Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

706 • WORLD TRADE CENTER AND PENTAGON ATTACKS OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001all 19 hijackers and the 238 airline passengers who also perished inthese attacks. Of those killed in the World Trade Center, 2,192 werecivilians, 341 were firefighters, 23 were New York municipal police,37 were Port Authority police, and 10 were emergency medical servicespersonnel (two from the New York Fire Department and eightfrom private emergency services). On Flight 11 about 88 peopleperished. On Flight 77 there were 59 victims. On Flight 93 therewere 40 victims, while on Flight 175 there were 59 victims. All told,2,974 victims died as a result of these attacks, and some 24 peopleat the World Trade Center remain officially listed as missing. If allthese attacks are considered as one integrated planned operation, thenit was the worst mass-casualty terrorist attack ever carried out by anonstate group.At 9:37 a.m. the White House and Capitol buildings were evacuated,and at 9:48 a.m. the Federal Aviation Administration orderedall aircraft in U.S. air space to land and it put a halt to all furthercivilian air traffic, a ban that remained in effect for about one week.In a national address before a joint session of the U.S. Congresson 14 September 2001, President George W. Bush declared thatan effective state of war existed between the United States and theterrorist perpetrators along with any states that may have assistedthem. The same day, the U.S. Congress approved Senate and Houseof Representatives Joint Resolution No. 23, an authorization for theuse of military force against suspected agents and state sponsorsresponsible for the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington,D.C. On 17 September 2001, the Bush administration identifiedOsama bin Laden and his al Qa’eda terrorist network of Islamicfundamentalist followers as the principals responsible for these attacksand demanded that the Taliban regime in Afghanistan handhim over to U.S. authorities.Following the Taliban’s refusal to hand over bin Laden and otheral Qa’eda elements within Afghanistan, the United States launchedOperation Enduring Freedom on 7 October 2001 against Talibanand al Qa’eda forces within Afghanistan. On 24 October 2001 theU.S. Congress passed the USA Patriot Act of 2001 (Uniting andStrengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Requiredto Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001), which was signedinto law by President Bush on 25 October 2001. This law, amongother things, allowed officials to detain immigrants without charges,