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Ten years ago today, 19 Islamist extremists from the terrorist group Al-Qaeda hijacked four planes in the United States.
American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center in New York’s North Tower.
United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower 17 minutes later.
Half an hour later, American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon.
United Airlines Flight 93 rebelled against the hijackers. It crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
A total of 2,977 people, excluding the 19 hijackers, died in the New York, Arlington and Shakesville attacks that day.
It marked the day when the world changed. It marked the day when enemies revealed themselves. It marked the day we realised what we had blindly stumbled into. It marked the day when the nature of war changed. It marked the day when the nature of terrorism changed. It marked the day when the nature of foreign policy, of the international community, of life itself, changed. An entire generation felt their mortality, and would never view the world in the same way again. It marked a struggle for cultural dominance, and for civil rights. It marked a rise in extremism. It marked a changing point in history.
