Was any evidence uncovered during the extensive investigation of the Sept 11 hijackings to suggest that the day was deliberately chosen to send a symbolic “911” message to America? Or, was this the mother of all coincidences?
I have never seen that suggestion.
Given that
[ul][li]pretty much the whole rest of the world uses the notation 11/09 for 11 September (rather than our “9/11”)[/li][li]911 is a call for help and al Qaida would more likely want to see us destroyed or (at best) severely chastened, rather than “telling us” to “dial 911”[/li]al Qaida never followed up with any propaganda that connects the two numbers (neither al Qaida nor bin Laden have yet publicly admitted their part in the attack).[/ul]I suspect that the numbers are coincidence. It seems odd to pick a date with “meaningful” numbers and then never allude to those numbers to draw the connection.
What’s halfway between 5 and 17? 11.
I remember hearing, that the original plan for attack was on September 1st. I just remember hearing that back when it first happened so i dont have any cites. Which would have made it 9/1/01
I doubt Al Qaeda’s leaders know enough about our culture to even know what “911” is, personally. I don’t think they’d be curious, you know?
I suppose nobody’s going to say, but - though I imagine they’re asking every captured leader - I’ve never heard any suggestion about the symbolic meaning of the date that didn’t sound like a big stretch. I imagine having an opportunity, getting all the necessary people in place, the right fake documents, etc., would’ve trumped a ‘special number’ by a great deal.
Seems to me that if there is any reason behind that particular date, it has to do with the Camp David Accords. It’s possible that whomever organized the attack wasn’t aiming for any specific date and everything just happened to come together on the midpoint.
It was a Tuesday morning, the lowest passenger-per-jumbo-jet ratio of the week. They picked long flights to maximize the fuel onboard. No special 911 significance.
Correct. Also the moved the date up. It was supposed to take place a few months earlier but some guy who knew about the plot was arrested (for an immigration issue, I think) and the leadership was afraid that he would spill the beans. It’s a good thing because the original plan called for more than just four planes.
Haj
Well, 9+11 = 20
Subtract the number of terrorists (19) = 1
Add 2 (for towers) = 3
3 = Dale Earnhardt
Conclusion: Dale Earnhardt was a terrorist. Or, at least, that’s what al-Qaeda wants us to think. Or maybe Osama was a big NASCAR fan.
It’s all quite simple, once you figure it out.
I always knew NASCAR was evil.
There was also a weather factor. I don’t think the non-pilots appreciate just how fine a flying day 9/11/01 was. Virtually the entire North American continent had what is called “severe clear”, meaning REALLY fantastic weather for flight. These guys couldn’t have done what they did in a thunderstorm, or in low fog, or other “interesting” weather - they needed a really nice day with good visibility to see their targets clearly. If it had been raining cats and dogs on 9/11 the attacks would have been put off for better weather.
OK, it was a little boneheaded. Next time I’ll think a little longer before I post. Guess I was tempted by the seeming numerology, Tomndebb’s comments notwithstanding. Yes 911 is a cry for help, but perhaps the terrorists wanted us at their mercy.
That right, Haj? I don’t think I’d heard that before. Not a little alarming. Do you know anything more about whatever original plans there were?
Zacharias Moussasouie (who’s name I’m certain I’ve just misspelled) was arrested in Minnesota prior to the attacks and held on immigration violation charges until after the attacks, when he was charged with (and is now on trial for) being a co-conspriator in the attacks.
What raised suspicions, however, was his conduct in using a simulator for a big jet. It seems he wasn’t interested in take-offs or, even more bizarrely, landings - just cruise flight. Which is very very bizarre behavior for a pilot.
And if you type ‘NYC’ into a word processing app, change the font to ‘wingdings’, you’ll see why they selected New York as the target.
September 11 has meaning to us now, but on September 10, it was just tomorrow. Nothing special. There is no verifiable information stating that the 11th was chosen for any symbolic reason.
We have “filled” the gap between two ideas. The date a disaster occurred and the number one calls in an emergency. The concepts are separate.
If the attack had taken place on another date, a different connection would have resulted. We often remember something special happened just prior to a loved one’s death, but there was nothing special the hundred times such a thing happened before.
If any terrorists wanted to choose a date in September which isn’t somehow symbolic, they’d have a hard time finding it:
September 01, 1969 was the date of the coup in Libya. Muammar Qaddafi was named Commander in Chief of the armed forces and de facto head of state on September 8.
On September 01, 1983 a Soviet fighter shot down Korean Air Lines flight 007.
September 2 is Ho Chi Minh Memorial Day, I think, although it might be September 3, the day Ho died in 1969.
The Japanese Red Army Faction was formed on September 04, 1969. Not to be confused with the former Baader-Meinhof Gang, which also calls itself the Red Army Faction and which kidnapped and killed a German businessman on September 5, 1977.
And then of course there was Black September, when the PFLP attempted four plane hijackings on September 6, 1970.
It resulted in a perverse tempest in a teacup from September 16-26 in which Syria aided the Palestinian Liberation Army and their new Commander in Chief Yasser Arafat in an attempt to take over Jordan while the Israelis considered defending the regime of King Hussein. The U.S. Navy parked in the eastern Med while 12,000 Iraqi troops which had been overstaying their welcome in Jordan since the Six Day War took that opportunity to withdraw, maybe to avoid further entanglements with Syria. Really strange.
…Which also spawned the Black September terrorist organization, which murdered the Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics on September 5, 1972.
September 9 is North Korea’s independence day.
The PLO-Israeli mutual recognition agreement was signed on September 9, 1993.
Salvador Allende was killed when his government was overthrown by General Pinochet on September 11, 1993.
September 11, 1917 is Ferdinand Marcos’ birthday.
September 11, 1952 is the date Eritrea was placed under control of Ethiopia.
September 12, 1974 was the day Haille Selasse was deposed in Ethiopia.
Six buildings were bombed in Manila by the April Six Movement on September 12, 1980.
September 14, 1986 was the bombing of Kimpo Airport in Seoul. North Korea is blamed.
President-elect Bashir Gemayel was assassinated in Beirut on September 14, 1982.
September 15, 1982 was the date of the massacre of Palestinian refugees near Beirut by Christian Phalangists; it’s also the date of the Israeli icursion into West Beirut.
September 15 is the Nicaraguan independence day.
September 16 is Mexican and New Guinean independence day, and the date of the formation of Malaysia.
September 17, 1978 was the day the Camp David Peace Accords were signed by Egypt and Israel.
Former Nicaraguan President Anasazi Somoza was assassinated in Paraquay on September 17, 1980.
September 18 is Chilean independence day.
September 19 is Chilean Army Day.
September 19, 1980 kicked off the Iran-Iraq war.
September 20, 1984 was the date of the destruction of the U.S. Embassy Annex in Beirut. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility, but I think that’s the Syrian-sponsored Hezbollah version of IJ, not the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, if that makes sense.
September 21 is Muhammad’s birthday.
And so on, and so on. I can never properly cite a cached Google page, so here’s a more complete list in all of its ugly linkage:
Just drop in the url, but be sure to TURN OFF the Atomatically parse URLs check box to avoid tripping the automatic function with the embedded “www” you find in the address window.
Then manually type in the [ url= ] label [ /url ] tags around your entry:
tom, you are, as always, a font of information. Thank you very much.
Back to the subject at hand, it seems as if the terrorists settled on some sort of window of opportunity which may have been months wide. Actor James Woods reported four suspicious fellows sharing his flight in early August, apparently making a dry run. This article asserts that the tickets for 9/11 were purchased in late August, one-way and (I suspect), two weeks in advance.