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U.S. government response to the September 11 attacks

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the United States government responded by commencing immediate rescue operations at the World Trade Center site, grounding civilian aircraft, and beginning a long-term response that included official investigations, legislative changes, military action, and restoration projects.

See also: U.S. military response during the September 11 attacks

Immediately following the attacks, massive search and rescue operations were launched, and terrorism investigations led to the declaration of War on Terrorism that launched military engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq. The 9/11 Commission inspected the causes and motives of the attacks, and released its findings in the 9/11 Commission Report.


As a result of the attacks, the U.S. federal government enacted the Homeland Security Act of 2002, creating the Department of Homeland Security, and the USA PATRIOT Act, to help detect and prosecute terrorism and other crimes.[1] Subsequent clean-up and restoration efforts led to the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan, and federal grants helped support the development of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, both of which opened in the early 2010s.

Improvements in the way buildings are designed, constructed, maintained, and used

Improved tools and guidance for industry and safety officials

Revisions to building and fire codes, standards, and practices

Improved public safety

Invocation of the continuity of government[edit]

Contingency plans for the continuity of government and the evacuation of leaders were implemented almost immediately after the attacks.[4] Congress, however, was not told that the US was under a continuity of government status until February 2002.[6]

Arrests[edit]

Following the attacks, 762 suspects were taken into custody in the United States.[15] On December 12, 2001, Fox News reported that some 60 Israelis were among them. Federal investigators were reported to have described them as part of a long-running effort to spy on American government officials. A "handful" of these Israelis were described as active Israeli military or intelligence operatives.[16]


In a letter to the editor, Ira Glaser, former head of the ACLU, claimed that none of those 762 detainees were charged with terrorism. "The Justice Department inspector general's report implies more than the violation of the civil liberties of 762 non-citizens. It also implies a dysfunctional and ineffective approach to protecting the public after Sept. 11, 2001.... No one can be made safer by arresting the wrong people".[17]

9/11 Commission

Bush Doctrine

Guantanamo Bay

Project Strike Back

War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)

21 September 2001

TURF BATTLES: Conflicting Visions of How to Rebuild Lower Manhattan, New York Times

19 September 2001

briefing by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld

19 September 2001

THE MILITARY: Scarcity of Afghan Targets Leads U.S. to Revise Strategy, New York Times

17 September 2001

MILITARY ANALYSIS: A New War and Its Scale, New York Times

17 September 2001

THE WHITE HOUSE: Bush Warns of a Wrathful, Shadowy and Inventive War, New York Times

14 September 2001

MILITARY ANALYSIS: U.S. Force vs. Terrorists: From Reactive to Active, New York Times

14 September 2001

NEWS ANALYSIS: No Middle Ground, New York Times

14 September 2001

MOBILIZATION: Rumsfeld Asks Call-Up of Reserves, as many as 50,000, New York Times

20 September 2001

When Journalists Report for Duty

NIST reports on WTC, to be released tomorrow: 23 June 2005

Archived December 25, 2018, at the Wayback Machine March 2, 2002

CBS News article - 'Shadow Government' News to Congress