18 years since the towers in New York were destroyed

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The US today marks the 18th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. The deadliest attack in America since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II is considered an attack that changed the political situation and relations, not only in the US but worldwide.  

On that fateful September 11, nearly three thousand people lost their lives, while 343 firefighters lost their lives trying to extinguish the fires, and only 20 people managed to escape from under the rubble.

The deadliest terrorist attack on America began on Tuesday, September 11, at 8:46 AM, when an American Airlines passenger plane hit the North Tower of the WTC. The impact of a second hijacked plane on the South Tower of the WTC occurred 17 minutes later and was watched live on television by millions of people. Terrorists, 19 of them according to the report of the US 9/11 Commission, hijacked four planes. The third hit the Pentagon at 9:37 AM. The fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania at 10:03 AM, and it is assumed that passengers who resisted the hijackers brought it down.

When the Towers collapsed, one part fell on the busiest section of the New York subway, and after years of renovation, a 300-meter section was put into operation a few days ago.

Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the suicide attacks, which was followed by the war in Afghanistan. After a 10-year search, US forces killed bin Laden in May 2011 in an attack on his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan. US security services announced that the "mastermind" of the attacks was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

Then-US President George Bush announced the "war on terror" just a few days after the attacks. A year later, the Department of Homeland Security was established, employing 200,000 employees, and the annual budget for secret and security services was doubled to just over 50 billion dollars.

Bush's successor as president, Barack Obama, once said that September 11 is a difficult day for Americans, but that it also reveals the love and loyalty in the hearts of the victims' families and in the heart of the American people.

Despite public criticism, most world countries supported the US and its fight against global terrorism. Among them is BiH, which stood firmly with the US and other Western allies in that fight from the first day.

The general assessment, agreed upon by all international experts, is that the terrorist attack of September 11 was indeed an event that changed the course of world history. Until then, time was measured by before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and since then, it is measured by before and after the attacks on the US.