Welcome to the Deep Dive. We're here to take
world -shaping events, look closely at the evidence,
the reports, the facts, and give you a really
comprehensive understanding. And today we're
tackling a subject with immense weight, one that
reshaped the 21st century, the September 11 attacks.
9 -11. Yeah, it's a topic many people know, but
the sheer complexity, the architecture behind
it is often missed. Exactly. This isn't just
about that one morning. It's about years of planning,
intelligence failures, and consequences that,
frankly, are still unfolding. Our mission today
is to really explore that whole structure. And
the scale? Even now, it's just hard to fully
grasp. It remains the single deadliest terrorist
attack in history. The numbers are stark. 2 ,996
total deaths. That includes 2 ,977 victims, civilians,
emergency responders, and the 19 hijackers. And
it was the coordination that amplified the terror,
wasn't it? Absolutely. The plan involved four
commercial jets, carefully chosen for maximum
fuel, maximum impact. Two aimed right at the
heart of American economic power, the World Trade
Center towers. One hit the Pentagon, the symbol
of U .S. military might. And the fourth, Flight
93. It crashed in Pennsylvania. Only because
the passengers and crew fought back. They prevented
what investigators believe was an attack aimed
at the U .S. Capitol, maybe even the White House.
Incredible bravery. So for you listening, this
deep dive is designed to go beyond the headlines,
beyond the common narrative. We're going to focus
on the specifics, the motivations, which were
complex, sometimes contradictory, the intelligence
breakdowns that allowed this to happen. And the
lasting human cost, the economic fallout, things
we are absolutely still dealing with today. Okay,
so where do we start? We have to begin with the
origins, the genesis of this plot. Who was behind
it? Right, the architects. When you talk 9 -11,
Osama bin Laden, OBL, comes to mind immediately.
He was the leader, the orchestrator. But his
messaging right after the attacks is interesting.
Initially, he denied it. On September 16, 2001,
he put out a statement saying, basically, I didn't
do this. Which seems strange in hindsight, but
it was probably strategic. It didn't last. By
November 2001, U .S. forces found that videotape
in Afghanistan. The one where he admits knowing
about it beforehand. And sort of celebrating
it. Exactly. He said it benefited Islam greatly.
But the really public direct claim of responsibility
that came much later. Right before the 2004 U
.S. election, wasn't it? He released a tape saying
he personally directed the hijacker. Yes. Which
tells you something about how he saw these attacks,
not just religious acts, but as tools for political
influence, too. So if bin Laden was the leader,
who was the planner, the guy drawing the blueprints?
That would be Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. He's widely
considered the principal architect. He was the
one who actually came up with the idea of using
planes as missiles. Correct. He conceived the
plot and pitched it to bin Laden, apparently
back in 1996. And KSM wasn't new to this kind
of thing. He was involved in the first World
Trade Center bombing in 93. And crucially, the
Bojinka plot. That's key context. Remind us about
Bojinka. That was mid 90s. 1995. It was an incredibly
ambitious plot. The plan was to bomb 11 or more
airliners over the Pacific, basically. Wow. So
he already had experience with complex, coordinated
attacks involving airplanes. Exactly. Majinka
failed because of an accidental fire in Manila,
but it showed KSM's thinking, his logistical
capabilities. It was sort of a precursor to 9
-11. And KSM later admitted his role. Oh, fully.
At his military commission hearing in Guantanamo
in 2007, he confessed to planning 9 -11 from
A to Z. The sources are clear. He, bin Laden,
and maybe three others knew all the operational
details. So you have the leadership, the planner.
What about the guys who actually carried it out?
The hijackers. The selection process there was
also very deliberate. Bin Laden specifically
picked the key members of the Hamburg cell. Mohammed
Atta, Marwan al -Shahizi, Adjara, Ramzi bin al
-Shib. Right. Why them? Because they were educated.
They spoke English fluently and critically. They
had lived in the West. They knew how to blend
in, how to operate without raising suspicion.
They were the perfect cover. Essentially, yes.
For the pilots and the team leaders needed to
infiltrate the U .S. in flight schools. Okay,
so that's the who. Let's get into the why. What
were the stated motivations? You find these laid
out in bin Laden's fatwas, right? Yes, the 1996
and 1998 fatwas, and then summarized again in
his 2002 letter to the American people. It's
a complex mix. What were the main points? What
grievances did they cite? While first and foremost,
U .S. support for Israel, especially with the
second Intifada kicking off in late 2000, bin
Laden argued American tax dollars funded the
tanks, the planes oppressing Muslims. So they
felt a proportional response was needed. A direct
link between U .S. policy and the justification
for attack. Explicitly. Second, and this was
huge for bin Laden personally, was the presence
of U .S. military bases in Saudi Arabia. The
Holy Land. Exactly. Home to Mecca and Medina.
From his extremist view, non -Muslim troops had
no right to be permanently stationed there. His
96 Fatwa demanded their immediate removal. So
Israel policy, U .S. troops in Saudi Arabia.
What else? The sanctions against Iraq, they were
heavily condemned. Bin Laden spoke about the
protracted blockade causing immense civilian
suffering. So framing it as a defense of the
broader Muslim world, not just Saudi Arabia.
Right. Painting the U .S. as this oppressive,
hegemonic power across the region. And then there's
that specific inspiration Bin Laden mentioned
later, the towers in Lebanon. Yeah, in that 2004
tape, he said the idea to destroy the World Trade
Center towers came to him back in 1982. 1982.
During the Lebanon War, he witnessed Israeli
jets bombing high -rise buildings in Beirut,
and he said he wanted to punish the oppressor
in kind, make America taste some of what we tasted.
Which connects directly to the choice of targets.
It does. He argued the WTC represented U .S.
economic power. The Pentagon represented military
power. therefore legitimate targets in his view.
Who also claimed it wasn't an attack on women
and children. He did claim that, yes. But then
in the same breath, he compared the 9 -11 strikes
to the U .S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki. He asked
rhetorically, you know, did those bombs distinguish
between military and babies? So a contradiction
there. A clear one. It highlights the justification's
complexity. You have specific political demands.
Get troops out of Saudi Arabia layered onto this
broader religious call for global jihad that
explicitly justifies mass civilian casualties.
That's really key for you, the listener, to grasp.
OK, let's move to the day itself. September 11th,
2001. The mechanics of the attack were chillingly
effective. The choice of planes was deliberate.
Four large jets. Two Boeing 757s, two 767s. Why
those specifically? Long -haul flights, transcontinental.
That meant they'd be loaded with the maximum
amount of jet fuel, essentially turning them
into massive flying incendiary devices. And they
got through security with weapons. Yes, but it
exploded the rules at the time. The primary weapons
were box cutters, utility knives, things with
short blades that were actually allowed on planes
by the FAA before 9 -11. Unbelievable. They also
reportedly used mace or pepper spray, likely
to control the flight attendants. near the cockpit,
and crucially, fake bomb threats. Fake bombs?
Yes. No trace of actual explosives was ever found
on any of the plane wreckage. The hijackers announced
they had bombs, which was a key psychological
tool to keep passengers and crew from resisting.
Made resistance seem futile. Okay, walk us through
the timeline. It unfolds with terrifying precision.
It starts at 8 .46 a .m. Eastern Time. American
Airlines Flight 11. That's the one piloted by
Mohammed Adda. Hits the North Tower. WTC 1, between
floors 93 and 99. And initially there was confusion.
Was it an accident? A small plane? Nobody knew
for sure. Until 17 minutes later, 9 .03 a .m.
United Airlines Flight 175 slams into the South
Tower, WTC2, lower down between floors 77 and
85. In that moment, seeing the second plane hit
live on television. Yeah. That's when everyone
knew. Absolutely. It was undeniable America was
under attack. Then the focus shifts to Washington.
9 .37 a .m., American Airlines Flight 77 hits
the Pentagon, crashes into the west side of the
building. The sources mention it hit near the
first floor. Yes, and penetrated deep into the
structure, about 310 feet through the outer rings.
That section had actually just been renovated
and reinforced, which probably saved lives, prevented
a wider collapse. And then there's a fourth plane,
United 93. Flight 93 is a different story, crucial
turning point in the day. It took off late from
Newark, about 42 minutes behind schedule because
of airport congestion. And that delay. was critical.
Absolutely critical. The hijackers took control
around 9 .28 a .m. But by then, news of the World
Trade Center attacks was already spreading. People
on the plane were making calls. Dozens of them.
Passengers, flight attendants, people like Todd
Beamer, Jeremy Glick calling family, airline
officials. They learned what was happening in
New York. They realized their plane wasn't just
being diverted. It was going to be used as a
weapon. And they decided to fight back. Yes.
The cockpit voice recorder captures it. Starting
around 9 .57 a .m., you hear sounds of a struggle.
They used a food cart, apparently, to try and
break down the cockpit door. The famous phrase,
let's roll, comes from Todd Beamers' call. So
the hijackers knew they were losing control.
It seems so. They started maneuvering the plane
erratically. Then, at 10 .03 a .m., they deliberately
crashed it into an empty field, a reclaimed coal
mine near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Preventing
it from reaching its target, which was likely.
Based on KSM's later testimony and the plane's
trajectory, almost certainly the U .S. Capitol
building, maybe the White House, those passengers,
their actions were truly heroic. They absolutely
saved countless lives and prevented another symbolic
strike. While all this is happening, what's the
official response? It's rapid, but also chaotic.
At 9 .42 a .m., the FAA makes an unprecedented
move. They ground every single civilian aircraft
over the continental U .S. It's invoking Skatana,
right? Yes, Skatana. Security control of air
traffic and navigational aids. It had never been
used nationwide before. It basically hands control
of the airspace from civilian air traffic control
to the military. So thousands of planes just
had to land immediately. Immediately. At the
nearest suitable airport, imagine the chaos for
air traffic controllers. But it effectively stopped
any possibility of further hijackings using commercial
planes that day. What about the military side?
NORAD? NORAD scrambled fighter jets, F -15s and
F -16s. But the system wasn't really designed
for this kind of threat. How so? It was set up
to detect bombers coming in from overseas, not
domestic flights already inside U .S. airspace
turning into weapons. There was immense confusion.
So they were too late. Critically late for the
Pentagon in Flight 93, they had only about nine
minutes notice before the second tower was hit.
No effective notice before Flight 77 hit the
Pentagon or Flight 93 went down. Did the order
come to shoot down hijacked planes? Yes, Vice
President Cheney gave the authorization. But
again, due to the communication delays and the
speed of events, it came too late to be acted
upon for Flight 77 and 93. And some of those
fighter pilots took off without live missiles.
That's one of the chilling details in the reports.
Some pilots launched knowing they might have
to intercept by ramming the hijacked airliner
with their own jet. An incredible potential sacrifice.
And amidst all this chaos in the U .S., we should
mention Operation Yellow Ribbon. Yes, absolutely.
Canada's response. With U .S. airspace closed,
hundreds of international flights were diverted.
Canada opened its airports and its communities,
taking in 226 flights, thousands of stranded
passengers. A remarkable act of support. Back
in New York, the focus shifts tragically to the
towers themselves. The collapses. The South Tower,
WTC2, collapses first. At 9 .59 a .m., it had
only been burning for 56 minutes. Even though
it was hit second. Right. The North Tower, WTC1,
which was hit first, stood longer. It collapsed
later, at 10 .28 a .m., after burning for nearly
102 minutes. What a difference in timing. It
comes down to the specifics of the impacts. Flight
175 hit the south tower lower down, faster, and
critically more towards a corner. Ah, so the
damage was less symmetrical. Exactly. It caused
a more uneven distribution of the load, weakened
the core structure more quickly, leading to a
faster failure compared to the north tower, which
suffered a more central impact higher up. And
that 17 -minute gap between the first hit and
the second hit, that made a difference for evacuations.
A huge difference, a life and death difference
for hundreds. Because the South Tower was hit
second, some people had already started evacuating
before their tower was struck. Companies initiated
their own evacuations. Some did, yes. Like AO
Insurance, Fiduciary Trust, they saw what happened
to the North Tower and told their people to get
out, even before official orders came. And crucially...
One stairwell in the South Tower, stairwell A,
remained mostly passable even through the impact
zone. So some people above the crash actually
got out. A small number, incredibly. About 14
people who were actually on the impact floors,
plus others above, managed to make it down stairwell
A. It was a miracle. But the official reports,
like the 9 -11 Commission report, do criticize
the delay in ordering a full evacuation of the
South Tower immediately after the first plane
hit the North Tower. That delay cost lives. And
we can't forget the third collapse, 7 World Trade
Center. Right. Often overlooked. A separate,
47 -story building nearby. It wasn't hit by a
plane, but it suffered heavy damage from falling
debris when the north of the tower collapsed.
And caught fire. Massive fires fed by the building's
contents and ruptured fuel lines. It burned for
hours and then collapsed completely at 5 .21
p .m. that evening. Making it the first modern
steel -framed skyscraper to collapse, primarily
due to fire and debris damage. Another grim architectural
milestone from that day. So, moving beyond the
events of the day itself. Yeah. The aftermath.
It's vast and it's still ongoing. Let's start
with the immediate human cost. especially for
the responders. The sacrifice was immense. We
lost 343 firefighters from the FDNY, 72 law enforcement
officers from the NYPD and the Port Authority
Police, the PIPD, plus other emergency workers.
414 total emergency responders at the WTC site
alone. The deadliest day for both firefighters
and police in American history. By far. And for
those trapped above the impact zones, especially
in the North Tower, where all stairwells were
severed, escape was impossible. Which led to
those horrific scenes of people falling or jumping.
Yes. Estimates are over 200 people fell or jumped
from the towers. It's an unbearable thought,
but it speaks to the absolute desperation, the
heat, the smoke, escaping the fire versus the
fall. Horrifying choice. The image of the falling
man really captures that moment. And even identifying
the victims became a massive long -term challenge.
Huge. The destruction was so intense, the city
recovered about 10 ,000 unidentified bone and
tissue fragments, even today with advanced DNA
technology. Some victims are still unidentified.
As of 2025, yes. Around 40 % of the World Trade
Center victims, that's over 1 ,100 people, remain
unidentified. The work continues trying to match
fragments to DNA profiles. And there was controversy.
about where those unidentified remains are kept.
Yes, a long -running painful issue for some families.
The remains are held in a repository under the
control of the NYC Medical Examiner, located
within the foundation area that also houses the
9 -11 Museum. Some families felt strongly they
should be interred above ground, perhaps in a
separate tomb. Beyond the immediate deaths, there's
the health crisis. This is critical. Absolutely
critical. The collapse of those massive towers
created this plume of toxic dust that blanketed
lower Manhattan. Hundreds of thousands of tons
of debris. Filled with over 2 ,500 contaminants.
Pulverized concrete, glass fibers, asbestos,
lead, mercury, dioxins, benzene. Known carcinogens.
And people were breathing this in for months.
Yes. While the initial cleanup was happening,
and even after people started returning to work
and lived downtown, the EPA declared the air
safe to breathe in June 2002, nearly 10 months
later. A declaration that was heavily criticized
later. Highly contested, yes. Because thousands
of people, residents, students, office workers,
and especially the cleanup and recovery workers
at Ground Zero were exposed for prolonged periods.
And the long -term health consequences are devastating.
They are. Studies found that essentially all
the rescue and recovery workers studied suffered
impaired lung function. We've seen significantly
elevated rates of many types of cancer, respiratory,
digestive, blood cancers, plus chronic conditions
like asthma, GERD, PTSD. There was even concern
about effects on babies born to mothers exposed
during pregnancy. Yes, scientific speculation
and ongoing research into potential negative
developmental impacts for children who were in
utero during the exposure period in lower Manhattan.
And this is where we see a really stark difference
between outcomes, depending on the agency involved,
right? The FDNY versus the PAPD. It's a crucial
comparison, highlighting the impact of leadership
and equipment decisions. Look at the FDNY. By
2023, the fire department had lost roughly the
same number of members to 9 -11 relief. That's
unbelievable. The death toll effectively doubled
over 20 years due to illness. It's a slow -motion
tragedy unfolding over decades. Cancers, respiratory
failure. But the Port Authority police, the PEPPD,
had a different experience. Significantly different.
Far fewer long -term illness deaths relative
to their numbers on site. Why? The sources point
to decisions made by their chief at the time,
Joseph Morris. What did he do? Within 48 hours,
he secured and distributed high -quality industrial
-grade respirators to all PAPD officers working
at Ground Zero. And importantly, he limited the
rotation. He kept the same core group of officers
doing the most dangerous recovery work, ensuring
they had the best protection consistently. Whereas
other agencies rotated more people through the
site without that level of protection. Exactly.
Agencies like the FDNY and NYPD had thousands
of personnel rotating through, especially in
the early days and weeks when the dust was thickest,
often without adequate respiratory gear. The
difference in long -term health outcomes is tragically
clear. It raises a difficult question. How many
lives might have been saved in the long run?
if everyone had received that level of protection
immediately. It's a profound question about prioritizing
responder safety, even amidst catastrophe. There
was eventual legal help, though. The Zadroga
Act. Yes, the James L. Zadroga 9 -11 Health and
Compensation Act passed in 2010. It allocated
billions, initially $4 .2 billion, for medical
monitoring, testing, and treatment for responders
and survivors. And the Victim Compensation Fund
was reauthorized. Yes. Critically, it's been
extended essentially permanently until 2090,
which acknowledges that these illnesses can take
decades to develop. It provides crucial financial
support for those suffering. Shifting gears to
the economy, the attacks sent immediate shockwaves
to the financial system. Absolutely. The New
York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, they all closed.
Didn't reopen until September 17th. And when
they did reopen. A massive sell -off. The Dow
Jones Industrial Average had its biggest one
-week point drop in history up to that point.
About $1 .4 trillion in market value just vanished
in days. But the longer -term economic cost is
much, much bigger, isn't it? Yeah. Tied to the
response. Exponentially bigger. The attacks were
the direct catalyst for the U .S. wars in Afghanistan
and Iraq. Add to that the massive increase in
domestic homeland security spending. How much
are we talking? The Costs of War Project at Brown
University estimates the total cost through FY
2020 or so at a minimum of $5 trillion. Some
estimates go even higher now. $5 trillion. It's
almost impossible to comprehend. Where did that
money go? It's not just the immediate cost of
military operations, though that's huge. It includes
long term costs like veterans care, medical treatment,
disability benefits for hundreds of thousands
of service members, which will continue for decades.
It includes interest paid on the money borrowed
to fund the wars and the cost of creating and
running the entire Department of Homeland Security,
the TSA. It's a vast ongoing economic drain.
And policy wise. The changes were swift and dramatic.
Huge shifts. The creation of the Department of
Homeland Security itself in 2002. It merged 22
different federal agencies. It was the biggest
government reorganization since the Defense Department
was formed after World War II. And the USA Patriot
Act. Yeah. Passed very quickly after 9 -11. Just
weeks later, yes. Sold as essential for preventing
future attacks. But hugely controversial. Civil
liberties groups raised major alarms. What were
the main concerns? The core issue was the expansion
of government surveillance powers with reduced
oversight. Things like Section 215 allowing access
to any tangible things, including business records,
library records, without showing probable cause
related to a specific crime. And roving wiretaps.
Right. Allowing surveillance to follow a person
rather than a specific phone line. and lowering
the legal standard required for certain types
of foreign intelligence surveillance inside the
U .S. Critics argued it blurred the lines between
foreign intelligence gathering and domestic law
enforcement, potentially violating privacy rights
and chilling free speech, all with less judicial
review. Globally, the reaction was also immediate.
NATO invoked Article 5. For the first and only
time in its history, Article 5 states that an
attack on one member is an attack on all. That
collective defense commitment paved the way.
The Taliban for sheltering al -Qaeda. Correct.
The invasion of Iraq in 2003, though, that's
a different and much more controversial part
of the aftermath. Because there was no proven
link between Saddam Hussein and 9 -11. None whatsoever,
despite the Bush administration's claims and
the fact that, as polls showed at the time, something
like 70 percent of Americans incorrectly believe
Saddam was involved. That distinction is crucial.
And when we talk about the cost of these wars,
the human cost is staggering. Beyond staggering,
the Costs of War Project estimates that between
4 .5 and 4 .6 million people have died. Directly
and indirectly as a result of the post 9 -11
wars. 4 .5 to 4 .6 million. Yes. In Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and other war zones
drawn into the conflict. That includes combatants,
civilians killed directly in fighting, but also
the much larger number of indirect deaths from
war related causes. Displacement, destruction
of infrastructure, loss of access to food and
water, disease, injury. It's a devastating human
toll. OK, so given this immense ongoing cost.
human, economic, political decide. It forces
us back to the question, how did this happen?
How did a plot this complex succeed? We have
to talk about the intelligence failures. This
is absolutely central to understanding 9 -11,
and the key concept that emerges from all the
investigations is the wall. The wall between
intelligence agencies. Primarily between the
FBI, focused on domestic law enforcement, and
the CIA, focused on foreign intelligence. Attorney
General John Ashcroft himself called it the single
greatest structural cause for the failure. What
exactly was this wall? Was it... Actual policy.
Yes, it stemmed from Justice Department policies
put in place around 1995. The idea initially
was to protect civil liberties, to prevent intelligence
methods used against foreign spies from being
used improperly in domestic criminal cases. But
the effect was disastrous. It meant crucial information
simply wasn't shared. Agencies weren't allowed
to talk to each other effectively, even when
dealing with the same threats. They couldn't
connect the dots. And there were specific instances
where this failure was critical. Glaring instances.
The CIA knew that two known al -Qaeda operatives,
Nawaf al -Hazmi and Khalid al -Midhar, were potentially
dangerous. They tracked them to a meeting in
Malaysia. They knew they had U .S. visas and
were traveling to the United States. Two of the
future 9 -11 hijackers. Two of the hijackers
on Flight 77, which hit the Pentagon. The CIA
knew they were in the country for months before
9 -11. And they didn't tell the FBI. They actively
refused to share the information. The 9 -11 Commission
report details how an FBI agent detailed to the
CIA's Alex Station, the bin Laden unit, literally
asked permission to inform FBI headquarters that
these known terrorists were likely inside the
U .S. And the answer was no. The answer from
a CIA supervisor was reportedly, this is not
a matter for the FBI. It's genuinely shocking.
Information was siloed so tightly it became useless.
Were there other warnings that were missed? Yes.
The Phoenix memo. July 2001, an FBI agent in
Phoenix wrote a memo to headquarters. He noticed
a pattern of men with potential ties to extremist
groups taking flight lessons at an Arizona school.
He specifically mentioned Osama bin Laden and
suggested the FBI canvass other flight schools
nationwide. And that warning was ignored. Largely
dismissed at FBI headquarters. Seen as speculative,
not prioritized. Then there was the president's
daily brief in August 2001. August 6, 2001. The
PDB, a highly classified intelligence summary
for the president. It explicitly mentioned FBI
information about suspicious activity consistent
with preparations for hijackings. It talked about
surveillance of federal buildings. It didn't
name the time or place, but the threat was clear.
So the pieces were there, but the system failed
to put them together. That was the core finding
of the 9 -11 Commission report in 2004. They
concluded it was a failure of imagination, policy,
capabilities, and management across the board.
Which brings us to another layer of accountability,
the question of potential foreign government
support, specifically regarding Saudi Arabia.
Right. This has been a major point of contention
for years, centered initially around those 28
redacted pages from the Congressional Joint Inquiry
Report. Those pages were eventually released.
Yes, in 2016. While they didn't provide a smoking
gun of official Saudi government involvement,
they detailed numerous contacts and potential
links between Saudi officials or individuals
connected to the government and some of the hijackers,
particularly the two who were in San Diego. Bahazmi
and Al -Midhar again. Yes. And the release of
those pages, combined with ongoing efforts by
victims' families, led to the passage of JOSTA.
The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act.
Passed in 2016, overriding a presidential veto.
JOSTA was crucial because it amended the law
to allow lawsuits against foreign governments
if they were found responsible for terrorist
acts on U .S. soil. It stripped away some sovereign
immunity protections. So families could sue Saudi
Arabia directly. Correct. And the focus of that
ongoing lawsuit centers on individuals like Omar
al -Bayoumi. Who was he? A Saudi national living
in San Diego who provided significant help to
al -Hazmi and al -Mithar when they first arrived
in the U .S., helped them find an apartment,
open a bank account, basically get settled. And
there was evidence linking him to Saudi intelligence.
Newly declassified FBI documents released around
2021 and 2022 described al -Bayoumi as having
received funds from Saudi government entities
and potentially being a paid agent or... co -optee
of the Saudi General Intelligence Presidency.
Video evidence also showed him meeting with the
hijackers. So this evidence forms the basis for
the ongoing legal case. It provides the plaintiffs,
the victims' families, with the grounds under
JOSTA to pursue their claim that individuals
connected to the Saudi state provided material
support to the hijackers. Saudi Arabia, for its
part, has always vehemently denied any official
involvement. It's a complex, ongoing legal battle.
What about the terrorists who survived or were
captured? Obviously, the 19 hijackers died. Bin
Laden was killed in 2011. What about KSM? Khalid
Sheikh Mohammed, the architect, along with four
other co -conspirators, were captured and are
held at Guantanamo Bay. And their trial. It seems
like it's been going on forever. It has been
stalled for well over a decade. The military
commission proceedings have been bogged down
in pretrial motions, largely concerning the admissibility
of evidence obtained through harsh interrogation
methods often described as torture. So no verdict
yet? No. And what's interesting is the recent
back and forth over plea deals. In 2023 and into
2024, there were reports that prosecutors were
negotiating deals where KSM and others would
plead guilty and receive life sentences, taking
the death penalty off the table. To finally resolve.
the case. Possibly. But those potential deals
were recently blocked, reportedly by the Secretary
of Defense. So the prospect of capital trials
executions is back, meaning these legal proceedings
could drag on even longer. It's source of immense
frustration for many victims' families seeking
finality. Hashtag Tag Six. Conclusion, an enduring
legacy. As we wrap up, let's look at the physical
site in New York. Mayor Giuliani famously pledged
right after the attacks, we will rebuild. A powerful
statement at the time. And largely the World
Trade Center site has been rebuilt, although
it took many years. One World Trade Center, the
main tower. Opened in 2014. Yes, standing at
that symbolic height of 1 ,776 feet. Several
other major office towers, 3WTC, 4WTC, 7WTC are
complete and occupied. But not all of them. No,
the Plan 2 World Trade Center tower remains unfinished,
scald for years due to leasing issues. So even
physically, the rebuilding process reflects the
long shadow of the event. And the memorials are
incredibly powerful places. Deeply moving. The
National September 11 Memorial and Museum at
Ground Zero, with the two reflecting... There's
the Pentagon Memorial, too. It's a very quiet,
contemplative space. And that bronze sphere that
stood between the towers, it survived. The sphere
by Fritz Koenig miraculously recovered from the
rubble, damaged but largely intact. It became
this incredible symbol of resilience and now
stands in Liberty Park overlooking the memorial
site. So thinking about this whole deep dive,
the planning, the attacks, the failures, the
immense aftermath, what's the enduring legacy?
Well, the immediate response was to build this
huge new security architecture. DHS, TSA, the
Patriot Act, expanded surveillance, all designed
to prevent another 9 -11 to make America impenetrable
to external threats. A massive focus on security
and counterterrorism. Absolutely. But as we've
discussed, if you connect that focus to the data,
the cost has been enormous. The $5 trillion plus
price tag for wars and security. The 4 .5 million
or more lives lost, directly or indirectly, in
those post -9 -11 conflicts. And the domestic
cost? The health crisis for the responders? The
failure, in some cases, to protect them from
the toxic environment at ground zero, leading
to this second wave of deaths from illness. It
creates this undeniable tension. Was the response,
the overwhelming focus on eliminating external
threats and projecting power globally, properly
balanced? I'm also against the staggering cost
of the wars that followed. And balanced against
the fundamental duty to protect the health and
safety of our own citizens, the responders who
rushed into danger on 9 -11. It's a critical
question for you, the listener, to consider.
Did the choices made in the name of security
after 9 -11 fully account for all the potential
consequences, both abroad and at home? What unexamined
costs are still accumulating today in terms of
national debt, ongoing health problems for survivors
and responders, regional instability fueled by
those wars, erosion of civil liberties? The legacy
of 9 -11 isn't just a memory of that day. It's
woven into the fabric of the 21st century, with
consequences still unfolding, costs still being
paid. A truly sobering look at the architecture
of terror, failure, and the incredibly complex
aftermath. Thank you for taking this deep dive
with us.