The events of September 11, 2001 have changed the world forever.
9/11 dawned as a normal day, until around 9 am, when planes turned into missiles and hurtled into the Twin Towers. Americans discovered that there was a hijacking and plane attack on the Pentagon as well, while a fourth attacked was aborted.
Suddenly America woke up to its biggest attack in history.
Immediately, the US turned around and blamed Al Qaeda militants led by Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan for harboring terrorists.
The fall out was the US invasion into Afghanistan, where the US spent $20 billion over two decades trying to defeat the Taliban.
Although the US realized the strategic importance of a stable Afghanistan for gaining a foothold in Asia, its justification for staying on after the defeat of Bin Laden grew weaker with time.
In 2021, the US withdrew in haste from Afghanistan, leaving behind thousands of Afghans who had sided with them, and who are still desperately trying to leave the impoverished country.