Nine Eleven

Tuesday September 11th, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center changed the very face of New York City. A pleasant September morning turns horrific when in a coorinated terrorist attack on the United States,a hijacked Unted Airlines plane approaches to strike the south tower of the World Trade Center,18 minutes after a hijacked American Airlines jet smashed into the north building,leaving a gaping hole billowing smoke.
While the city's skyline is constantly evolving,theTwin Towers of the World Trade Center towered above the rest. Easily one of the world's most recognized landmarks,the New York City landmark standing at the center was the world's largest commercial complex ,a major tourist attraction and an internationally-recognized symbol of the United States' financial strength.
With a wide-open plaza between them,the Twin Towers had been an impressive tourist attraction since 1975 as well as a daily workplace for 50,000 people.An additioinal 200,000 people enter the World Trade Center every day, which included those who come to ride the two express elevators up to the observatory on the 107th floor .The views, particularly of the nearby harbor, the New York City skyline,and Statue of Lliberty were spectacular.Also of note is the World Financial Center next door,which has a stunning glass-enclosed atrium as well as boat launch outside the Hudson River.Special events and dozens of stores and restaurants can be found in the entire complex.
The towering skyscapers were immortalized in innumerable New York City posters and postcard-all of which have been rendered obsolete by Tuesday's attack

ALQUIDA

Established by Osama Bin Ladin in the late 1980s to bring together Arabs who fought in Afghanistan against the Soviet invasion. Helped finance, recruit, transport, and train Sunni Islamic extremists for the Afghan resistance. Current goal is to establish a pan-Islamic Caliphate throughout the world by working with allied Islamic extremist groups to overthrow regimes it deems "non-Islamic" and expelling Westerners and non-Muslims from Muslim countries. Issued statement under banner of "the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders" in February 1998, saying it was the duty of all Muslims to kill US citizens--civilian or military--and their allies everywhere.
May have several hundred to several thousand members. Also serves as a focal point or umbrella organization for a worldwide network that includes many Sunni Islamic extremist groups such as Egyptian Islamic Jihad, some members of al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and the Harakat ul-Mujahidin.
Al-Qaida has a worldwide reach, has cells in a number of countries, and is reinforced by its ties to Sunni extremist networks. Bin Ladin and his key lieutenants reside in Afghanistan, and the group maintains terrorist training camps there.
Bin Ladin, son of a billionaire Saudi family, is said to have inherited approximately $300 million that he uses to finance the group. Al-Qaida also maintains moneymaking front organizations, solicits donations from like-minded supporters, and illicitly siphons funds from donations to Muslim charitable organizations.