At the time, my girlfriend and I would call each other in the morning just to get the day started. That day, she called and said that a plane had hit the WTC. At that point, it was not known if it was a small plane or not or whether it was accidental.
After we hung , she called back again saying a second plane had hit the other tower. I went to her place and we watched the events unfold on her TV (I didn't have one). At first, we were focused on the difficulties of rescuing those in the towers. There were confused reports and all sorts of rumors being mentioned.
Then the first tower collapsed (actually, tower 2). We were just numb. The estimate was that there were 50,000 people in the towers. I found out later that 99% were evacuated from below the crash site.
Watching the news, it was clear that the second tower was starting to tilt. Then it came down.
After that, I had a calculus class to teach. On my way up to campus, I remember someone saying they heard something happened to the WTC and I simply said 'both towers are gone'. The class had an Islamic student who wore a hijab and we ended up talking about the likelihood of war, the differences between the Taliban and other Islamic groups, the history of why the US isn't so well liked in many places, etc.
The US had the support of the world on that day. NOBODY questioned the invasion of Afghanistan and its legitimacy. But, by refusing to do 'nation building' and getting diverted into Iraq, we squandered all of that.
Now, the Taliban is back in power. The US never quite understood the people of Afghanistan, their history, and why they might not think our invasion wasn't the blessing we thought it was. Maybe, just maybe, if we had listened more to those there, we would be in a different place today. But that doens't seem to be the way of the US.
After we hung , she called back again saying a second plane had hit the other tower. I went to her place and we watched the events unfold on her TV (I didn't have one). At first, we were focused on the difficulties of rescuing those in the towers. There were confused reports and all sorts of rumors being mentioned.
Then the first tower collapsed (actually, tower 2). We were just numb. The estimate was that there were 50,000 people in the towers. I found out later that 99% were evacuated from below the crash site.
Watching the news, it was clear that the second tower was starting to tilt. Then it came down.
After that, I had a calculus class to teach. On my way up to campus, I remember someone saying they heard something happened to the WTC and I simply said 'both towers are gone'. The class had an Islamic student who wore a hijab and we ended up talking about the likelihood of war, the differences between the Taliban and other Islamic groups, the history of why the US isn't so well liked in many places, etc.
The US had the support of the world on that day. NOBODY questioned the invasion of Afghanistan and its legitimacy. But, by refusing to do 'nation building' and getting diverted into Iraq, we squandered all of that.
Now, the Taliban is back in power. The US never quite understood the people of Afghanistan, their history, and why they might not think our invasion wasn't the blessing we thought it was. Maybe, just maybe, if we had listened more to those there, we would be in a different place today. But that doens't seem to be the way of the US.
