Anwar Al-Alwaki and apparently he was a religious leader.The drone strike happened in the country of Yemen and also killed another U.S born terrorist. Al-Alwaki was behind the 2009 Christmas bombing  attempt, in which a man had tried to bomb a plane using a bomb hidden in his underwear. Fortunately this plan was foiled by the U.S. government. This man could have been a possible threat to the U.S.

In my opinion America dodged a real bullet. This man could have done serious harm to the U.S. Nobody would want a repeat of 9\11 and nether would I. It seems to me that the government is taking down the terrorists one by one. It could have been hit or miss with the drone strike but we got lucky. I’m not saying that the war on terror is over but it’s looking good.

~Marco Dugay