9/11 and the Aftermath by the Numbers-The Change Agent-Issue 33

The following information is used for educational purposes only.


9/11 and the Aftermath by the Numbers
Hillary Gardner and Cynthia Peters

9/11 and the Aftermath by the Numbers — Answers
1. The date of the attack 9/1/01
2. The number of commercial passenger jet airliners hijacked 4
3. The number of al-Qaeda terrorists involved in the hijacking 19
4. The number of airliners that crashed into the Twin Towers in NY City 2
5. The number of survivors from the flights 0
6. The number of people killed on 9/11 ≈3000
7. The number of planes that did not make it to their target 1
8. The month and year the U.S. passed the USA Patriot Act 10/01
9. The year that U.S. troops started fighting in Afghanistan 2001
10. The year that U.S. troops started fighting in Iraq 2003
11. The number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan >1600
12. The number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq >4700
13. The number of Iraqi civilians who have been killed in the war >100,000
14. The total number of U.S. troops injured in Afghanistan and Iraq >43,000
15. The total dollars the U.S. has spent in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001 $1.25 trillion
16. The number of zeroes in 1 billion 9
17. The number of zeroes in 1 trillion 12
18. The total number killed by bombings in Indonesia, Madrid, and London ≈440
19. The date that the U.S. military killed Osama bin Laden 5/1/11
20. The number of attacks by a foreign power that the U.S. has
experienced inside its borders since the early 1800s 1 (or 2)*
* The British and the U.S. fought during the War of 1812. The British attacked Washington, DC, in 1814
and burned many federal buildings, including the Capitol Building and the White House. To answer
#20, you will need to reflect on how U.S. borders have evolved over time. On December 7, 1941, Japan
attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, where a U.S. naval base was located. At the time, Hawaii was a U.S.
“territory.” It had been annexed by the U.S. government in 1898. Hawaii did not become a state until
1959. An interesting research project would be to look into whether the annexation of Hawaii was legal
or whether it was an act of U.S. expansionism. Make sure you look up multiple sources in order to get
a range of opinions. If, after considering the history, you say Hawaii was a part of the U.S. when it was
invaded by the Japanese, then the answer to #20 would be 2. If you believe Hawaii was not part of the
U.S., then the answer to #20 is 1.