Terrorist Attack on the Pentagon, Photograph, September 11, 2001

On the morning of September 11, 2001, members of the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda launched a coordinated attack against the United States. They hijacked four planes scheduled to be cross-country flights from the East Coast to California. American Airlines Flight 11 (81 passengers, 11 crew, 5 hijackers) and United Airlines Flight 175 (56 passengers, 9 crew, 5 hijackers) left Logan International Airport in Boston bound for Los Angeles. The hijackers crashed these two planes into the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Within hours, the buildings collapsed, and many lost their lives. The Capital Building or the White House were believed to be other targets of the attack. United Airlines Flight 93 (37 passengers, 7 crew, 4 hijackers) left Newark International Airport bound for San Francisco. Upon hearing of the other attacks, the passengers fought the hijackers and sacrificed themselves to crash the plane in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. American Airlines Flight 77 (58 passengers, 6 crew, 5 hijackers) left Washington Dulles International Airport bound for Los Angeles and was crashed into the Pentagon. A total of 2,996 died in the September 11th attack, including the 19 al-Qaeda hijackers.

This photograph shows the damage resulting from the plane's impact on the western side of the Pentagon. Built in 1941–1943, the Pentagon, located in Arlington, Virginia, is the world's largest low-rise office building and is home to the U. S. Department of Defense. Ongoing renovations to strengthen the building meant that the area was only half populated, thus reducing the number of casualties on the ground. A total of 184 people died at the scene, in the building and on the plane.

Immediately following the attacks, Congress passed the USA Patriot Act by an overwhelming bipartisan majority to deter and punish terrorist attacks. This law called for increased communication between law enforcement agencies and enabled these agencies to more closely track potential terrorists by making it easier for them to surveil through wiretapping and using mobile detection devices, or “roving wiretaps,” on suspected foreign terrorists. It also provided for law enforcement to secure special warrants to enter homes without notifying or securing the permission of residents. It allowed law enforcement to obtain warrants wherever terrorist activity occurred or was suspected, regardless of whether the place to be searched was within the warrant's jurisdiction. The law also made it easier for the FBI to obtain National Security Letters (NSL), a special kind of warrant that enables the agency to look directly into people’s phone records, library borrowing records, and business records when attempting to make connections between potential terrorist actors. It also prevented those who were required to turn over those records to inform the target of the investigation that they had done so. The Patriot Act has been renewed several times by Congress.

While this law was meant to protect the country against international terrorist threats, it has not been without controversy. In the first few years, law enforcement collected information on more than 40,000 American citizens via the NSLs, a dramatic increase over past usage of NSLs. The act has been challenged in court as violating American citizens' First Amendment rights to free speech and the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable search and seizure. In 2007 the Supreme Court struck down the NSL provision, but the Patriot Act remains in place today, and continues to cause debate between Americans about the rights of citizens and the need for government to surveil potentially dangerous activities.

The terrorist attacks led to Operation Enduring Freedom, announced by President George W. Bush in October 2001. Over the course of almost twenty years, Americans and international forces fought in Afghanistan against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, which the Taliban harbored and supported. From its inception until 2022, the war cost the United States more than $2.3 trillion. More than 6,000 American soldiers, Defense Department employees, and contractors lost their lives. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011. In 2024 the United Nations and the U.S. determined that the terrorist group no longer has the ability to launch a sophisticated attack like 9/11, but it remains in Afghanistan and continues to be supported by the Taliban. The Taliban retook control of the Afghan government after U.S. troops left the country in 2021.

Citation: Photograph courtesy of Edwin C. Bearss.

Preview Activities

Look at It: Look at the photo of the Pentagon on September 11. Photos of tragic events often invoke feeling in the viewer.  How does this photo make you feel? Why?

Post Activities

Analyze: What might have been some reasons that the Pentagon was a target of the September 11 attacks? Think about what government agencies are found in the Pentagon.

Be the Journalist: You are a journalism student writing a short article on the impacts of the September 11 attacks. What facts would you include? How would describe the damage to the Pentagon to individuals who might not have seen the actual event unfold?

Form an Opinion: Do you think the Patriot Act was an appropriate response to the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center? Why or why not? What do you think about the Patriot Act’s existence today? Do you believe it is still necessary? Why or why not?

Another Perspective: Imagine you are in a group opposed to the war in Afghanistan, which is commonly known as “America’s longest war.” How might you argue against keeping troops in Afghanistan, and why?