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Handout B: September Eleventh True or False

September Eleventh True or False

  1. President George W. Bush was the first President to order strikes on Islamic terrorists.
    False: Thomas Jefferson was the first.
  2. Since most of the September 11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, Bush ordered military strikes against that country.
    False: He ordered a strike against Afghanistan, where the Taliban government was harboring Osama bin Laden, the leader of the hijackers.
  3. The overwhelming majority of victims on September 11, 2001 were civilians.
    True
  4. President Bush’s approval rating was over 90% when Congress enacted the USA-PATRIOT Act (an act strengthening law enforcement power to find and capture terrorists.)
    True
  5. The US declared war on Afghanistan when the Taliban government refused to hand over Osama bin Laden.
    False: Congress never declared war. (And only Congress has the power to do so.)
  6. In December of 2001, a CBS poll showed that a large majority of Americans supported giving President Bush “special war powers”.
    True