Shibbir Ahmed, Ground Zero, New York — The United States on Friday marked the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks with memorial ceremonies in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, while the release of newly declassified CIA intelligence records renewed attention on what U.S. officials knew about al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden before the attacks. Nearly 3,000 people were killed when 19 al-Qaida hijackers seized four commercial passenger aircraft and carried out coordinated attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Virginia. United Airlines Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers attempted to regain control of the aircraft.
At Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan, relatives of victims gathered for the annual memorial ceremony and read the names of those killed. The observance began with a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m., the time American Airlines Flight 11 struck the World Trade Center’s North Tower. Vice President JD Vance attended the New York ceremony alongside former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. The gathering brought together current and former national leaders as families commemorated those who died a quarter-century ago.
The ceremony included additional moments of silence marking the attacks on the South Tower, the Pentagon and Flight 93. This year, organizers also included a seventh moment of silence for people who subsequently died from illnesses associated with exposure to toxic materials at the World Trade Center site.
The 9/11 Memorial & Museum said the commemoration remains centered on the victims and their families, with the names of those killed read during the ceremony. The annual Tribute in Light is also scheduled to illuminate the New York skyline Friday evening.
Trump Attends Pentagon Ceremony
President Donald Trump marked the anniversary at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, where American Airlines Flight 77 crashed after being hijacked. The attack killed 184 people at the Pentagon and aboard the aircraft. Trump attended the ceremony with First Lady Melania Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Senior military and government officials also participated in the remembrance.
The Pentagon ceremony focused on the victims and the military personnel, civilian employees and others who lost their lives in the attack. Trump and Hegseth also linked the events of September 11 to current U.S. national-security policy and the country’s military role overseas. Arlington County and other communities in Virginia also held local commemorations honoring residents, first responders and others connected to the Pentagon attack.
Flight 93 Remembered in Pennsylvania
In Shanksville, Pennsylvania, families and visitors gathered at the Flight 93 National Memorial to commemorate the 40 passengers and crew members who died when the hijacked aircraft crashed into a field. The passengers had learned through telephone calls that other hijacked aircraft had struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and attempted to take control of Flight 93. The plane crashed before reaching its intended target. The Pennsylvania observance included the reading of the passengers’ and crew members’ names and a wreath-laying ceremony.
CIA releases 71 intelligence reports
The 25th anniversary also brought a significant new development in Washington. The Central Intelligence Agency released 71 intelligence reports related to the period before and immediately after the September 11 attacks. The collection includes 70 reports prepared before the attacks and one report dated September 12, 2001. The documents were prepared for the President’s Daily Brief and were provided to Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and senior administration officials.
The documents show that U.S. intelligence agencies had been tracking bin Laden and al-Qaida for years before the attacks. A February 1998 report warned about bin Laden’s interest in obtaining chemical, biological and nuclear materials. Other reports discussed his growing network, his activities in Afghanistan and the Taliban’s reluctance to surrender him.
A September 1998 intelligence report described a possible al-Qaida plan involving an explosive-laden aircraft and identified Washington as a preferred target. Later reports discussed possible hijackings and surveillance of locations in the United States.
An August 2001 President’s Daily Brief, already publicly known as “Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US,” warned of suspicious activity in the United States consistent with preparations for hijackings or other attacks. The newly released collection provides additional surrounding intelligence records from that period.
The documents remain partly redacted, and officials said the release does not fundamentally overturn the established historical account of the attacks. Instead, the records provide additional detail about the intelligence available to U.S. officials before September 11.
The 9/11 Commission previously concluded that failures involving intelligence sharing, management, policy and the ability to interpret the available information contributed to the government’s inability to prevent the attacks.
New records revive questions about Ground Zero exposure
In New York, the anniversary has also brought renewed attention to the long-term health consequences of the attacks. Thousands of firefighters, police officers, emergency workers, construction workers, residents and others who were exposed to the dust and debris around the World Trade Center site have developed illnesses associated with the disaster.
The FDNY has continued adding the names of members who died from illnesses linked to their work at Ground Zero. More than 600 firefighters have died from 9/11-related illnesses, according to department figures cited in anniversary coverage.
The city has also begun releasing large collections of records concerning its response to the World Trade Center disaster, including documents related to air quality and the handling of information about environmental hazards after the attacks. The records have renewed questions about what officials knew about the risks in Lower Manhattan and when that information was communicated to residents and workers.
A continuing national security legacy
The attacks prompted major changes in U.S. national security policy. Congress created the Department of Homeland Security, federal agencies expanded counterterrorism operations and intelligence-sharing systems were reorganized. Airport security procedures were substantially expanded, while Congress approved new surveillance authorities.
The attacks also led to the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan against al-Qaida and the Taliban. The United States later invaded Iraq in 2003, beginning two wars that became central to American foreign policy for the following two decades.
The wars resulted in the deaths of thousands of U.S. military personnel and large numbers of civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq. The post-9/11 period also produced prolonged debates over detention, interrogation, surveillance, civil liberties and the balance between national security and individual rights.
Impact on Muslim and South Asian Americans
The attacks also had significant consequences for Muslim, Arab and South Asian communities across the United States. In the years following September 11, members of those communities faced hate crimes, discrimination, profiling and increased scrutiny. At the same time, Muslim and South Asian Americans have become an increasingly visible part of American civic, political and professional life. The 25th anniversary has therefore prompted communities across the country to remember both the victims of the attacks and the broader social consequences that followed.
Texas and communities across the country
The anniversary was not limited to New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Communities across the United States held ceremonies, vigils, memorial services and events honoring victims and first responders. In Houston, an interfaith remembrance brought together volunteers who read the names of those killed on September 11 alongside names associated with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The event reflected a broader effort in some communities to discuss both the attacks and the consequences of the U.S. response. Other communities organized stair climbs, flag displays and local memorial ceremonies, often focusing on residents who died in the attacks or first responders who later became ill.
A 25-year transition
The anniversary comes as the United States enters a period in which a growing portion of the population has no personal memory of September 11. People born after the attacks now make up a significant share of the American population. For victims’ relatives, survivors and first responders, however, the events remain personal rather than historical. At Ground Zero, in Arlington and at Shanksville, the ceremonies continued to place individual victims at the center of the commemoration.
The newly released intelligence documents added another dimension to this year’s anniversary by providing additional evidence of the warnings available to U.S. officials before the attacks.
The records do not offer a simple explanation for why the attacks were not prevented. They instead add to an extensive historical record showing that U.S. agencies had identified bin Laden and al-Qaida as serious threats but failed to translate available intelligence into effective action against the specific plot.
Twenty-five years after September 11, the United States is therefore commemorating the victims while continuing to examine the decisions, intelligence failures, policies and human consequences associated with the attacks and their aftermath.
