Why 9/11 Occurred on September 11

Why 9/11 Occurred on September 11

by Andrew Stunich

11 Sep, 2008

Very few people seem to be aware of why it was that Al-Qaeda chose September 11 for the date of a devastating, carefully planned attack on the United States, but the information is illuminating and worthy of discussion. A better understanding of what drives Islamic terrorism assists in helping to understand why most Westerners' lack of any sense of history is dangerous. Conversely, Islamic terrorists are driven by events that occurred hundreds of years ago. They comprehend that Islam and Western Culture have been locked in mortal confrontation for approximately 1,400 years with a brief interlude that has caused Western culture to forget what is at stake and what is at risk.

Part of the motivation of Islamic terrorists is to reverse the trend of decline in the Islamic world relative to Western culture that many trace as far back to September 11, 1683 when a large Turkish army was humiliatingly crushed by Europeans at the Battle of Vienna.

In 1683, the Ottoman Turks attacked Vienna. The Turks viewed Vienna as the gateway to hegemony over all of Western Europe. The resulting battle of Vienna was a watershed moment in history. The Turks had made elaborate preparations and had assembled resources and Jihadists eager for booty from throughout the Ottoman Empire. Europe was quite vulnerable as it was fractured into warring kingdoms and weakened by internecine squabbles that nearly allowed the Turks to conquer the European continent. However, the Turkish preparations were so elaborate that they could not be hidden and the Europeans were able to form agreements or treaties to assist each other against the Turks that proved decisive and which changed the course of human history.

The Battle of Vienna was a hard-fought war with an uncertain outcome. The Turks nearly conquered the city. All that saved Europe was the arrival of a relief force headed by Polish King Jan Sobieski. Jan Sobieski and his troops won a major victory against the Turkish forces on September 11, 1683. The victory was so compete that Polish King Jan Sobieski purportedly described the windfall in a letter to his wife as follows:

"Ours are treasures unheard of ... tents, sheep, cattle and no small number of camels ... it is victory as nobody ever knew of, the enemy now completely ruined, everything lost for them. They must run for their sheer lives . . ."

Educated, fundamentalist Muslims feel the sting of the defeat hundreds of years later. In their view, they are the recipients of Allah's final revelation and it is humiliating to them that their "perfect" Islamic culture has declined relative to Western culture. They seek to reverse the trend and September 11 was carefully chosen to try and reverse the course of history and create a new September 11 that the Islamic world could celebrate. . .

http://www.islam-watch.org/Stunich/Why-9.11-Occurred-on-September-11.htm