One 911 Tally $3.3 Trillion

Al Qaeda spent roughly half a million dollars to destroy the World Trade Center and cripple the Pentagon. In a survey of estimates by The New York Times, the answer is $3.3 trillion, or about $7 million for every dollar Al Qaeda spent planning and executing the attacks. While not all of the costs have been borne by the government this total equals one-fifth of the current national debt. This visualization by The New York Times breaks down the cost in each area such as economic impact, toll and physical impact, and homeland security related costs.