The Tragedies of 9/11 That Still Plague Us
We owe it to the victims and veterans to learn the lessons of the War on Terror
Today we remember the brave souls we lost in the horrible terrorist attack on September 11th, 2001. Al Qaeda terrorists led by Osama bin Laden carried out a desperate attack on New York City and the Pentagon, hijacking 4 planes and flying them kamikaze-style into the towers of the World Trade Center, and into the Pentagon. The fourth plane was famously brought down by patriotic passengers, who got word from their loved ones and crashed that plane rather than let it be used as another cursed arrow in the heart of the free people of America.
9/11 stands out as a day in history - like Pearl Harbor or the Moon Landing - in which every one who was alive remembers where they were when it happened. We remember sharing hugs with strangers, crying and praying quietly together with hope and dread for the coming days, months and years.
We seldom reflect, however, on the other ways our society changed post 9/11. Before the attack, America had won the Cold War. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and Germany was re-unified in 1991. That same year, 15 former Soviet states declared their independence and the Soviet Parliament in Russia voted to disband itself. America spent the 1990s in a huge, post-war economic boom, fueled by Reagan tax cuts in the 1980s and the internet revolution, which led to the first balanced budget in memory and the dot-com craze and subsequent bust of 2000.
America was now the sole super-power in the world. Russia was unstable. China was still very much a third-world country, having just been allowed to enter the World Trade Organization in 1998. The Middle East continued to see violence, but was generally stable. The Oslo accords were signed in 1993 and there was some hope for a peace process that would lead to more stability. The Afghan mujahideen had defeated the Soviet Army in the 1980s. Little did most know, it was also consolidating sharia law and power under a new authority - the Taliban.
Then, despite many secret warnings, the singular event shocked Americans and changed the world. America was suddenly under attack, at war with a new power scarcely any Americans had heard of - Al Qaeda and other Islamic terrorist organizations. Commerce was completely halted as the nation came to grips with the new normal. Men with machine guns soon appeared at our airports; we started taking off our shoes and undergoing more rigorous screening. The country was given a new color-coded warning system that seemed to systematize and compartmentalize our grief and fear. Even if those measures had little practical effect, they inexplicably made us feel a little more safe, which was the intent.
Our government next told us that we needed to go to war to stop Al Qaeda and the Taliban, and we were all in. Patriotism thrived, America came together and President Bush enjoyed the highest approval ratings on record as he galvanized the country for war.
But the war wasn’t fought by everyone. The volunteers that joined to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq came predominantly from the poor and lower middle class. Many of them gave their lives; many more of them came home with wounds that never healed. To this day, they commit suicide in such alarming numbers that it is a national crisis. And yet to many of us, the world went back to normal and we were insulated from the effects of that war, like children who couldn’t handle the truth.
We were told in order to help the cause to go buy stuff and get the economy going again. Consumerism grew. Security concerns were paramount, with ever-increasing signs of protection including gated, guarded new communities with driveways dominated by war-like Hummers, Jeeps and Suburbans, which were all the new fad.
We invaded Afghanistan and subsequently Iraq. Our nation spent the next twenty years fighting endless regime-change wars in the Middle East for little benefit. The War on Terror cost Americans countless lives and 21 trillion dollars and we have precious little to show for it.
While we were galavanting across the Middle East killing hundreds of thousands in a misguided attempt to build new, free western-style democracies in nations that had no want nor need for such a thing, China was prospering. We later found that our military leaders believed for a very long time what we just started to suspect - that the War on Terror had no goal in mind, no exit strategy and continued for decades because our leaders were afraid to admit failure.
We also traded our security for liberty at home. The Patriot Act enabled our government to spy on American citizens. To collect their private information without due process and later, to censor citizen’s ideas the government did not like. Despite warnings from Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and other heroic journalists and whistleblowers, these policies continue. We have sacrificed our liberties in a Faustian bargain for a deeply misplaced, alleged safety.
Meanwhile, China, with a long term plan and focused leadership, became the next superpower. They grew to be a potent economic and military force. They have infiltrated our governments, our think tanks, our universities and our homeland. Many countries which used to call the United States a friend are now economically allied to China. It is a matter of time before China presses its advantages around the world, with serious consequences for the peace and stability of the free world.
9/11 was a tremendous tragedy. Perhaps worse is the terrible strategy that America’s leaders pursued in reaction over the next 2 decades. We owe it to the brave souls who lost their lives on 9/11, to the amazing men and women of our Armed Forces who have battled, died and lost on our behalf, and to each other to honestly assess and correct our reckless foreign and domestic policies born from 9/11. We must encourage real change in our foreign policy goals before the greatest nation that is predicated on the idea that government should be of, by and for the people, shall perish from this Earth.