Forgotten Commencement of an Era of Terrorism:
1993 World Trade Center Bombing
Terrorism: “the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes”
Nearly everyday, a terrorist attack occurs somewhere in the world. Just four days ago, on March 11, German policemen foiled a potential attack taking place at a shopping mall. Last June, 49 people were killed at an Orlando night club. Al-Qaeda, the group responsible for 9/11 and the attack of 1993, had many intentions. All of which included the plan to demolish as many American ideals as possible. At 12:18 pm on February 26, 1993, over 1,000 people were injured during a bombing on the World Trade Center. Ten years later, 3,000 people were killed during another terrorist attack at the World Trade Center (“September 11, 2001: Background and timeline of the attacks”). Americans, and people around the world for that matter, are not shy to the term “terrorism.” America has been the target of many terrorist groups for years, but these two attacks, in particular, devastated New York and all of America. However, over the years the attack of 1993 has been widely forgotten by many. If you asked the majority of adults “how many times was the World Trade Center attacked?”, most would say, “once, 9/11”. Yes, this attack was on a much smaller scale than 9/11; but, it still had horrible effects throughout America and on its people. Any terrorist attack is not just an attack on a location; it’s an attack on the pride of a nation and the pride of its people. And none deserve to be forgotten. Especially not one that commenced an “era of terrorism” (“At World Trade Center Memorial, A Bombing Is Forgotten”) no American ever saw coming.
First of all, you may be wondering what exactly happened on February 26, 1993. It was a chilly Friday morning when Ramzi Yousef and Eyad Ismoil drove their yellow van filled with a 1,336 pound bomb into the parking garage beneath the North Tower of the World Trade Center. At 12:06 pm, Ramzi Yousef ran out of the parking garage after lighting the 20-foot fuse. They had the intention of causing the North Tower to crash into the South Tower destroying both. They did not achieve this goal but they did kill six and injure over a 1,000. This attack was the outcome of months of planning. Before travelling to America, Yousef trained at the Al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. Yousef’s uncle, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed Ali Fadden (later named main director of 9/11), provided him with advice and funds needed to carry out this attack. Yousef later explained that his goal behind this tragedy was to “avenge the sufferings Palestinian people had endured at the hands of US-aided Israel” (qtd. in “1993 World Trade Center Bombing Fast Facts”). Another chief conspirator, Mohammad Salameh, was arrested on March 4. Exactly a year later, four men involved were convicted and sentenced to 240 years in prison. Later in 1998, “the sentences were vacated” and a second trial was ordered because none of the men had proper lawyers when they were originally convicted in 1994. In 1999 the men were re-convicted and sentenced to over 100 years each. With these men in jail, some would think they were safe, but this idea was proved false in 2001.
William Abrahamson, a businessman at Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc., woke up on September 11th ready to start a normal work day (“In-Depth Special: September 11 Memorial”). At his usual speed he walked out his door and headed to his workplace in the World Trade Center. He, along with his colleagues, expected this day to be an average work day. One where he would say goodbye to his wife and son at around 7:30 and return to them at 5:00 as usual (“Remember September 11, 2001”). But what really happened was far from what anyone could have expected.
7:59 a.m.:
92 people on board American Airlines flight 11 took off from Boston with the thought they were going to Los Angeles. Fifteen minutes later, United Airlines flight 175 took off from Boston en route to Los Angeles.
8:21 a.m.:
American Airlines flight 77 took off in Washington D.C., en route to Los Angeles.
8:41 a.m.:
American Airlines flight 93 takes off in Newark and sets off to San Francisco.
8:11 a.m.:
Flight 11 was the first to report their plane had been hijacked and American Airlines contacted the FBI. Exactly 35 minutes after this was reported, Mohammad Atta crashed the Boeing 676 into the 93rd story of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
9:03 a.m.:
Another set of hijackers crash flight 175 into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Both of these crashes alone killed everyone on board the flights, and hundreds of people in the buildings. The rest stuck in the buildings were trapped. Nowhere to go. No other way out than to wait and hope they get saved, or jump. Millions watched the news as this city they’ve always idolized crumbled before their eyes. People on the ground looking above to see bodies falling from the sky like rain.
9:37 a.m.:
Flight 77 was crashed into the Pentagon, leaving only five survivors on the plane, and 125 personnel inside the building dead. Then, as though it couldn’t get worse, the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed, followed by the North Tower 29 minutes later. The passengers aboard flight 93 figure their only hope is to try to take back control of the plane. The hijackers, unwilling to forfeit, crash the plane into a field in Pennsylvania (“9/11 Timeline of Events”).
No survivors. The North Tower collapsed 102 minutes after being struck. This means there were 102 minutes of pure terror for the people inside. No way out, and no way to survive. They desperately called their families to say goodbye. That day, a total of 2,977 people died. That’s 2,977 people who lost their mom, dad, daughter, son, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, etc.. That’s 2,977 people who woke up that morning expecting to have a normal work day. A work day that was later destroyed in the wake of the most devastating attack America had yet to encounter.
Another question one might ask is: why the World Trade Center? Why, in particular, was the World Trade Center the target of two of the most major and devastating attacks in all of American history? For starters, the World Trade Center is what some may call the epicenter of all business in America. Floors upon floors of insurance companies, investment firms, banks, etc.. All companies supporting similar ideals: money and capitalism. In short, the World Trade Center carries endless economic power around the world. Al-Qaeda, the group responsible for both these attacks, wanted to make a point that America was “vulnerable to the ruthlessness and scope of [their] ideology” (“Why Were the Twin Towers Chosen for the Attack of 9/11”). They intended to show the world America was not the holder of economic power, and they wanted to diminish the economic dominance they believed we had. Because it was the epicenter of business, the collapse of the WTC contributed to a stock market crash and was responsible for endless other ramifications later felt by the American economy.
Capitalism is a commonly known American ideal that most other countries don’t like. Could this be their motive for the attack? It is impossible to know for certain what exactly their motive was, but we do know that they planned to attack other buildings during their massacre. They successfully attacked the Pentagon, and it is believed that flight 93 planned to target places like the Capitol Building or the White House (“Flight 93”). Soon after the planes hit the WTC, the White House, the Capitol Building, and other government buildings were evacuated (“9/11 Timeline of Events”). It is possible that if the passengers of flight 93 hadn’t heroically attempted to fight back against the hijackers, another American landmark would have been demolished amidst the wake of this devastation. This was something Al-Qaeda longed for, but wasn’t going to achieve.
A couple of weeks ago, I had a plan to do an essay on a completely different topic, until I read the New York Times article “At World Trade Center Memorial, A Bombing Is Forgotten” by Ruth Bashinsky. Reading this article was the first time I had even heard of the 1993 attack, and I was appalled by the fact that it has not been remembered the way it deserves.
Selective Memory Loss. Selective memory loss or selective amnesia is when “the only memories the afflicted person loses are the one he or she chooses to forget” (“Selective Memory Loss”). Could this be the answer to why this assault has been forgotten? It is impossible to be sure. But why would Americans choose to forget this horror? Has this event sadly been overshadowed by other “worse” attacks?
The overshadowing theme of this all: WHY? Why has it been forgotten? Why has one of the most major terror attacks been forgotten by millions? The answer is still not known. But if there is one thing I know, along with everyone else, it’s that a lost human life is not to be forgotten.
In September of 2016, thousands gathered to remember the 10th year anniversary of 9/11, and during the ceremony the names of the 1993 victims were read aloud. “But many did not realize they were also visiting the site of an earlier attack that, while less deadly, presaged an era of terrorism fears in New York City that many believe culminated in September 2001” (“At World Trade Center Memorial, A Bombing Is Forgotten”). It is true that this attack was on a much smaller scale than 9/11, but it was the attack that commenced the horror that we still encounter today. It commenced the “era of terrorism” we are still facing. Many tend to overlook this fact or believe it has just simply been overshadowed by other attacks that had more casualties, but it was simply the event that woke people up to the truth of the horror we were yet to know. This assault is the forgotten beginning of a new era. An era where Americans feel unsafe in their own country. An era where thousands of Americans would be ruthlessly murdered on their soil.
“If we destroy human rights and rule of law in the response to terrorism, they have won”. -Joichi Ito, a Japanese activist. Another way of destroying human rights is by neglecting the fact that any victim deserves the same respect of others. The fact that America has forgotten the stigma of this attack has slowly diminished the human rights of the victims. Like Joichi Ito said, we can’t let them win. Don’t let terrorism prevail.
First of all, you may be wondering what exactly happened on February 26, 1993. It was a chilly Friday morning when Ramzi Yousef and Eyad Ismoil drove their yellow van filled with a 1,336 pound bomb into the parking garage beneath the North Tower of the World Trade Center. At 12:06 pm, Ramzi Yousef ran out of the parking garage after lighting the 20-foot fuse. They had the intention of causing the North Tower to crash into the South Tower destroying both. They did not achieve this goal but they did kill six and injure over a 1,000. This attack was the outcome of months of planning. Before travelling to America, Yousef trained at the Al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. Yousef’s uncle, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed Ali Fadden (later named main director of 9/11), provided him with advice and funds needed to carry out this attack. Yousef later explained that his goal behind this tragedy was to “avenge the sufferings Palestinian people had endured at the hands of US-aided Israel” (qtd. in “1993 World Trade Center Bombing Fast Facts”). Another chief conspirator, Mohammad Salameh, was arrested on March 4. Exactly a year later, four men involved were convicted and sentenced to 240 years in prison. Later in 1998, “the sentences were vacated” and a second trial was ordered because none of the men had proper lawyers when they were originally convicted in 1994. In 1999 the men were re-convicted and sentenced to over 100 years each. With these men in jail, some would think they were safe, but this idea was proved false in 2001.
William Abrahamson, a businessman at Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc., woke up on September 11th ready to start a normal work day (“In-Depth Special: September 11 Memorial”). At his usual speed he walked out his door and headed to his workplace in the World Trade Center. He, along with his colleagues, expected this day to be an average work day. One where he would say goodbye to his wife and son at around 7:30 and return to them at 5:00 as usual (“Remember September 11, 2001”). But what really happened was far from what anyone could have expected.
7:59 a.m.:
92 people on board American Airlines flight 11 took off from Boston with the thought they were going to Los Angeles. Fifteen minutes later, United Airlines flight 175 took off from Boston en route to Los Angeles.
8:21 a.m.:
American Airlines flight 77 took off in Washington D.C., en route to Los Angeles.
8:41 a.m.:
American Airlines flight 93 takes off in Newark and sets off to San Francisco.
8:11 a.m.:
Flight 11 was the first to report their plane had been hijacked and American Airlines contacted the FBI. Exactly 35 minutes after this was reported, Mohammad Atta crashed the Boeing 676 into the 93rd story of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
9:03 a.m.:
Another set of hijackers crash flight 175 into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Both of these crashes alone killed everyone on board the flights, and hundreds of people in the buildings. The rest stuck in the buildings were trapped. Nowhere to go. No other way out than to wait and hope they get saved, or jump. Millions watched the news as this city they’ve always idolized crumbled before their eyes. People on the ground looking above to see bodies falling from the sky like rain.
9:37 a.m.:
Flight 77 was crashed into the Pentagon, leaving only five survivors on the plane, and 125 personnel inside the building dead. Then, as though it couldn’t get worse, the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed, followed by the North Tower 29 minutes later. The passengers aboard flight 93 figure their only hope is to try to take back control of the plane. The hijackers, unwilling to forfeit, crash the plane into a field in Pennsylvania (“9/11 Timeline of Events”).
No survivors. The North Tower collapsed 102 minutes after being struck. This means there were 102 minutes of pure terror for the people inside. No way out, and no way to survive. They desperately called their families to say goodbye. That day, a total of 2,977 people died. That’s 2,977 people who lost their mom, dad, daughter, son, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, etc.. That’s 2,977 people who woke up that morning expecting to have a normal work day. A work day that was later destroyed in the wake of the most devastating attack America had yet to encounter.
Another question one might ask is: why the World Trade Center? Why, in particular, was the World Trade Center the target of two of the most major and devastating attacks in all of American history? For starters, the World Trade Center is what some may call the epicenter of all business in America. Floors upon floors of insurance companies, investment firms, banks, etc.. All companies supporting similar ideals: money and capitalism. In short, the World Trade Center carries endless economic power around the world. Al-Qaeda, the group responsible for both these attacks, wanted to make a point that America was “vulnerable to the ruthlessness and scope of [their] ideology” (“Why Were the Twin Towers Chosen for the Attack of 9/11”). They intended to show the world America was not the holder of economic power, and they wanted to diminish the economic dominance they believed we had. Because it was the epicenter of business, the collapse of the WTC contributed to a stock market crash and was responsible for endless other ramifications later felt by the American economy.
Capitalism is a commonly known American ideal that most other countries don’t like. Could this be their motive for the attack? It is impossible to know for certain what exactly their motive was, but we do know that they planned to attack other buildings during their massacre. They successfully attacked the Pentagon, and it is believed that flight 93 planned to target places like the Capitol Building or the White House (“Flight 93”). Soon after the planes hit the WTC, the White House, the Capitol Building, and other government buildings were evacuated (“9/11 Timeline of Events”). It is possible that if the passengers of flight 93 hadn’t heroically attempted to fight back against the hijackers, another American landmark would have been demolished amidst the wake of this devastation. This was something Al-Qaeda longed for, but wasn’t going to achieve.
A couple of weeks ago, I had a plan to do an essay on a completely different topic, until I read the New York Times article “At World Trade Center Memorial, A Bombing Is Forgotten” by Ruth Bashinsky. Reading this article was the first time I had even heard of the 1993 attack, and I was appalled by the fact that it has not been remembered the way it deserves.
Selective Memory Loss. Selective memory loss or selective amnesia is when “the only memories the afflicted person loses are the one he or she chooses to forget” (“Selective Memory Loss”). Could this be the answer to why this assault has been forgotten? It is impossible to be sure. But why would Americans choose to forget this horror? Has this event sadly been overshadowed by other “worse” attacks?
The overshadowing theme of this all: WHY? Why has it been forgotten? Why has one of the most major terror attacks been forgotten by millions? The answer is still not known. But if there is one thing I know, along with everyone else, it’s that a lost human life is not to be forgotten.
In September of 2016, thousands gathered to remember the 10th year anniversary of 9/11, and during the ceremony the names of the 1993 victims were read aloud. “But many did not realize they were also visiting the site of an earlier attack that, while less deadly, presaged an era of terrorism fears in New York City that many believe culminated in September 2001” (“At World Trade Center Memorial, A Bombing Is Forgotten”). It is true that this attack was on a much smaller scale than 9/11, but it was the attack that commenced the horror that we still encounter today. It commenced the “era of terrorism” we are still facing. Many tend to overlook this fact or believe it has just simply been overshadowed by other attacks that had more casualties, but it was simply the event that woke people up to the truth of the horror we were yet to know. This assault is the forgotten beginning of a new era. An era where Americans feel unsafe in their own country. An era where thousands of Americans would be ruthlessly murdered on their soil.
“If we destroy human rights and rule of law in the response to terrorism, they have won”. -Joichi Ito, a Japanese activist. Another way of destroying human rights is by neglecting the fact that any victim deserves the same respect of others. The fact that America has forgotten the stigma of this attack has slowly diminished the human rights of the victims. Like Joichi Ito said, we can’t let them win. Don’t let terrorism prevail.
Works Cited
"1993 World Trade Center Bombing Fast Facts." CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.
"9/11: Timeline of Events." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2011. Web. 21
Mar. 2017.
Bashinsky, Ruth. "At World Trade Center Memorial, a Bombing Is Forgotten." The New York Times. The
New York Times, 19 Feb. 2017. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.
"Flight 93." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2010. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.
"In-Depth Special: September 11 Memorial." CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.
Meek, Jake. "Why Were the Twin Towers Chosen for the Attack on 9/11?" Why Were the Twin Towers
Chosen for the Attack of 9/11? N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.
"Remembering September 11, 2001: William F. Abrahamson Obituary."Legacy.com. Legacy.com, n.d.
Web. 21 Mar. 2017.
"Selective Memory Loss." Moufflets. N.p., 2 Feb. 2009. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.
"September 11, 2001: Background and Timeline of the Attacks." CNN. Cable News
Network, n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.
"Terrorism". Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 22 Mar. 2017.
"Terrorism Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.
"1993 World Trade Center Bombing Fast Facts." CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.
"9/11: Timeline of Events." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2011. Web. 21
Mar. 2017.
Bashinsky, Ruth. "At World Trade Center Memorial, a Bombing Is Forgotten." The New York Times. The
New York Times, 19 Feb. 2017. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.
"Flight 93." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2010. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.
"In-Depth Special: September 11 Memorial." CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.
Meek, Jake. "Why Were the Twin Towers Chosen for the Attack on 9/11?" Why Were the Twin Towers
Chosen for the Attack of 9/11? N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.
"Remembering September 11, 2001: William F. Abrahamson Obituary."Legacy.com. Legacy.com, n.d.
Web. 21 Mar. 2017.
"Selective Memory Loss." Moufflets. N.p., 2 Feb. 2009. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.
"September 11, 2001: Background and Timeline of the Attacks." CNN. Cable News
Network, n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.
"Terrorism". Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 22 Mar. 2017.
"Terrorism Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.