Beyond the Towers
9/11 changed the world. This compelling four-part special tracks the US-led response to the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City and Washington D.C – and the subsequent unravelling of the Middle East. Beyond the Towers traces the US quest for vengeance directed against Al Qaeda bases in Afghanistan and against the extreme Islamist Taliban government which had protected them. Over time the Afghanistan campaign evolved into what US President George W. Bush called a global ‘war on terror’. Many Muslims regarded ‘the war on terror’ as a western ‘crusade’ against the Islamic religion and fought back accordingly.
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Ep 1Vengeance
In September 2001, mass murder in New York and Washington by the Al Qaeda terrorist group propelled the United States and its allies, including Australia, into a 20 year war in Afghanistan which they could not win.
Ep 2Fiasco
The 9/11 attacks were regarded by the United States as justification for trying to re-make the Middle East, but the Saddam Hussein dictatorship was replaced with chaos and the slaughter of civilians; the war was a fiasco.
Ep 3Black Flag
In 2014, Islamic extremists parading black flags swept across northern Syria and Iraq smashing the Iraqi Army before declaring a Caliphate across a vast area.
Ep 4Twin Pillars
In response to 9/11, the US-led invasion of Iraq strengthens Iran's influence across the Middle East and sharpens its rivalry with Saudi Arabia throughout a long and bloody proxy war in Yemen.
ABC TV
AU
