【明報專訊】The 9/11 attacks in 2001 were the first foreign attacks on US soil since World War II. 2,996 people died, the landmark Twin Towers in New York crumbled, and the Pentagon in D.C. was hit. To the US, these were a massive humiliation. Nine days later, then US President George W. Bush announced a war on terrorism. The intelligence he received showed that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had long been in close contact with the Islamic extremist organisation al-Qaeda. President Bush vowed to launch pre-emptive strikes against the perpetrators of 9/11. That began the US' planning to strike Iraq.