State of America

In a World Gone Crazy

Who are we?

• United States– We are a federal republic– We fought a war to free ourselves from control of

another “superpower”– Our nation is an experiment in freedom– We remain as the only “superpower” left after the

end of the Cold War

Who are we?

• United States– We have the largest national economy in the

world – $16.7 trillion GDP (all goods/services produced in a nation in a year)• 19% of the purchasing power in the world

– 16% of our population lives in poverty

Who are we?

• United States– We spend 39% of world wide military spending– We are a cultural force– We are a “melting pot” of nationalities

Who are we?

Motives for attacks

Somalia• Early 1990s brought

political change• Government was

replaced with “warlords” fighting for territory

• UN brought in peacekeepers to supply humanitarian supplies

Somalia• “Blackhawk Down”• Urban combat were 18

Americans were KIA80 wounded and 1 captured

• Somali forces were trained by al-Qaeda (bin Laden)

Motives for attacks

Motives for attacks

Chechnya• US supported Russian

attacks on Chechnya’s Islamic forces

• Russians fought Islamic forces topping with a hostage situation in 2004– Ended with 334 victims

(156 were children)– Many claim Russian forces

were responsible

Chechen rebel standing on a “Dead man Switch” in an elementary school hostage situation

Motives for attacks

Kashmir• US supports India’s

conflicts in the area of Kashmir.

• This area is one of the “hot spots” of the world where Muslim civilians (backed by Pakistan) and Hindu civilians (backed by India)

Motives for attacks

Gulf War ‘91• Iraq invaded Kuwait in

1990• Many nations in the

Middle East were worried about Saddam’s decisions

Motives for attacks

Gulf War ‘91• Saudi Arabia asked for

US help in protecting its borders

• Bin Laden (with al-Qaeda) offered Muslims support to protect the holy lands

• Saudi Arabia declined for US military

Motives for attacks

US Support of Israel• Bin Laden viewed Israel

with distain and wanted the US to stop supporting a nation that treated Muslims poorly

Motives for attacks

Sanctions against Iraq• Felt that the sanctions

against Iraq were designed to hurt Muslims, not hurt the government

Osama bin Laden

• Leader of al-Qeada• Extreme Muslim

fundamentalist• Issued 2 fatawas– 1996 - "Declaration

of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places"

Osama bin Laden

• 2nd fatawa– 1998 - complains of

American military presence in the Arabian Peninsula, and American support for Israel. It purports to provide religious authorization for indiscriminate killing of Americans and Jews everywhere.

Why the World Trade Center?

• Viewed as the finical heart of our nation

• Many civilians worked here, provided a lot of casualties

Why the Pentagon?

• Headquarters of our military services

Shanksville, PA

• Many believe that the target was the US Capital building

• Passengers aboard Flight 93 took control and forced the plane to crash in Shanksville, PA

8:46 AM

• American Airlines Flight 11 and crashed it into the North Tower, the aircraft striking between the 93rd and 99th floors.

• Killed 87 passengers/flight crew

• Unknown number upon impact at WTC

9:03 AM

• United Airlines Flight 175 into the South Tower, striking it between the 77th and 85th floors

• 60 passengers/crew

• 2,606 total innocent deaths at WTC

9:37 AM

• American Airlines Flight 77

• 59 passengers/crew killed

• 125 Pentagon personnel

9:59 AM

• South Tower collapsed after burning for 56 minutes. The fire caused steel structural elements, already weakened from the plane impact, to fail.

10:03 AM

• United Flight 93

• 40 passengers/crew killed

10:28 AM

• The North Tower after burning for approximately 102 minutes