1

Tessa Hermesman Project Proposal

For my Independent Study, I would like to research the terrorist attacks of September 11
th

of 2001. Due to the fact 9/11 was the largest terrorist attack in the United States history,
there are many aspects of the attack that I find interesting. I would like to research how
the attacks were planned and committed, and how history of the United States may have
provoked Al Qaeda to attack the U.S. I want to study the events leading to 9/11 because I
believe that the United States made some decisions that led Al Qaeda to target the U.S.
Through researching the perspective of the U.S. and Al Qaeda, I hopefully will gain a
clearer reason why the attacks were committed.

Research Questions:
1. How and when was tension created between the U.S. and Al-Qaeda?
2. Why was Al-Qaeda created?
3. Who did Al-Qaeda intend to harm?
4. Who was behind planning the attack of 9/11?
5. How may have the United States lead Al Qaeda to target them?
6. How did Al Qaeda and the event of 9/11 effect citizens of mid-eastern countries?

I believe that my research of 9/11 relates to the themes we are studying in class this
semester because it is important to understand why the United States was attacked in
order to reveal whether or not the United States was innocent. There is a lot of history
between Al Qaeda and the U.S. From the perspective of the U.S. this event was very
devastating. From the perspective of Al Qaeda, the U.S. was deserving of the attacks. If I
dont understand why and how this act of terrorism was committed, it is extremely hard
to understand how the U.S. government is run, and how they are perceived globally. If I
can uncover the confusion our country has behind 9/11, I can help others understand
where our country stands now and the acts it made beforehand.

Reading List:

A) Fiction Novel

A Thousand Splendid Suns By Khaled Hosseini

Written by a well know artist, this novel dives into the lives of Afghanistan women.
While uncovering the struggle to survive, a strong sense of friendship and love is present.
Ranging from the 1960s through the 2000s the book demonstrates the Afghani was
against the Soviets, civil war and Taliban tyranny through womens eyes. Following
through to the point when the U. S. attacks Afghanistan cities and hearts are destroyed,
the women figure out how to deal with tragic events and learn to help others. This book
will help me to understand the perspective of citizens living in a mid-western country
when conflict between countries began to rise.
B)

Film:
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Inside 9/11: War on America

First released in 2005, this National Geographic film takes the viewer inside the 1993
attacks on the World Trade Center and other attacks leading up to September 11, 2001.
With each and every attack the terrorist gains more confidence that they can pull of this
tragic day. Due to the lack of sense in our government, the easier it is for Al-Qaeda to
come across as not suspicious.

C) Howard Zinns A Peoples History of the United States

Chapter 25 of A Peoples History of the United States by Howard Zinn

In chapter 25, Zinn explains how 9/11 devastated the country of the United States.
Shortly after, Bush declared war. Due to the fact that Osama bin Laden was located in
Afghanistan, Bush ordered a bombing. Even though Bush thought we were winning the
war, many terrorists were still present. Although this chapter addresses much about the
aftermath of 9/11, it will be helpful to know how our government reacted after the even.

D)

Secondary Sources:

Non-Fiction Novel

The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11

Written by Lawrence Wright, this novel clearly explains the people involved in attacking
the U.S. and how Al-Qaeda began. Beginning back in the 1940s, this book mentions all
of the events that lead to the tragic day of 9/11. The book also describes discrepancies
between the U.S. FBI and the CIA that kept them from uncovering the plan and red flags
that the event was going to occur. While not focusing so much on the date of 9/11, the
book rather explains the people involved and the background of events.

The 9/11 Hijackers and Conspirators

This document reveals how the hijackers committed 9/11. Every subject is covered from
the names of the hijackers to how they passed through border control without question. It
all started in the year 2000 when 23 hijackers applied for visas in the U.S. From there on
the hijackers had to remain in the U.S. undetected while they planned the attack. Included
is a complete timeline of the many hijackers and when and where they entered and exited
the U.S.

E)

Primary Sources:
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OSAMA BIN LADENS 1998 FATWA
In this letter to the U.S. that Osama wrote, he explains how he believes the U.S. had been
overstepping their boundaries. He states that the U.S. has hatred toward the Islamic
people. Throughout the document he demonstrates how Allah will come in to play when
fighting the U.S.
Osama bin Ladens Declaration of Jihad against Americans
Issued on August 23, 1996, this document is declaring war against Americans due to the
U.S.s lack of belief in the Muslim culture. Osama explains Al-Qaedas views, and he
also makes connections to the Quran. He recognizes the struggles of his people and adds
that they do not need the invasion of other cultures. This was the first jihad that Osama
wrote, and many believe this was the start to planning an attack.

















4
Tessa Hermesman Final Project Proposal

My thesis directly addresses these questions from my project proposal:

1. How may have the United States lead Al Qaeda to target them?
2. How and when was tension created between the U.S. and Al-Qaeda?

My thesis is: According to Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, the United States arrogance,
religious intolerance and excessive military involvement fueled Al Qaedas anger and
warranted their attack on September 11
th
of 2001.

My project will be a creative piece. I think a road is really symbolic for the steps that Al
Qaeda and the United States took to arrive at the devastation of 9/11. Behind the road I
want to have the twin towers, and maybe at the bottom rubble, representing what they
looked like after they crumbled. I think I will have facts and other pictures to represent
other information that I found interesting in my research.

To ensure that my project conveys my thesis, I will include facts about the attacks that
include US participation as well as Al Qaedas participation (which is mainly the attacks
of 9/11).

I think that my viewpoint on the happenings before 9/11 is unique because a lot of people
feel hatred toward the entire Islamic community. After a lot of reading and research I
know that the US had a lot of involvement in the mid-east that provoked the feelings that
Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda have toward the United States.

I will integrate multiple sources into my creative piece by using quotes and ideas from
the readings and research and represent them into my creative piece. For example one of
the books I read talked a lot about the road to 9/11, so I am going to use that idea by
including a road into the visual.

In order to make sure this piece will looked refined and polished I will sketch it out will
all of my ideas until I feel that I have demonstrated all of my ideas clearly. Creating the
visual piece is going to be the most time consuming step, so I need to make sure I give
myself enough time to perfect it. When I finish my visual I need to write an in-depth
artist statement so that people at exhibition can easily understand my point of view.









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Film Documentation Binder Entry

Type of Source: Film
Title: Inside 9/11: War on America
Made By: National Geographic

Summary:

This movie opens up with the 1993 attack on the WTC killing 6. Because the attack
wasnt enough, Al Qaeda is determined to get it right next time. The road to 9/11 began
in 1980. Osama bin Laden created a jihad network and gathered volunteers to join his
terrorist group, which he called Al Qaeda. He opened offices in over 35 countries around
the world. Osama had 33 offices in U.S. cities. Kalid Muhammad, who went to school in
Michigan, became the engineer of 9/11. By 1991, the U.S. was Al Qaedas main target.
Osama bin Laden, who grew up in a very wealthy family, had the goal in life to blow up
buildings and kill Jews. Many Jews reside in New York and the WTC. So, bin Laden
approved of placing a truck bomb in the basement of the WTC in February of 1993. In
August of 1994, Abdul Murad learned to make bombs. He had just returned from flight
schools in Texas, Florida, and NY. He had the idea to use a plane as a bomb, and bin
Laden would fund the attack. By 1996 four men were being trained in the U.S. to fly
commercial planes. In 1998 the CIA tried to capture bin Laden, yet they worried, due to
his location, that when they tried to capture him, too many people will be killed. Al
Qaeda decided to strike three places in the U.S, the World Trade Centers, the White
House, and the Pentagon. By July of 2001 all of the hijackers were in the U.S. President
Bush received over 52 warnings about a terrorist attack, yet nothing was be done quick
enough. Days before the attack the hijackers wired their left over money back to bin
Laden, and wrote letters to their families with their plans. On the day of 9/11, all of the
hijackers died, with the thought that they were going to heaven because of the sacrifices
they have made for their religion.

Critical Analysis:

This movie gave me much insight into the planning that occurred to accomplish the
devastation of 9/11. I never made the connection that bin Laden wanted to destroy lives
of American people as well as our country. From a U.S citizens point of view, Al Qaeda
put a lot of time, money, and effort into trying to destroy our country.

This movie does a great job explaining minor detail. When beginning this project I was
overwhelmed with the amount of people and events that were involved in the road to
9/11. After watching this film my thoughts are less scattered and I have a clear vision of
what went on in years prior to the attack.

The film sounded mostly factual and informational, yet it never mentioned anything
about the United States provoking any conflict with Al Qaeda. What I found to be
interesting was that the film did mention the warning signs that the President Bush and
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the FBI and CIA received about a probable terrorist attack. This leaves me wondering
why the film would mention what the U.S. missed, but not what we may have done
wrong before.

When watching this film I kept making the connection to warning signs and how they are
missed to often. Even in an individuals life, warning signs of abuse can be prevalent, yet
no one notices if someone is suffering. I think the U.S. saw the warning signs, we just
didnt want to deal with the reality of being attacked.

Big Questions:

Looking back on the tragedy of 9/11, how has the government dealt with the fact
they did not act upon the warning signs that they were given?
How would a U.S. citizen react if they were told the hijackers lived in our society
for over a year?
What would give a person such hate that they would want to kill thousands of
people?



























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Howard Zinns A Peoples History of the
United States Documentation Binder Entry

Type of Source: Chapter of a book
Title: A Peoples History of the United States, Chapter 25
Written By: Howard Zinn

Summary:

In this chapter of A Peoples History of the United States, Zinn reveals what a normal
citizen of the United States has probably never heard or seen. The election of President
Bush is described in vast detail, as the votes were the closest they had ever been in
history. Only nine months into his presidency, the attacks of 9/11 occurred. President
Bush dealt with the attacks by beginning a War on Terrorism. This war included the
death of many innocent people. During this time the USA Patriot Act was also put into
place, which allowed the government to detain noncitizens simply on suspicion, without
charges, with out the procedural rights provided in the Constitution. Zinn reveals a lot
that was not presented in the media to United States citizens. Essentially, Zinn points out
what the president and the government did wrong after the attack of 9/11.

Critical Analysis:

This chapter of Howard Zinns book was helpful for me because it gave detail as to how
Bush took action after 9/11. When I first began this project, Jessica said something that
really stuck with me. She said why did we go to war with multiple countries, when it was
a terrorist group who attacked the United States. This chapter gave me evidence that most
of the people who were killed by U.S bombs were innocent. The US focused on the
people killed in the WTC, and not at all on those who were innocent and killed by our
own country due to revenge.

I was surprised by Zinns attitude toward the United States president and government. He
was definitely against the way we treated Afghanistan and Iraq after the attacks of 9/11.
He used many letters and interviews to show the reactions of U.S. people. The pathos was
very strong because a lot of sorrow has taken place due to the amount of the lives the
United States has taken. What I also found to be surprising was that he shared a letter a
man had written about why the U.S. was hated by other countries. This man made a lot of
sense, but he also was biased towards the way the government dealt with being attacked.

I can connect this chapter to the few days we spent learning about the War on Terror and
the 9/11 attack. This chapter also makes me connect with Pearl Harbor and how the
government didnt have the best way of dealing with the Japanese-Americans. Rather
than just sticking them in camps for multiple years, a more fair decision could have been
made, just like the government could have had a less aggressive way with dealing with
the terrorists.
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Big Questions:

How could the U.S. change the way the world views them?
Why would the government hide the violence they were involved with over seas?










































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Primary Source 1 Documentation Binder Entry

Type of Source: Primary Source
Title: Full Text: bin Ladens Letter to America
Written By: Osama bin Laden

Summary:

This letter that was written by the leader of Al Qaeda and was first revealed to the United
States in November of 2002. It was first revealed to the public out of the UKs Observer.
Throughout this document Bin Laden answers a lot of questions about why the United
States and Al Qaeda are fighting. Bin Laden also gives many reasons as to why he and
his people look down upon the Unites States and the actions they have made.

Critical Analysis:

When first reading this text I was overwhelmed by the amount of accusations bin Laden
makes about the United States. He uses words and phrases like devastation and you
steal our wealth and oil. Whether or not the accusations are true, he definitely thinks that
his actions toward the United States are justified. Even though thousands of people were
killed in the attacks of September 11, 2001, Bin Laden uses pathos saying You have
starved the Muslims of Iraq, where children die every day. Why is he able to use pathos
about the United States killing innocent people, but he can kill thousands and it be
considered okay?

One thing that bin Laden has a problem doing is being open-minded. He can only look at
the negative that other people are doing, and the supposed positive that he is creating in
this world. In his eyes the United States is doing everything wrong, especially by treating
others wrong, and not being of the correct religion. No one is to say that the Unites States
is perfect, but I am sure that Al Qaeda has made their own mistakes.

This document really made me question how we decide who is doing right and who is
doing wrong? If bin Laden thinks that he is doing all of what he thinks is right, and so is
the United States, how is anything ever going to be accomplished. Especially if we can
only see the negative in what others are doing.

The American people are the ones who employ both their men and their women in the
American Forces which attack us. This is why the American people cannot be innocent of
all the crimes committed by Americans and Jews against us. In this quote bin Laden
claims that because we basically hire people to attack them, we are guilty. How does that
information make us any less guilty than he is?


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Secondary Source Documentation Binder Entry

Type of Source: Secondary Source
Title: The 9/11 Hijackers and Conspirators
Author: Unknown

Summary:

This document starts off revealing the hijackers of each plane. It then moves on to the
year of 1998, when the hijackers first begun to apply for visas and enter the U.S. The
majority of this document explains how when and where the hijackers entered the U.S. It
also explains how the four pilots were trained to fly planes the in U.S. The four men lived
and functioned in the U.S. while being trained. When entering and exiting the United
States, the TSA had very few run-ins with these men. While living in the U.S. many of
the men obtained a Florida drivers license. It took twenty-five men in the U.S. to
accomplish 9/11.

Critical Analysis:

This document lacked pathos, but the information it contains made me second-guess a lot
of the security that the United States has. As a U.S. citizen I always think that our
government works hard to keep us safe from terrorists and other United States citizens.
After researching wiretapping and reading this document, I came to the harsh realization
that it is very hard for humans to protect humans from other humans. Osama bin Laden
was an extremely intelligent man, and even the FBI and CIA had a hard time
understanding the mastermind. I also found it interesting that many people remember
specific run-ins with the men in airports, etc. If these men were suspicious in society,
why was nothing ever done about it?

I found this document to have very little bias. The author seemed to keep the information
it contained to be quite factual, but every now and then I would catch little pieces of bias.
The author of this document presents it as a credible source in the way the document is
set up and written. Yet, I cannot find the author of this document. Although this
document is from a University, I still question the information that it contains.

This document contains a lot of the same information as the film that I watched for my
independent study. It was helpful because I actually got to look at the evidence on a piece
of paper instead of just hearing it. A lot of this document deals with the TSA (airport
security). It is very surreal for me to think that these men have been in the same airports
that I have. It is also weird to me that Al Qaeda had no women hijackers.

Big Questions:

How many women were involved with Al Qaeda?
What was the reasoning for having no women hijackers?
11
Do many people who work in the security of the airports the men went through
have memories of the men?
Did the men stick out in society?










































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Secondary Source Documentation Binder Entry

Type of Source: Secondary Source
Title: The Looming Tower Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 Chapter 16, Now it Begins
Author: Lawrence Wright

Summary:

This chapter of The Looming Tower focuses on the fatwa that bin Laden wrote to
America and interviews that followed the fatwa. Before this fatwa, Al Qaeda was
virtually unknown. When it was released, his fame and wealth begin to grow mostly in
mid-western countries. Bin Laden began to gain followers, and people who would like to
fight for him. As this continued, bin Laden began to gain confidence with speaking
publicly about his group, mostly speaking of the United States. Meanwhile bin Laden
was interviewed by John Miller of ABC News. Shockingly, in the interview, bin Laden
says that he has a plan to attack the United States.

Critical Analysis:

What I found to be most shocking about this chapter in the book is that bin Laden was so
happy to gain followers and to begin training them. Even after writing the fatwa against
Americans, he had the courage to speak to his plans of hurting people and ending lives. In
the interview with John Miller, bin Laden quotes, Terrifying an innocent person and
terrorizing him is objectionable and unjust, also unjustly terrorizing people is not right.
Whereas, terrorizing oppressors and criminals and thieves and robbers is necessary for
the safety of people for the protection of their property.The terrorism we practice is of
the commendable kind. This quote makes me wonder if bin Laden and his group think
that all Americans are criminals, thieves, and robbers. Although America puts out a tough
attitude, not everyone is a part of the decisions that the government makes.

This book is very factual. Every now and then, the author throws in his opinion. On page
311 Wright writes, The bombings were an audacious assault on Americas place in the
world. Although most would agree, these words do have a way of affecting an opinion.

It is not very common to have the courage to threaten an entire country and still talk
badly of them in a public interview. I assume that bin Laden just has an evil sense to him,
but he also has the support from the many members of the Al Qaeda group.

Big Questions:

Why did bin Laden feel the need to speak badly about the United States, when he
had already written the fatwa?

Why did Al Qaeda erase the Saudis faces from the video-tape before giving it to
the Americans?
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Historical Thinking Chart 1


Type of Source: Primary Title: Osama Bin Ladens Declaration of Jihad Against Americans
Authors Name: Osama Bin Laden Date published/written: August 23, 1996
Historical
Reading Skills
Question Question
Sourcing (Before
Reading)
1. This author probably believes
that Americans have done much
wrong to the Muslim culture and
that the Americans deserve to
suffer.




2. Why was this piece written?
What is the purpose or audience
for this writing?
The purpose of this writing was
to warn the Americans that
Osama Bin Laden wanted to
start a holy war.








Sourcing (Before
Reading)
3. Based on this sourcing
information, I predict this author
will explain how the Islamic
nation is suffering because
Americans have had little faith
in what the Muslims are doing.





4. I do trust this document because
it was written by Osama Bin
Laden, the man behind the
event of 9/11. The information
in this document is very
valuable because it gives
Americans some insight as to
why the U.S. was targeted.









Contextualization 1. I already know that by 1996, Al
Qaeda had been formed, and
they had unsuccessfully attacked
The World Trade Center in
1993. Even though Al Qaeda
was under the radar at this time,
they were taking their time to
plan out a successful attack on
the U.S.
2. From this document, I would
guess that people at this time
were feeling not as threatened
as they should have. The attack
of 1993 only killed 7 people, so
it was not as tragic as 9/11.







Contextualization
3. What things were different back


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then? What things were the
same?

What is way different now is
that America went through 9/11.
After going through such a
tragic event, the amount of
security and hesitation in the
united states is much higher than
it was back in 1996. Also,
Osama Bin Laden is now dead.
America does not have to worry
about him any more, but Al
Qaeda still exists. What is still
the same is that our relationship
with Al Qaeda is not good.
America has a bad reputation
with many countries, which
could go bad at any time.











Close Reading 1. What major claims does the
author make?

Bin Laden makes a lot of claims
about how god is telling him that
the Americans are wrong in a lot
of what they do. He also says
that many people of the Islamic
religion are struggling day to
day because of Americans.

2. The author is trying to convince
me that the Americans are
wrong in a lot of ways and
deserve to suffer because they
have made the Islamic and
Saudi Arabia suffer.
Corroboration
Choose one piece of evidence that you
find particularly shaky or biased and
summarize that here:

Bin Laden says the U.S. is uncovering the
veil of injustice and we can smell the
stench of our corruption.

Using your other historical sources,
summarize what other authors or piece of
evidence say about this issue/event/topic:

Due to the fact the government hid a lot
of information from U.S. citizens, we
could not detect the corruption we were
creating .




Choose one piece of evidence that you
find particularly strong or persuasive and
summarize that here:

Osama states that Muslims life and
religion has been damaged and harmed. I
do think that Americans have a lot of
hate and shame towards Muslims, which
could cause harm to their society.

Using your other historical sources,
summarize what other authors or piece
of evidence say about this
issue/event/topic:

Many Americans would disagree that
America harmed Muslims or Al Qaeda
in any way before 9/11. The fact is a lot
of information was hidden from the U.S.
citizens.




15





Historical Thinking Chart 2



Type of Source: Secondary Title: The 9/11 Hijackers and Conspirators
Date published/written: After 2003
Historical
Reading Skills
Question Question
Sourcing (Before
Reading)
3. This author probably believes
that the men in the document
were the people that committed
9/11 and that the hijackers had
to do a lot of planning to be able
to get past the government.


2. Why was this piece written? What
is the purpose or audience for this
writing?

This piece was written to inform people
who are interested about the hijackers of
9/11.







Sourcing (Before
Reading)
5. Based on this sourcing
information, I predict this author
will give information about the
hijackers and give specific dates
and details about events that lead
up to 9/11.




6. I do trust this document but I
have a few suspicions because
there is no author and the
document is not complete. I do
trust this document because of
the depth of the works cited.
The works cited is numbered
and when giving details, the
author puts the number of the
source that was being used in
the details.








Contextualization 4. I already know that the shock of
the event was over at this time.
At this time America was at was
with Afghanistan and Iraq and to
many soldiers were over in those
countries trying to destroy Al
Qaeda and get revenge from
9/11.
5. From this document, I would
guess that people at this time
were feeling confused, and
trying to get a reason as to why
the U.S. was targeted.



16









Contextualization
6. What things were different back
then? What things were the
same? At this time, most things
were the same as they are today.
One thing that was different was
bin Laden was still alive. Sense
the U.S. killed him I think a lot
of people are relieved, even
though Al Qaeda still exists.













Close Reading 3. What major claims does the
author make?
The author makes many factual
claims. Using facts and evidence claims
about the 9/11 conspirators are made.



4. The author is trying to convince
me with facts and evidence that
9/11 took years of preparation.
This document also discusses
many events that the
government should have seen as
read flags but did not.
Corroboration
Choose one piece of evidence that you
find particularly shaky or biased and
summarize that here:

This document does not have much
biased and is very neutral. The author
does claim that when Atta had his
paperwork inspected he had something
else in mind, meaning he was a terrorist
entering our country wanting to cause
harm.

Using your other historical sources,
summarize what other authors or piece of
evidence say about this issue/event/topic:
This evidence says that the terrorists
knew exactly what they were doing when
entering America.





Choose one piece of evidence that you
find particularly strong or persuasive and
summarize that here:

I found the memory of the inspector to
be very persuasive. The facts that she has
to back up her situation is very strong.

Using your other historical sources,
summarize what other authors or piece
of evidence say about this
issue/event/topic:

This story comes to say that many
citizens had encounters with the
hijackers and conspirators of 9/11. Being
able to see them with your own eyes
must have made the even so much more
surreal.



17
Response to Research Questions

How did Al-Qaeda succeed in attacking the twin towers?
Al-Qaeda succeeded in attacking the US on 9/11 by years of planning. By 1991, Osama
Bin Laden had gathered hundreds of volunteers and the US was now the main enemy. At
this point in time, bin Ladens goal was to blow up buildings and kill Jews. The first
terrorist attack that Al-Qaeda commited on the US was in February of 1993. The bomb
killed six people, but Osama was dissatisfied because the bomb was not powerful
enough. After this attack was when the planning of 9/11 began. Osama bin Laden could
fund the attack and Kalid Shake Muhammad had to mind to make it happen. Although
President Clinton is aware of the danger of Al-Qaeda, he took no action to prevent them
from harming the US. In 2001, Bush swore in as president and four of the men were all
living in the United States. What is really interesting is that the US received 52 warnings
about being attacked. By July of 2001, all of the hijackers were in the United States. In
the few months leading up to the attack, bin Laden feared that the US government would
figure out what he was planning. The last few months consisted of buying plane tickets,
flying smaller planes to figure out how to fly a plane into the World Trade Center, and
buying the weapons that would kill the pilots.

Who did Al-Qaeda intend to harm?
After completing all of my research, it was pretty clear that Al Qaeda wanted to harm the
US as a whole. They did not want to harm a specific group or individual, it was more
about finding a way to bring down the US and make us re-think who we are as a country
and what we are doing to others. In A Peoples History of the United States, Zinn states,
It was an unprecedented assault against enormous symbols of American wealth and
power, undertaken by 19 men from the Middle East, most of them from Saudi Arabia.
They were willing to die in order to deliver a deadly blow against what they clearly saw
as their enemy, a superpower that had thought itself invulnerable. Our arrogance and
intolerance of the Muslim religion lead to devastation, but Im not so sure that it made the
US rethink anything. When the US was attacked, our initial reaction was to fight back,
when really we should have thought about what we might have been doing wrong that
would have provoked the attack.

When and why was Al-Qaeda created?
Al Qaeda began in the late 1900s. Osama bin Laden, known as the great warrior, is
known for creating the terrorist group. In The Road to 9/11 Wright explains, On
Saturday morning, August 20, the same men met again to establish what they called al
Qaeda al Askariya (the military base). The mentioned al-Qaeda is basically an organized
Islamic faction, its goal is to lift the word of God, to make His religion victorious, the
secretary recorded in his minutes of the meeting (152). If men wanted to join the
organization had to be in agreement with these requirements:
Members of the open duration.
Listening and obedient.
Good manners.
Referred from a trusted source.
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Obeying statutes and instructions of al-Qaeda.
Some may say that the creation of al-Qaeda involved no violence, yet the acts of
terrorism the group has committed prove otherwise.

What is Justice? What is the role of the individual in creating a just society? What is
the role of the State in creating a just society? To what extent has the U.S.
government balanced security, liberty and equality in creating a just democratic
society?
No matter hard we try, there will never be a point in time when the entire world agrees on
what is considered morally right, and what is considered morally wrong. When Al-Qaeda
attacked the twin towers, Osama thought that this act of terrorism was justified because
of the way the US had acted towards them in the past. In the US, a lack of security made
it possible for the men from Al Qaeda to live in the US for months and make it through
airport security with weapons that were capable of killing humans. Now that our security
is higher in the US we find ourselves lacking liberty and equality. In order to create as
just of a society as we can, it is important to keep an open mind and understand everyone
has his or her own opinion.





























19
Independent Study Questions


Looking back on the tragedy of 9/11, how has the government dealt with the fact
they did not act upon the warning signs that they were given?

How would a U.S. citizen react if they were told the hijackers lived in our society
for over a year?

What would give a person such hate that they would want to kill thousands of
people?

How could the U.S. change the way the world views them?

Why would the government hide the violence they were involved with over seas?

How many women were involved with Al Qaeda?
What was the reasoning for having no women hijackers?

Do many people who work in the security of the airports the men went through
have memories of the men?

Did the men stick out in society?

Why did bin Laden feel the need to speak badly about the United States, when he
had already written the fatwa?

Why did Al Qaeda erase the Saudis faces from the video-tape before giving it to
the Americans?















20

Independent Study Works Cited

Hosseini, Khaled. A Thousand Splendid Suns. New York: Riverhead, 2007. Print.

BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2014. <http://www.brainyquote.com/>.

Inside 9/11: War on America. Dir. Towers Productions. National Geographic, 2005.
DVD.

Laden, Osama Bin. "Al Qaeda's Second Fawta." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 05 Jan. 2014.
<http://www.pbs.org/>.

Laden, Osama Bin. "Bin Laden's Fatwa." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 05 Jan. 2014.
<http://www.pbs.org/>.

Wright, Lawrence. The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. New York:
Knopf, 2006. Print.

Zinn, Howard. "A People's History of the United States." History Is A Weapon. N.p., n.d.
Web. 05 Jan. 2014. <http://www.historyisaweapon.com/>.