by Thokozile Gurganious

Created on: June 20, 2009   Last Updated: June 30, 2009

If the dramatic events of September 11th, 2001 had never taken place, most probably, we would not be having this discussion. Tuesday September 11th, 2001 marked a turning point in American history. America had suffered terrorist attacks prior to the 9/11 attacks. In 1993, the World Trade Center was bombed in an attack planned by Ramzi Yousef. In the same year, two CIA officers were killed by Mir Amal Kansi. On October 12, 2000, the American missile destroyer USS Cole was attacked in Aden Harbor, Yemen. Seventeen people died while another 39 were injured.

Al Qaeda was formed "at the end of Soviet occupation of Afghanistan" in 1988. However, the American "intelligence community did not describe this organization...until 1999." It was the August 7th, 1998 East Africa US Embassies' Bombings (carried out simultaneously In Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania), that really awakened Americans to the existence and danger of Osama Bin Laden and the Al Qaeda movement.

It is now common knowledge that prior 1999, while still outside the viewpoint of the American intelligence community, Al Qaeda had a hand in the 1992 attack on a Yemeni hotel where US military personnel were staying, the 1993 shoot down of the US army Black Hawk helicopters in Somalia and the 1995 bombing of the American Training mission in Saudi Arabia.

Prior 9/11, international terrorist attacks had taken place on American soil, but none were comparable in magnitude to the 9/11 attacks. The September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks were the worst terrorist attacks the United States had ever suffered. The death toll of 9/11 was 2752.

Not just Americans, but also the entire world, were outraged by the 9/11 attacks. The day after the attacks, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1368 in which it condemned the 9/11 attacks and called for "the international community to redouble its efforts to prevent and suppress terrorist acts." This Resolution was followed by another Resolution of 28 September 2001 (Resolution 1373) which also condemned the attacks.

The UN General Assembly also passed a Resolution on 18 September 2001 condemning the attacks. It seems that immediately after 9/11, not just the United States, but also the UN and the entire world adopted measures to counter terrorism. However, it soon became apparent that the United States was going too far in its efforts to counter terrorism, and in fact, the United States on occasions used the concept of countering terrorism to achieve ulterior

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