Theatre or truth:
There are various conspiracy theories that attribute the preparation and execution of the September 11 attacks against the United States to parties other than, or in addition to, al-Qaeda. These include the theory that high-level government officials had advance knowledge of the attacks. Government investigations and independent reviews have rejected these theories. Proponents of these theories assert that there are inconsistencies in the commonly accepted version, or that there exists evidence that was ignored, concealed, or overlooked.
The most prominent conspiracy theory is that the collapse of the Twin Towers and 7 World Trade Center were the result of controlled demolitions rather than structural failure due to impact and fire. Another prominent belief is that the Pentagon was hit by a missile launched by elements from inside the U.S. government, or that hijacked planes were remotely controlled, or that a commercial airliner was allowed to do so via an effective stand-down of the American military. Possible motives claimed by conspiracy theorists for such actions include justifying the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq (even though the U.S. government concluded Iraq was not involved in the attacks) to advance their geostrategic interests, such as plans to construct a natural gas pipeline through Afghanistan. Other conspiracy theories revolve around authorities having advance knowledge of the attacks and deliberately ignoring or assisting the attackers.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the technology magazine Popular Mechanics have investigated and rejected the claims made by 9/11 conspiracy theorists.The 9/11 Commission and most of the civil engineering community accept that the impacts of jet aircraft at high speeds in combination with subsequent fires, not controlled demolition, led to the collapse of the Twin Towers, but some conspiracy theory groups, including Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth, disagree with the arguments made by NIST and Popular Mechanics
Fiction or Fact:
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. That morning, 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners scheduled to travel from the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions of the East Coast to California. The hijackers crashed the first two planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, two of the world's five tallest buildings at the time, and aimed the next two flights toward targets in or near Washington, D.C., in an attack on the nation's capital. The third team succeeded in striking the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense in Arlington County, Virginia, while the fourth plane went down in rural Pennsylvania during a passenger revolt. The September 11 attacks killed 2,977 people, the deadliest terrorist attack in human history, and instigated the multi-decade global war on terror, fought in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere.
The first impact was that of American Airlines Flight 11, which ringleader Mohamed Atta flew into the North Tower of the World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan at 8:46 a.m.[f] Seventeen minutes later, at 9:03,[g] the World Trade Center's South Tower was hit by United Airlines Flight 175. Both 110-story skyscrapers collapsed within an hour and forty-one minutes,[h] bringing about the destruction of the remaining five structures in the WTC complex and damaging or destroying nearby buildings. A third flight, American Airlines Flight 77, crashed into the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m., causing a partial collapse. The fourth and final flight, United Airlines Flight 93, flew in the direction of the capital. Alerted to the previous attacks, the passengers fought for control, forcing the hijackers to nosedive the plane into a Stonycreek Township field, near Shanksville, at 10:03 a.m. Investigators determined that Flight 93's target was either the United States Capitol or the White House.
That evening, the Central Intelligence Agency informed President George W. Bush that its Counterterrorism Center had identified the attacks as having been the work of al-Qaeda under Osama bin Laden's leadership. The United States formally responded by launching the war on terror and invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, which rejected the conditions of U.S. terms to expel al-Qaeda from Afghanistan and extradite its leaders. The U.S.'s invocation of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty—its only usage to date—called upon allies to fight al-Qaeda. As U.S. and NATO invasion forces swept through Afghanistan, bin Laden eluded them by disappearing into the White Mountains. He denied any involvement until 2004, when excerpts of a taped statement in which he accepted responsibility for the attacks were released. Al-Qaeda's cited motivations included U.S. support of Israel, the presence of U.S. military bases in Saudi Arabia and sanctions against Iraq. The nearly decade-long manhunt for bin Laden concluded on May 2, 2011, when he was killed during a U.S. military raid after being tracked down to his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The war in Afghanistan continued for another eight years until the agreement was made in February 2020 for American and NATO troops to withdraw from the country, and the last members of the U.S. armed forces left the region on August 30, 2021, resulting in the return to power of the Taliban.
Excluding the hijackers, the attacks killed 2,977 people, injured thousands more and gave rise to substantial long-term health consequences while also causing at least $10 billion in infrastructure and property damage. It remains the deadliest terrorist attack in human history as well as the deadliest incident for firefighters and law enforcement personnel in US history, killing 343 and 72 members, respectively. The loss of life stemming from the impact of Flight 11 secured its place as the most lethal plane crash in aviation history followed by the death toll incurred by Flight 175. The destruction of the World Trade Center and its environs seriously harmed the U.S. economy and induced global market shocks. Many other countries strengthened anti-terrorism legislation and expanded their powers of law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Cleanup of the World Trade Center site (colloquially "Ground Zero") took eight months and was completed in May 2002, while the Pentagon was repaired within a year. After delays in the design of a replacement complex, construction of the One World Trade Center began in November 2006; it opened in November 2014. Memorials to the attacks include the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City, The Pentagon Memorial in Arlington County, Virginia, and the Flight 93 National Memorial at the Pennsylvania crash site.
Stresa is a comune (municipality) of about 4,600 residents on the shores of Lake Maggiore in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in the Italian region of Piedmont. about 90 kilometres (56 mi) northwest of Milan. It is situated on road and rail routes to the Simplon Pass.
History
The name of the town first appeared in documents on 15 January AD 998 as "Strixsya"; later "Strexia", "Strexa" and "Stresia" were used In the 15th century it grew into a fishing community and owed feudal allegiance to the House of Visconti of Milan.[citation needed] It subsequently came under the control of the Borromeo family.
In 1948 American author and journalist Ernest Hemingway visited the town; he had set part of his 1929 novel Farewell to Arms in the Grand Hotel des Îles Borromées.
Stresa hosted a number of political conferences in the 20th century, including in:
1935 when the UK, Italy and France re-affirmed the Treaty of Locarno and agreed to form the Stresa front to combat and contain Nazi Germany[citation needed] and
1958 when the foundations of what would become Europe's Common Agricultural Policy of the European Economic Community were formulated
Transport
EuroCity train services connect south to Milan and north to Bern and Basel. Ferry-boat service from the town's two docks provides regular access to the nearby Borromean Islands.
Until its May 2021 deadly disaster[4][5] the Stresa-Alpino-Mottarone Cable Car offered a 20-minute ride to the summit of Monte Mottarone, with the Giardino Botanico Alpinia en route. As of late 2023 this is to be rebuilt in 2024 and reenter service in summer 2025.
Main sights
Borromean Islands near Stresa are major points of interest and can be seen from Stresa.
Villa Ducale, commissioned by Giacomo Filippo Bolongaro and dating from about 1770. In 1848 the villa passed to the Italian philosopher Antonio Rosmini-Serbati and today it houses the International Centre for Rosminian Studies.
Villa 'Orto, built in 1900. It was commissioned by the painter Liberto Dell'Orto and designed by Boffi.
The large Villa Pallavicino, between Stresa and Belgirate. It was the inspiration of Ruggero Bonghi in the 1850s and now is the site of a zoological park.
Church of Saints Ambrogio and Theodul (restored in Neoclassical style by Giuseppe Zanoia in 1790)
Villa "La Palazzola"
Famous buildings of Stresa in movies
Villa Castelli, location of the black comedy Beati i ricchi (Blessed Are the Rich) (1972) by Salvatore Samperi, the TV movie horror Ho incontrato un'ombra (1974) by Daniele D'Anza, the thriller The Bishop's Bedroom (La stanza del vescovo) (1977) by Dino Risi and the drama La Sapienza (2014) by Eugène Green.
Hotel Regina Palace, location of Totò al giro d'Italia (1948) by Mario Mattoli, Miss Italia (1950) by Duilio Coletti, Grand Hotel Excelsior (1982) by Castellano & Pipolo.
(Information from the Dizionario del Turismo Cinematografico)
