September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks (also referred to as 9/11) were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda against the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. The attacks killed 2,996 people, injured over 6,000 others, and caused at least $10 billion in infrastructure and property damage. Additional people died of 9/11-related cancer and respiratory diseases in the months and years following the attacks.
United Kingdom–United States relations
67 Britons were among the 2,977 victims killed during the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, and in an open field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 2001, which were orchestrated by al-Qaeda. Following the 11 September 2001 attacks, there was an enormous outpouring of sympathy from the United Kingdom for the American people, and Tony Blair was one of George W. Bush's strongest international supporters for bringing al-Qaeda and the Taliban to justice. Indeed, Blair became the most articulate spokesman. He was the only foreign leader to attend an emergency joint session of Congress called immediately after the attacks (and remains the only foreign leader ever to attend such a session), where he received two standing ovations from members of Congress. During this session of Congress, President George W. Bush stated matter-of-factly that "America has no truer friend than Great Britain".