Episode 1: The Bullet

The 9/11 attacks were not an isolated event but the culmination of a decade-long global power struggle, characterized by the unintended consequences of U.S. foreign policy. Sayyid Nosair’s 1990 assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane serves as a pivotal case study, illustrating the emergence of violent jihadist cells within the United States. This radicalization was fueled by the Mujahideen’s war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, a conflict the CIA covertly supported through a marriage of convenience with extremist recruiters like Abdullah Azzam. By arming and training these fighters to counter Soviet influence, the U.S. inadvertently created a training ground for global insurgency, fostering the rise of Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. This history of "blowback" highlights how flawed decisions made under pressure with partial information set the stage for the eventual destruction of the World Trade Center.