Why was America attacked on September 11, 2001?
What were the reasons given and what are your thoughts on why a bunch of foreigners decided to attack America.?
Much as most people fail to put December 7 in the correct military context, I believe that most fail to see the "full picture' in September 11.
Mostly I see September 11 in much the same way as December 7th: A great miscalculation as to what the response of the US would be.
From 1996-2001, Afghanistan had been involved in a Civil War, with the Taliban on one side, and the Northern Alliance on the other. And while the US was technically uninvolved, we were tentatively supporting Ahmad Shah Massoud and the Northern Alliance.
Ahmad Shah Massoud and the US had a relationship going back to the Soviet-Afghan War. He was the largest recipient of aid from the US, and had a close working relationship with the CIA. He was also the lynchpin of the Northern Alliance, and the biggest thorn in the Taliban.
And on 9 September 2001 he was assassinated by al-Queda, at the request of the Taliban.
I see this as a part of a one-two punch, intending to give them total control of Afghanistan. First they assassinate the biggest leader opposing them, then they distract the US so they will not get involved in time to prevent their taking over the country.
They saw the US as weak, impotent, and figured they would not know who to place the blame on, and even if we did would only do like President Clinton did before: launch a few cruise missiles and declare a victory.