SEPTEMBER 11: A NEW TYPE OF TERRORISM

Abstract

Public opinion is in no doubt that the heinous assault against the United States on 11 September 2001 was ‘terrorist’ in nature. It was unexpected and therefore created a great shock, not only in the United States but also around the entire world. The targets, namely the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington DC, were selected consciously. The fatalities and causalities of the attacks were enormous. It was the first time since Pearl Harbor that the US territory was directly hit by an attack initiated from abroad. The weaponry used in these attacks was neither conventional, like guns or bombs, nor weapons of mass destruction; it was means of public transport.

References

1. 1 Howard Lentner’s presentation on 17 April 2002 at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
2. 2 Susan Woodward, ‘On War and Peace Building: Unfinished Legacy of the 1990s’, Social Science Research Council: September 11 Essays, fall 2001.
3. 3 UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/56/1 and UN Security Council Resolution 1368 (2001)
4. 4 North Atlantic Council Statement of 12 September 2001.
5. 5 Anne-Marie Slaughter, ‘A Defining Moment in the Parsing of War’, Washington Post, 16 September 2001.
6. 6 Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism, New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.