WI: 9/11 was larger?

In this universe, the 9/11 attacks are larger, striking many cities:
  • New York
  • Ottawa
  • Rio de Janerio
  • London
  • Paris
  • Berlin
  • Moscow
  • Beijing
  • Tokyo
  • Sydney
  • Cape Town
What now?
 
In this universe, the 9/11 attacks are larger, striking many cities:
  • New York
  • Ottawa
  • Rio de Janerio
  • London
  • Paris
  • Berlin
  • Moscow
  • Beijing
  • Tokyo
  • Sydney
  • Cape Town
What now?

Lets see a sneak attack of massive perportions on multiple great powers.

Yeah expect a grand alliance against the Taliban, I give the GA 50/50 odds of getting Binladin before he escapes into Pakistan, I also think that he gets captured and killed sooner even if he makes it there. If Pakistan is found to have hidden him the response wont be as light as OTL instead expect immidate sactions on the country.

In the good news the international front has 5-10 years of people getting along better because of their mutual enemy. So add a 2-10% boost to the Russian economy.
 

nbcman

Donor
In this universe, the 9/11 attacks are larger, striking many cities:
  • New York
  • Ottawa
  • Rio de Janerio
  • London
  • Paris
  • Berlin
  • Moscow
  • Beijing
  • Tokyo
  • Sydney
  • Cape Town
What now?
Why Ottawa in Canada instead of Montreal or Toronto? Cape Town-Is SA that significant of an opponent to AQ?

I think we could see a full scale war of religion btw Islam and Christianity.
As there aren't a lot of Christians in Beijing and Tokyo, I don't think your dire prediction is very probable.
 

DougM

Donor
I think any and alll terrorist supporting nations that don’t immediately turn belly up will in very short order get run over. The Presidents statement of “Your eaither with us or your against us” type of thing will be backed by every major power in the world.
Places like Iraq, Iran, Libia And even North Korea will find themselves being ran over by this super coalition in VERY short order.

And the idea of security screening that doesn’t profile is right out the window. So any Aribic looking individual WILL be subjected to greater scrutiny. Non of this stuff where an elderly grandma gets extra screening while there 20 something Men from the Middle East hardly getvlooked at stuff.

It will be a very bad world to be from the Middle East in. You will also see absolutely ZERO ‘refugees” making it into Europe like we see currently.

So overall a much different world then today
 
No point in hijacking that many planes (more risky) when you could use explosives (as Tim McVeigh did in OKC) to instead to attack those crowded airports to cause far more damage (including shutdowns of passenger/freight transport).
 

nbcman

Donor
No point in hijacking that many planes (more risky) when you could use explosives (as Tim McVeigh did in OKC) to instead to attack those crowded airports to cause far more damage (including shutdowns of passenger/freight transport).
However, the mass hijacking caused complete shutdown of flights to include air freight. Even striking dozens of airports with a higher casualty count wouldn't cause that level of impact on aircraft movement.
 
However, the mass hijacking caused complete shutdown of flights to include air freight. Even striking dozens of airports with a higher casualty count wouldn't cause that level of impact on aircraft movement.

No idea what the response would have been at that point, but if a truck bomb had been detonated at, say, Memphis International (back in 2001, an important regional airport and of course a major air freight hub) and killed 1,000+ (not hard if the terrorists attacked at the right hour on the right day), I'm just guessing that airport would be shut down for a good while (if they specifically focused on the freight operations there, like the FedEx Flight 705 incident, the result is even worse). IOTL, they already had won with their impact on air travel, anything else, like attacks at major air hubs like Los Angeles, Frankfurt, etc., is just "running up the score". It's very fortunate al-Qaeda decided to go for pure shock (i.e. destroying major landmarks) and not for pure casualties. Especially when Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had a good clue on how to do a terrorist attack against the US.
 
Why Ottawa in Canada instead of Montreal or Toronto? Cape Town-Is SA that significant of an opponent to AQ?


As there aren't a lot of Christians in Beijing and Tokyo, I don't think your dire prediction is very probable.

Attacking non-western, non-Christian, non-white countries would be very much off-message for bin laden's propaganda offensive. The blowback theory(not entirely unreasonable, but definitely exploited by al qaeda apologists for their own ends) would be shredded to bits.

AL QAEDA: Take that, imperialistic western scum!!

EVERYONE ELSE: Uhh, Tokyo?

And, yes, there are lots of "little Eichmans" in Tokyo who make money off of exploiting the third world. But, let's be honest, no one ever signed up to join Al Qaeda so they could stick it to Toyota.
 
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nbcman

Donor
No idea what the response would have been at that point, but if a truck bomb had been detonated at, say, Memphis International (back in 2001, an important regional airport and of course a major air freight hub) and killed 1,000+ (not hard if the terrorists attacked at the right hour on the right day), I'm just guessing that airport would be shut down for a good while (if they specifically focused on the freight operations there, like the FedEx Flight 705 incident, the result is even worse). IOTL, they already had won with their impact on air travel, anything else, like attacks at major air hubs like Los Angeles, Frankfurt, etc., is just "running up the score". It's very fortunate al-Qaeda decided to go for pure shock (i.e. destroying major landmarks) and not for pure casualties. Especially when Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had a good clue on how to do a terrorist attack against the US.
I agree that AQ could have run up the casualty tally but the impact would have been limited to the specific airports attacked. And many airports are multiple terminal facilities so the attack may knock out one terminal and the air ops for those airlines but other terminals/airlines would relatively quickly continue operations. For example, LAX has 8 semi or completely independent domestic terminals plus an international terminal. JFK currently has 6 independent terminals.
 
> Sydney

Within five years of the incident people in Melbourne are grumbling they weren’t important enough to get hit.

More so than in DC or NY the casualties are minimal. None of Sydney’s icons of western capitalism are highly populated unusually designed working buildings. They’re a bridge with fewer than 1600 people in the impact zone. Most of those if they’re lucky and two trains are passing each other while it is chock full of busses. Except it is 1 am or so. Similarly with the Opera House. 1 am is a shitty time to play flight simulator.

Despite the minimal casualties the hysteria that Howard could play like a fiddle extends. I probably wind up with many friends with a string of arrest warrants and broken bones from anti war protest. The greens are probably pushed further into anti war and anti imperialism, the environmental militance movement taking a back seat.

The army gets a flood of potential recruits. Most unsuitable. Most pissed off when SBS and SAS end up doing most of the work under the media strategy of controlled casualties from an elite.

A bunch of young men and women die from STDs, forklift accidents, drunk on leave. And maybe a few land mines.
 
In this universe, the 9/11 attacks are larger, striking many cities:
  • New York
  • Ottawa
  • Rio de Janerio
  • London
  • Paris
  • Berlin
  • Moscow
  • Beijing
  • Tokyo
  • Sydney
  • Cape Town
What now?
For this to happen you need a wholly different Al Queda. They hit America because it was the Great Satan who their religious backers gave decrees were unjustly occupying Muslim lands.
They just didn't hit the US for the sake of it.
 
Well, if they succeed with a large attack in Beijing, it'll be the Chinese army facing the Taliban, not the Americans, and the Uyghur persecution happening now in 2019 go into overdrive 18 years earlier. Russia probably razes much of the northern Caucasus in a manner that would embarrass Tamerlane. Much scarier world.
 
If the attack on the WTC had happened just a few hours later the death toll could have easily exceeded 50-75K. As it was the attack happened so early that the buildings were still fairly empty and Manhattan wasn't chock full of tourists and commuters.

I can't imagine what the response would have been to 75K dead Americans.
 
Well, if they succeed with a large attack in Beijing, it'll be the Chinese army facing the Taliban, not the Americans, and the Uyghur persecution happening now in 2019 go into overdrive 18 years earlier. Russia probably razes much of the northern Caucasus in a manner that would embarrass Tamerlane. Much scarier world.
Russia had several major terrorist attacks in the 00s like the Beslan siege, yet didn't go full scorched earth.
 
For this to happen you need a wholly different Al Queda. They hit America because it was the Great Satan who their religious backers gave decrees were unjustly occupying Muslim lands.
They just didn't hit the US for the sake of it.

OBL said in one of his later communiques, addressed to Americans, "Ask yourself, why do we not attack Sweden?" The general thrust of that point is negated if he's attacking non-American, middle-power countries all over the world.
 
OBL said in one of his later communiques, addressed to Americans, "Ask yourself, why do we not attack Sweden?" The general thrust of that point is negated if he's attacking non-American, middle-power countries all over the world.
Exactly. There was a point to AQ: I'm not saying I agree but they did what they did for a reason. Going cartoon villan and attacking Tokyo, Beijing and even Rio would be absurd.
 
In this universe, the 9/11 attacks are larger, striking many cities:
  • New York
  • Ottawa
  • Rio de Janerio
  • London
  • Paris
  • Berlin
  • Moscow
  • Beijing
  • Tokyo
  • Sydney
  • Cape Town
What now?

How do they coordinate? If they intend to attack NY as OTL then it is afternoon in London, Paris and Cape town, evening in Moscov and i belive night in Beijing, Tokyo, Sidey
 
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