1993: First World Trade Center bombing
Notes:
1. PHOTO: A team of men (perhaps a fire services crew) and a lone figure in an orange vest are assembled near to a cordoned-off area of rubble produced by a bomb detonation at the World Trade Center. Within the left of the image two men are standing near a FMC Link-Belt crane , a company owned by Sumitomo Heavy Industries . On the left side of the crane is the word "ALLIED" underneath which are the numbers "232". Left of center of the image the numbers "478 8" are visible,
2. PHOTO CREDIT: Federal Bureau of Investigation - http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2008/february/tradebom_022608, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25022948
3. MUCH MORE COVERAGE ( VIDEOS -- Excellent site! )
4.. This is a long and detailled article-- I've only posted a few highlights. Click on the link, below, for the full article & other photos and diagrams
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S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The 1993 World Trade Center bombing was a terrorist attack carried out by Al-Qaeda against the United States on February 26, 1993, when a van bomb detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center complex in New York City. The 1,336 lb (606 kg) urea nitrate–hydrogen gas enhanced device[1] was intended to make the North Tower collapse onto the South Tower, taking down both skyscrapers and killing tens of thousands of people. While it failed to do so, it killed six people, including a pregnant woman,[2] and caused over a thousand injuries.[3] About 50,000 people were evacuated from the buildings that day.[4][5]
The attack was planned by a group of al-Qaeda terrorists including Ramzi Yousef; Mahmud Abouhalima; Mohammad A. Salameh; Nidal Ayyad; Abdul Rahman Yasin; and Ahmed Ajaj. In March 1994, four men were convicted of carrying out the bombing: Abouhalima, Ajaj, Ayyad, and Salameh. The charges included conspiracy
Yousef arrived illegally in the United States on September 1, 1992, traveling with Ahmed Ajaj from Pakistan, though both sat apart on the flight and acted as though they were traveling separately. Ajaj tried to enter with a forged Swedish passport, though it had been altered and thus raised suspicions among INS officials at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
When officials put Ajaj through secondary inspection, they discovered bomb-making instructions and other materials in his luggage, and arrested him. The name Abu Barra, an alias of Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, appeared in the manuals. Yousef tried to enter with a false Iraqi passport, claiming political asylum. Yousef was allowed into the United States, and was given a hearing date.[10]
Nosair was acquitted of murder but convicted of gun charges (in a related and follow-up case in Federal Court, he was convicted). Dozens of Arabic bomb-making manuals and documents related to terrorist plots were found in Nosair's New Jersey apartment, with manuals from Army Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, secret memos linked to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and 1,440 rounds of ammunition. (Lance 2004 26)
According to the transcript of his trial, Yousef hoped that his explosion would topple Tower 1 which would fall into Tower 2, killing the occupants of both buildings, which he estimated to be about 250,000 people[11] in revenge for U.S. support for Israel against Palestine.[12]
On Friday, February 26, 1993, Ramzi Yousef and a Jordanian friend, Eyad Ismoil, drove a yellow Ford Econoline[15] Ryder van into Lower Manhattan, and pulled into the public parking garage beneath the World Trade Center around noon. They parked on the underground B-2 level. Yousef ignited the 20-foot (6.1 m) fuse, and fled. Twelve minutes later, at 12:18 p.m.,[16] the bomb exploded in the underground garage, generating an estimated pressure of 150,000 pounds per square inch (1,000,000 kPa).[17]
The bomb opened a 100-foot-wide (30 m) hole through four sublevels of concrete. The detonation velocity of this bomb was about 15,000 feet per second (10,000 mph; 4.6 km/s). Initial news reports indicated a main transformer might have blown before it became clear that a bomb had exploded in the basement.
The bomb instantly cut off the World Trade Center's main electrical power line, knocking out the emergency lighting system. The bomb caused smoke to rise to the 93rd floor of both towers, including through the stairwells (which were not pressurized), and smoke went up the damaged elevators in both towers.[18]
With thick smoke filling the stairwells, evacuation was difficult for building occupants and led to many smoke inhalation injuries. Hundreds were trapped in elevators in the towers when the power was cut, including a group of 17 kindergartners on their way down from the South Tower observation deck, who were trapped between the 35th and 36th floors for five hours.[19][20]
Six people were killed: five Port Authority employees, one of whom was pregnant, and a businessman whose car was in the parking garage. Additionally, over 1,000 people were injured, most during the evacuation that followed the blast.[21] A report from the US Fire Administration states that "Among the scores of people who fled to the roofs of the towers, 28 with medical problems were airlifted by New York City police helicopters".[22] It is known that 15 people received traumatic injuries from the blast and 20 complained of cardiac problems. One firefighter was hospitalized, while 87 others, 35 police officers, and an EMS worker were also injured in dealing with the fires and other aftermath.[22]
Also as a result of the loss of power, most of New York City's radio and television stations (save for one, WCBS-TV (channel 2)) lost their over-the-air broadcast signal for almost a week, with television stations only being able to broadcast via cable and satellite via a microwave hookup between the stations and three of the New York area's largest cable companies, Cablevision, Comcast, and Time Warner Cable. Telephone service for much of Lower Manhattan was also disrupted.
At the 9/11 Memorial, which opened on the tenth anniversary of the 2001 attacks, the people who died in the 1993 bombing are memorialized at the North Pool, on Panel N-73.[38] The recovered fragment of the memorial fountain is on display among other artifacts[39] related to the bombing inside the museum's historical exhibition.
Salameh's arrest led police to the apartment of Abdul Rahman Yasin at 40 Pamrapo Avenue in Jersey City, New Jersey, which Yasin was sharing with his mother, in the same building as Ramzi Yousef's apartment. Yasin was taken to the FBI's Newark field office in Newark, New Jersey, and was then released. The next day, he flew back to Iraq, via Amman, Jordan. Yasin was later indicted for the attack, and in 2001 he was placed on the initial list of the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists, on which he remains today. He disappeared before the U.S. coalition invasion, Operation Iraqi Freedom, in 2003.
In March 1994, Salameh, Nidal Ayyad, Mahmud Abouhalima and Ahmad Ajaj were each convicted in the World Trade Center bombing. In May 1994, they were sentenced to 240 years in prison. In the years since, they have received several sentencing reductions, which could allow them to walk free in their 90s/100s.[47][48]
Since the September 11 attacks, the 1993 bombing is sometimes described as "forgotten" and "unknown."
[66][67] Although the 1993 bombing made the World Trade Center a publicly known terrorist target,[68][69] with the possibility of another attack suspected as early as 1995 by FBI Special Agent John O'Neill,[70][71][72] as well as by former Senators Gary Hart and Warren Rudman of the Hart-Rudman Commission in January 2001,[73][74] the 9/11 attacks went largely unforeseen by U.S. intelligence and law-enforcement agencies.[75][76][77] While victims' family members and injured survivors of the 2001 terrorist attack received compensation from the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, no such compensation was given to those affected by the 1993 bombing.[78][79]
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The 1993 World Trade Center bombing was a terrorist attack carried out by Al-Qaeda against the United States on February 26, 1993, when a van bomb detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center complex in New York City.
The 1,336 lb (606 kg) urea nitrate–hydrogen gas enhanced device was intended to make the North Tower collapse onto the South Tower, taking down both skyscrapers and killing tens of thousands of people.
While it failed to do so, it killed six people, including a pregnant woman, and caused over a thousand injuries. About 50,000 people were evacuated from the buildings that day
I recall your telling this story previously but although it was a lesson about terrorism, it was not taken seriously enough, and that led to 9\11, but as the Tom Paxton song says, it was "A lesson too late for the learning".
The attack was planned by a group of al-Qaeda terrorists including Ramzi Yousef; Mahmud Abouhalima; Mohammad A. Salameh; Nidal Ayyad; Abdul Rahman Yasin; and Ahmed Ajaj. In March 1994, four men were convicted of carrying out the bombing: Abouhalima, Ajaj, Ayyad, and Salameh. The charges included conspiracy
Yousef arrived illegally in the United States on September 1, 1992, traveling with Ahmed Ajaj from Pakistan, though both sat apart on the flight and acted as though they were traveling separately. Ajaj tried to enter with a forged Swedish passport, though it had been altered and thus raised suspicions among INS officials at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
I doubt that airport security was good enough back then. It took 9/11 for it to be taken really seriously.
I remember how security was before the two attacks on the WTC. (And then it changed considerably-- actually IIRC it changed after the second attack on the WTC.)
I was living in NYC at the time. A friend of mine was a stockbroker, working in a large building in Midtown. (On Park Ave, just south of 42nd Street). Occasionally I just walked into the building and went to the elevators. (There was no security-- I had always just walked into the building without being stopped.)
After 9/11 everyone had to stop at the Security Desk and show picture ID. Then they took a photo of you-- and put it on adhesive paper which you attached to your clothes!
I remeber long ago taking a guided tour of The New York Stock Exchange, (It was amazing-- the guides all knew all sorts of historical details).
After 9/11 "ordinary people" could no longer enter--only traders and others who worked there were allowed into the bldg!
Many years ago went to the observation deck of the WTC, and I don't recall being security checked at all. It was quite an exciting view, that unfortunately nobody is able to experience now.
Before 9/11 I had toured both The White House and The Capitol Building, and I was not checked in any way, notwithstanding I was a foreigner. I would imagine that could not happen again.
Although I had been to the top of The Empire State bldg several times, I only went to the top of the WTC only once.
One of the things surprised me was the difference in the views-- The WTC was so much higher up!
There was also a very upscale restaurant up there. I regret I never ate there!
Yes, I've experienced both as well, and I thought that as well. I almost wrote that in my comment about being there.
I've eaten in the top of tower restaurants in three towers that I can remember - the CN Tower in Toronto, the tower in Niagara Falls, Ontario, overlooking the falls, and the Radio and TV Tower in Chengdu and I've posted my photos of the Chengdu Tower experience on NT (even won a photo contest using one of them). The food and service was always great.
When officials put Ajaj through secondary inspection, they discovered bomb-making instructions and other materials in his luggage, and arrested him. The name Abu Barra, an alias of Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, appeared in the manuals. Yousef tried to enter with a false Iraqi passport, claiming political asylum. Yousef was allowed into the United States, and was given a hearing date.
Nosair was acquitted of murder but convicted of gun charges (in a related and follow-up case in Federal Court, he was convicted). Dozens of Arabic bomb-making manuals and documents related to terrorist plots were found in Nosair's New Jersey apartment, with manuals from Army Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, secret memos linked to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and 1,440 rounds of ammunition. (Lance 2004 26)
The bomb opened a 100-foot-wide (30 m) hole through four sublevels of concrete. The detonation velocity of this bomb was about 15,000 feet per second (10,000 mph; 4.6 km/s). Initial news reports indicated a main transformer might have blown before it became clear that a bomb had exploded in the basement.
The bomb instantly cut off the World Trade Center's main electrical power line, knocking out the emergency lighting system. The bomb caused smoke to rise to the 93rd floor of both towers, including through the stairwells (which were not pressurized), and smoke went up the damaged elevators in both towers.[18]
The terrorists obviously seem to follow the adage that if you don't succeed, try, try again.
Every once in a while terrorists try to pull off a terrorist attack in the U.S. Usually they fail-- but every so often people are killed. Usually they are in a big city. (Anyone remember The Boston Marathon Bombing? Only 3 killed, but hundreds injured-- many lost their legs)
There have been several since 9/11. Here's a fairly recent one I remember:
Pulse Nightclub Terror Attack (June 2016):
Attack As Latin music blared inside Pulse, one of Orlando’s biggest nightclubs on June 12, 2016, a gunman forced his way inside and opened fire on the predominantly gay crowd. In the end, 49 people were dead and dozens more injured, in what was, at the time, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
49 dead . .
Another one:
2017 New York City truck attack
On October 31, 2017, Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov drove a rented pickup truck into cyclists and runners for about one mile (1.6 kilometers) of the Hudson River Park 's bike path alongside West Street from Houston Street south to Chambers Street in Lower Manhattan , New York City.
The vehicle-ramming attack killed eight people, six of whom were foreign tourists, and injured eleven others.
A flag and a document indicating allegiance to the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) were found in the truck.
This was the second terrorist attack allegedly committed by a winner of the Diversity Immigrant Visa lottery following the 2002 Los Angeles International Airport shooting .
These are a few I remember fairly well. There have been several others over time.
I remember the Boston Marathon bombing quite well, and were they not brothers, and not foreigners?
Nah they were Serbian if I remember correctly.
GUNS, GUNS, GUNS, GUNS, GUNS, GUNS, GUNS, GUNS, GUNS, GUNS, GUNS, GUNS
Okay, but were they not residents in the USA?
I forgot to mention: The Pulse Nightclub was a gay club, which pissed off the perps no end!
Yeah, they sure were.
Makes me think back to when my best friend and I took off for a vacation from when we were in Law School together, we drove to Provincetown in Cape Cod. In our adventures there we went to a night club not realizing it was a gay club, and at the bar started to talk to a beautiful girl, but as soon as we realized it wasn't a girl we were out of there (using an expression that should be familiar to Americans) faster than a speeding bullet. LOL
Okay, breakfast time, see you later.
They were Islamic extremists, I beleive they were of mixed background, their families originaly mainly from two predominently Islamic republics: Chechnya and Dagestan.(ILots of different details-- I think After the Soviet Union broke up Russia invaded Chechny and set up a puppet gov't (?)
Serbians are mainly Christian,Eastern Othodox. (IIRC it was part of Yugoslavia). There have been many different groups in the area and many wars.
Part of Serbia is Kosovo-- although Kosovo claims its an independent country Serbia claims that Kosovo is actually part of Serbia. Kosovo is predominantly Muslim although they are very moderate.
Balkan countries have a fair number of Muslims. They tend to be very moderate! The reason is interesting: the Balkans were part of the Ottoman Empire (ruled by what is now Turkey). And while The Ottoman Empire was totalitarian, their form of islam was very moderate-- so the Muslims in what used to be The Ottoman Empire tend to be very "moderate"
Never forget...............
One of the things I found rather interesting-- everyone remembers or is aware of-- the 9/11 attack. But most people I know don't realize that that was actually the second attack on the WTC by terrorists.
And that was a previous attack way back in 1993. (Which should have been a "wake up call"......
I also remember the attack in '93. At the time, I thought of it as a one-off and just unbelievable. Then, 2001 came. I agree, it should have been a wake-up call.
I also felt it was a unique, one time experience.
Actually for decades most Americans felt we were immune from attack-- because we were from from Europe, The Middle east, etc. That two big oceans (Pacific on the West, Atlantic on the east0lie between us and the rest of the world.
I've hard people praise America for coming to Europes aid when they were attacked and invaded by Nazi Germany.
But the actual fact is that most Americans were against getting involved in WWII< even to help friend under attack. Most Americans felt safe from attack by Imperial Japan and nazi Germany-- so most Americans wanted us to be neutral.
And we were!
(Of course after japan attacked Pearl harbor we had no choice but to end our neutrality and join the Allies....