A quarter-century ago, the United States was attacked by Islamist terrorists who used planes as their weapons. 

Robin M. Itzler | September 11, 2026

September 11, 2001, was just an ordinary Tuesday. That morning at around 8:30 a.m. on the East Coast, most people were either at work or on their commute. Kids were settling in at school.

Whether the TV or radio news was background chatter or the focus, suddenly there were interruptions announcing that at 8:46 a.m. an American Airlines Boeing 767 (with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel) had crashed into New York City’s World Trade Center’s North Tower. The jet hit between the 93rd and 99th floors of the 110-story skyscraper. Hundreds of people were instantly killed, and others were trapped on the higher floors with no way to escape.

Most people immediately assumed it was a terrible accident, and they continued with their day while listening for news updates.

However, 17 minutes later, at 9:03 a.m. United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower between the 77th and 85th floors.

Americans immediately knew that the United States was under attack, with many correctly guessing who had attacked us.

This was not the first time the World Trade Center had been attacked by Muslim terrorists. On February 26, 1993, terrorists targeted the World Trade Center. A truck bomb exploded in the North Tower’s underground parking structure, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000.

(In October 2025, then mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani visited Masjid At-Taqwa, a mosque in Brooklyn. The smiling Mamdani had his photo taken with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, whom federal prosecutors once named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Is anyone surprised?)

While the world focused on the World Trade Center in Manhattan, American Airlines Flight 77 was circling Arlington, Virginia, which is near Washington, D.C. At 9:37 a.m., the jet crashed into the west side of the Pentagon.

A few minutes later at 9:45 a.m., the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officially ordered a complete shutdown of U.S. airspace and commanded all airborne planes to land immediately at the nearest airport.

At 9:59 a.m., the South Tower........

© American Thinker