9/11: The Significance of Numbers

It is easy to say "9/11". Bush says it so often it seems like we've always heard it.

But what lies behind the significance of those three numbers? They literally flow from the tongue. They seem to go together.

If the attacks had occurred on June 6, would we have heard "6/9" all the time? Or if they had transpired a month later, would "10/11" have had the same familiarity?

Certain numbers and combination of numbers are familiar to most Americans because of our culture. If you say "666" to most people, they have not only heard of it, but have a vague notion about its religious significance. The number 13 is considered by many to be an unlucky number. Other numbers have become verbs: 69, 86 and 10-4 are part of our vernacular.

And then there's 911. Before the terrorist attacks most Americans were familiar with those numbers. Even small children were taught to learn them. Advertising campaigns drilled the significance of those numbers into all of us. Television shows incorporated the numbers into their titles. Police and other emergency responders had "911" displayed on vehicles.

We hear "9/11" so much these days it's easy to become inured to them. They fit easily into sentences much better than dates like "6/9" or "5/18". If the attacks had occurred on "4/20", would that be in nearly every speech? Think of the difficulty in referring to the terrorist attacks in a "chronological shorthand".

Not only did the terrorists thwart the most sophisticated defense network in the world with box-cutters, they chose the perfect date. It is well known, it is not awkward to say quickly or to fit into a sentence and already carries with it the connotation of emergency. 911 was and is a big part of our culture and every time we hear those numbers, even in their original context, we are doomed to think about the terrorist attacks.

Were the terrorists also masters of American psychology?

like the actual 'attack' that day.

It is rather remarkable, isn't it? Remarkable indeed.

INDEED!!

:hi:

Psychology is a part of their approach. Fear, intimidation, guilt, etc. are some of the tools at their command.

Soon these guys will seem to be superhuman.

Nine-eleven vs. nine-one-one.

But I find the need to CALL 911 on 9/11 extremely interesting.

the emergency numbers in other countries are not the same..not 911. Only an american..and the american culture would be impacted as we were by that particular number...make of that what u will.

Clearly that was not their idea. My tin foil hat says 119 would not have had the same meaning in the US.

A lot of "lucky" things seem to have happened on that day.

If I apply Occam's Razor....

I believe the date was chosen partly for its psychological impact. You can never escape those numbers. They are on the back of police vehicles, in your phone book, et cetera, et cetera.

Too many co-inky-dinks for me to dismiss the 9-11 connection. Remember, though, that the CIA coup which installed Pinochet also occurred on September 11. (1973, IIRC) So, who knows what threads tie these events together?

Perhaps there is a thread that ties all this together.

I would surmise the thread is hiding in plain sight.

According to the "9/11 commission", UBL wanted to attack some time earlier in the summer of 2001, but it was delayed due to preparedness. So according to the report 9/11 was just a coincidence.

The problem with Bushco, that are way too many coincidences...

There are no coincidences!

head saying (as somehow he had inside knowledge) that the attacks were really going to occur on 9/10, but the sky was overcast that morning, so it went to the next day.

This has fallen off the face of the Earth. I would love to be able to remember who this was and when.

I've gone back to the New York Times microfilm archives and looked up the weather charts for the days preceeding 9/11/2001. Yes, the weather was overcast on Monday, 9/10/2001. And Tuesday's forecast was for clear skies . . .

And it caught on.

We call the bombing of that building in Oklahoma City in 1995 the Oklahoma City Bombing", few remember the exact day it was. It was April 19, 1995 - the short form would be 4/19. Not very exiting. BUT if it was the 14th, it would have been 4/14. Or the 4th: 4/4

Nobody called the attack on Pearl Harbour 12/7 or 7/12.

My guess is if it had happened the day before, we would call it the Sept. 10 attacks or the Trade Centre attacks. If it happened on Labour Day, we would call it the "Labour Day Attacks" and wonder why terrorists picked that particular day.

But Atta wasn't ready yet, so the numbers 9/11 really have no significance.

in British culture to those numbers