Here are a couple of retrospective posts that I wrote years ago. Also one I wrote from a Jewish perspective. And what we, as a country, have lost.
To steal from the last link:
In YearSixteen years on. The Middle East remains a chaotic mess due to the aftermath of the Iraq War, a completely unnecessary endeavor. As I wrote in some of the posts linked above, thanks to the ignoring of the situation in Afghanistan for seven years, any chance of securing that country was squandered.TenSixteen of the [Afghan] war, the best that the commanders can say at the Five O'Clock Follies is that "tangible progress" has been made. Many more American fighting men and women will be killed and maimed. At least another trillion dollars will be spent. There is no end in sight for this war.
At home, we surrendered rights and liberties without much debate because we took a sucker punch. There has been no serious attempt to repeal or roll back the Bush
When it comes to civil liberties and freedoms, 9-11 was a defeat for Americans. Between massive deficit spending on the military (always a favorite of the GOP when they have the checkbook) and instability in the Middle East that has its roots in what the United States did post 9-11, it can be fairly argued that al Qaeda accomplished most of its goals for the attacks.
Even though he now rests in a watery grave in the Indian Ocean, the true victor of 9-11 was Osama bin Ladin.
UPDATE: From the comments section:
I cannot argue with any of this.
ReplyDeleteSucks aeh? Don't need a tattoo.
ReplyDeleteA brilliant asymmetrical victory by Bin Laden who read the GOP perfectly. Who we made into a martyr by the grandstanding Seals, every one of which wrote a best-selling tell-all book and a screenplay in the standard Sarah Palin, grifter GOP, American Sniper mode. It's the American way, 'Navy Seals-Secretely Blow off the Heads of our Nation's Enemies and Then Blab and Get Rich.' Our many, many teams of paid assassins belive secrecy is outmoded when fortunes can be made.
ReplyDelete"Don't need a tattoo"... explain, if you please.
ReplyDeleteTo never forget.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest, most destructive, and most dangerous vehicle they took control of and crashed into America was the Congress.
ReplyDeleteI remember, days afterword, pundits saying nobody could have imagined that scenario. I was screaming at the TV Tom Clancy had written a book about using a jet as a guided missile to take out the government. With 'curveball' and all the other failures from our national 'leadership', Operation Iraqi Liberation was a great success for those who sold it - the rest of the country was just there to pay the bill.
ReplyDeleteDebt of Honor", yes.
ReplyDeleteI think the surprise was not expecting suicide hijackings coupled with our banning of 4" Pirates of the Caribbean toy flintlock pistols but not box cutters.
The Running Man, 1982, ends with the protagonist flying a DC-10 into a skyscraper to kill his antagonist.
ReplyDeleteAnd we're still using the AUMF they passed to justify the wars we fight, even ones that don't have a damn thing to do with the attack. Something like 37 military operations in 14 countries.
ReplyDeleteBarbara Lee has been trying to repeal that AUMF since it passed, and this year she managed to get it into an appropriations bill in committee, only to have Ryan strip it out without a vote.
9-11 has, among other things, been turned into an ATM for defense contractors who tend to be the ones who get rich off of our over-reaction to it.
Then there's this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXToviObdoA
"We think we can make ourselves safer by making ourselves less free. I'll tell you something: When you make yourself less free, all that happens afterward is that you are less free, you are not safer."
-Doug in Oakland
The Towering Inferno didn't collapse.
ReplyDeleteAnd hey, boys and girls, guess what? Bin Laden's son is stepping up to the plate and he's pissed. This from West Point:
ReplyDeletehttps://ctc.usma.edu/posts/hamza-bin-ladin-from-steadfast-son-to-al-qaidas-leader-in-waiting
That's America, winning friends and influencing people the world over.
Stewart: I was wondering what would come in to fill the power vacuum being created by the squashing of ISIS. Interesting read.
ReplyDelete-Doug in Oakland