>Its hard to believe now, but the idea of a deliberate attack on civilians was really not on most people's radar at all.
Though people were far less concerned about it than now, it's not fair to say it wasn't on their radar at all. The WTC had already been attacked once, and Timothy McVeigh was executed for the Oklahoma City Bombing only a few months before 9/11.
Even on the day, in that twenty minute window between crashes the general narrative was it might be an attack, just no reason to think it is yet.
Though people were far less concerned about it than now, it's not fair to say it wasn't on their radar at all. The WTC had already been attacked once, and Timothy McVeigh was executed for the Oklahoma City Bombing only a few months before 9/11.
Even on the day, in that twenty minute window between crashes the general narrative was it might be an attack, just no reason to think it is yet.