Welcome to the On-Line Book, “September 11, 2001: United States and the World”

Welcome to the internet only book, September 11, 2001: United States and the World.  In this website you can find what the book is about, the book itself, films and multimedia related to 9/11, and teaching materials on a course I co-taught on 9/11 for the American Studies Center, University of Warsaw.

Dutch Architect’s Twin Towers Design Draws 9/11 Family Ire

To show that sensitivity to 9/11 has not abated that much:

SEOUL (Reuters) – A Dutch architectural firm has apologized for its design of twin skyscrapers in central Seoul which resemble the exploding World Trade Center towers in New York and have infuriated families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks.

The blueprint for the luxury apartment buildings was released last week and shows a structure which juts out at the middle to accommodate pools, restaurants, cafes and a gym.

Relatives of victims of al Qaeda’s September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States have expressed outrage, according to U.S. media reports, saying the designers have no respect for those that died and branding the design a cheap publicity stunt.

Designer MVRDV said it had not intended to create an image resembling the attacks, and it did not see the resemblance during the design process.

“We sincerely apologize to anyone whose feelings we have hurt. It was not our intention,” the company said on its website.

It did not indicate whether it would change the design.

“A real media storm has started and we receive threatening emails and calls of angry people calling us al Qaeda lovers or worse,” it said on its Facebook page.

The district developer is expected to decide on the final design plans by March.

Anwar al-Awlaki Assassinated, Officials Say

After an unsuccessful attempt to sue the U.S. government over their assassination order targeting him, officials now say that Al-Awlaki is dead:

Sanaa, Yemen (CNN) – American-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who preached terror as the public face of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, was killed Friday in Yemen, the nation’s Defense Ministry said.

A Yemeni government official told CNN that an airstrike hit al-Awlaki’s motorcade but gave no details about the operation or who conducted it.

The United States regarded al-Awlaki as a terrorist who posed a major threat to American homeland security. Western intelligence officials believe al-Awlaki was a senior leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), one of the most active al Qaeda affiliates that has been linked to the attempt to blow up an airliner over Detroit in December 2009 and a cargo plane plot last year.

Al-Awlaki was killed about 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the Yemeni town of Khashef, east of the capital, Sanaa, said Mohammed Basha, a Yemen Embassy spokesman in Washington. He said the operation was launched at 9:55 a.m.

A senior U.S. administration official confirmed al-Awlaki’s death. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to CNN because he was not authorized to release the information and did not provide any other information.