September 17, 2001

Pictures of the wreckage become clearer and more abundant.  Information about what happened abounds exponentially.

On September 17, ISI Director Lt. Gen. Mahmood Ahmed heads a six-man delegation that visits Mullah Omar in Kandahar, Afghanistan. It is reported he is trying to convince Omar to extradite bin Laden or face an immediate US attack.

The supreme leader of Afghanistan's hardline Taliban says a grand council of Islamic clerics will decide whether to hand over bin Laden.

CIA Connects Moussaoui to 9/11 Hijackers through Malaysia Summit Host.

The list of people FBI wants detained in the United States and abroad grows to nearly 200.

Bush gives the CIA broad powers to capture, kill, and/or interrogate high-ranking al-Qaeda figures.

Commissioner Bob Kerrey says that NORAD gives a briefing at the White House on this day. He adds, “...and it feels like something happened in that briefing that produced almost a necessity to deliver a story that’s different than what actually happened on that day.” The next day, NORAD releases a timeline of 9/11 events detailing fighter response times. The 9/11 Commission later strongly disputes many details from NORAD’s timeline. For instance, the timeline claims that NORAD is notified about the hijacking of Flight 93 at 9:16 a.m., but the commission concludes that when the plane crashes after 10:00 a.m., NORAD still had not been notified. (9/11 Commission Report-PDF; On-line)

President Bush signs a 2 1/2-page “top secret” document that outlines the administration’s plan to invade Afghanistan and topple its government. According to administration officials interviewed by the Washington Post, the document also instructs the Pentagon to begin planning for an invasion of Iraq.

The New York Stock Exchange, closed since the 9/11 attacks, reopens. During the next five days, the Dow Jones drops nearly 2000 points, but then soon rebounds to above pre-9/11 levels. The attacks caused more than $20 billion in property damage to buildings in New York City and Washington. According to one estimate, the work stoppage and other loss of economic output costs about another $47 billion, making the attacks the costliest man-made disaster in US history.

The Federal Reserve cuts its key interest rate to try to keep the economy from plunging into a recession. Investors send stocks reeling on Wall Street's first day of trading since the attacks.

Jerry Falwell apologizes for putting his foot in  his mouth, saying his comments about Americans being responsible for 9/11 attacks because of immoral behavior, calling the comments "ill-timed."

President Bush signs a directive giving the CIA the authority to kill or capture suspected al-Qaeda members and to set up a global network of secret detention facilities—“black sites”—for imprisoning and interrogating them.



CBS News Anchor Dan Rather Says He Is Giving Bush Administration ‘Benefit of Any Doubt’ after 9/11. (Less than a year later, Rather will say in another interview that he has not been aggressive enough in reporting since 9/11 for fear of being seen as unpatriotic.)



In Jordan, Jordanians attend a remembrance service at Amman Citadel to show solidarity with the terrorism victims and their families. More than 10,000 people have paid their respects at the U.S. Embassy in Amman.

September 17, 2001

  Source: AP Photo

All photos of 9/11 destruction were taken on 9/17/2001.