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So far no-one has claimed responsibility, so I'm going to take this opportunity to speculate. I think it was Osama Bin Laden. I don't think that any of the Palestinian groups would be stupid enough to do this. After the Pearl Harbor attack, Admiral Yamamoto mused, "I fear we have wakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve." Whoever did this is about to experience that same feeling of dread. There will be no half measures on this one; the US will use whatever means are necessary to find and kill everyone even remotely involved in this attack, up to and including ground war. I expect public announcements from Palestinian groups very shortly denying involvement, just as they did after the Okahoma City bombing. If indeed it was Osama Bin Laden, this may lead to a war with Afghanistan as long as they continue to shelter him. We may be about to learn just how good an ally Pakistan is, since any such attack would have to be staged from there. In the mean time, don't be too surprised if all airlines are grounded for the next day or so until they find and plug the security hole that permitted these hijackings. (discuss) The top of one of the towers has collapsed. I think it was structural failure, not another impact which did it. Those buildings are well designed, but they aren't capable of sustaining arbitrarily large amounts of damage without failing. In the meantime, the FAA has indeed grounded all flights and at least one Palestinian group has already disclaimed reponsibility. The reason that I don't believe any Palestinian group is involved in this is that they are trying to drive a wedge between Israel and the US. A Palestinian terrorist attack on the US would not only completely firm up any cracks in that alliance, it would make the US an active participant in the struggle. That's the last thing that the Palestinians want or need. |
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