ABSTRACT
The September 11, 2001, terrorist attack killed almost 3000 American civilians and destroyed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, part of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and four commercial airliners with all of their passengers. Was this attack an act of war requiring a warlike response or was it an enormous crime requiring a massive increase in criminal justice resources and authority? That question has been the subject of intense debate since the attack.
