The other (IMHO) zany theory I’ve heard that’s sort of in the same thread as the Battle of Vienna is that it was also the date of the CIA-orchestrated overthrow of the democratically-elected government of Chile. Not that Al-Qaeda has ever said this. You could probably make a “365 Pretexts to Strike at Western Imperialism” tear-off calendar.
Siege of Vienna is also what I heard, but (a)wouldn’t they use the Islamic calendar, which is a week and a half shorter than the Western calendar? (b) Every day of the year could commemorate some centuries-old insult; this one seems a bit arbitrary.
It’s amazing some people won’t acknowledge that 911 can have an incidental match to the American date of Sept. 11th because European dates don’t work the same way.:rolleyes:
The Wikipedia lists events that happened on Septemeber 11 so you can take your pick 
I was working at a newspaper, and in the chaos that ensued in our scrambling to put out an extra edition, something that hadn’t happened since Kennedy’s assassination, many of us were assigned to alternate jobs, union rules be damned (as they should have been). I was seated near one of the newsroom secretaries who became increasingly hysterical as she kept answering calls from the public and telling them that it was true, not a “War of the Worlds”-type hoax, and after an hour or so she had an epic freakout, shrieking “It’s Nine-Eleven! Don’t you get it? They did it today because it’s Nine-Eleven! It’s an Emergency! It’s an Emergency! Because it’s Nine-Eleven!” She was sent home.
It’s not just “European dates”, it’s the whole of the rest of the world apart from Kenya and the Philippines.
I think you clinched it though: it’s incidental - but all evidence indicates that it’s significant only to the victims. It’s highly unlikely that the hijackers would have had the clairvoyance to know that it would be the first three digits of the date that would define the disaster.
Right - why is that “9/11” became the reference for this tragedy, and not, say, “The Twin Towers”? After all, we don’t refer to “12/7”; it’s “Pearl Harbour.”
You can’t predict in advance what will become the common reference to a major event.
It was the date for the primary for the New York municipal elections, wasn’t it? don’t remember hearing about other elections.
I’d imagine the hijackers hoped for a name like “The day the Great Satan submitted to the will of Allah and subjugated itself to the new Caliphate”.
Battle of Vienna in 1683 was on September 12.
What I can see from the Wiki list that would piss off the 9-11 hijackers.
As I remember, that was given as one of the reasons why there were fewer people in the buildings that day than normal. Also, I believe it was the first day of school, so some people were taking their kids to school. In other words, it could have been far worse.
That doesn’t really roll off the tongue.
I read somewhere (the Washington Post?) that the original plan for the terrorists was to attack on Tuesday September 18, 2001. That day was Rosh Hashanah - the Jewish New Year. Many Jews would have been at services that day, and not gone to work. With that in mind, some pro-Al Qaeda propaganda was prepared spreading the falsehood that “the Jews” somehow “knew” the attack was coming and stayed away without warning anyone else.
Supposedly, with the arrest of Zacarias Moussaoui the other hijackers moved up the date of their attack before they could be arrested. Since their plan depended more on the day of the week - and the expected passenger levels - than the exact day, they attacked one Tuesday earlier than planned: September 11, 2001.
But that doesn’t quite fit - Moussaoui was, according to Wikipedia, arrested 4 weeks before the attacks on Thursday August 16, 2001. Would it have taken the rest of the hijackers 3 full weeks to learn of the arrest and update their plans? Maybe, and maybe not.
None the less, there were, and are, the rumors that “Jews knew and stayed away form the Twin Towers”. Wiki links 9/11 conspiracy theories - Wikipedia and September 11 attacks advance-knowledge conspiracy theories - Wikipedia
Ugh! September 11, 2001 was opening day for many school systems in the New York metro area, and was primary election day in NYC. A lot of people, people of every religion, were late to work that day - and it saved their lives.
Except for that one (WashPost??) article, and the nasty rumors that would fit better with an attack on Rosh Hashanah than another Tuesday, I have not heard of any significance of the date of the attacks.
No, it’s because they chose a Tuesday in September…light traffic day in a month with few vacationers and clear weather. (Fairly clever, actually…not that I’m supporting what they did or anything…)
3/11 and 7/11 were certainly symbolic.
tdtgssttwoaasittnc?
And meanwhile, most of us say “The 4th of July”, not “Independence Day”.
Or “7-4”.
I’m guessing not “the twin towers” as I think something happened over at the Pentagon as well.
I knew there was something I was supposed to do that day.
But then I got distracted.
Unlikely. After all theologically speaking, the Great Satan and everyone else can only act with the will of God.