Article

2021-09-10 Terror Networks

20 Years after 9/11 – Are We Better Off?

[TownHall] - When the hijacked planes hit the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that first 9/11, the Taliban were in control of Afghanistan and providing sanctuary for al-Qaida.

Today, the Taliban are in control of Afghanistan and providing sanctuary to al-Qaida. What then did our longest war accomplish?

The Afghan army and government we stood up and sustained for decades has collapsed. The U.S. military has withdrawn. U.S. citizens and thousands of Afghans who fought alongside us have been left behind.

The triumphant Taliban of today are far stronger than were the Taliban of 2001 who fled at the approach of the Northern Alliance. Al-Qaida is now present in many more countries than it was when we first launched the Global War on Terror.

Nor is the America of 2021 the hubristic self-confident country of George W. Bush and the neocons who were going to convert the Middle East into something like our Middle West and advance from there "with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world."

Our country is a changed place from 2001. Gone are the unity, confidence and resolution. And how have all our interventions gone?

Call the roll.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2021-09-10 03:03|| || Front Page|| [8 views ] Top

#1 Gone are the unity, confidence and resolution On 9/11/2001 I scoured the internet for indications of those who were NOT part of this so-called "unity". There were plenty of them, authors of which had the sense to simply shut up and keep their own "death-to-America" sentiments quiet for a while. Those deviant comments and links disappeared within a few weeks of 9/11/2001. E.g. I remember stories of candy being distributed in Paleostine to celebrate the attacks, and something about Yasir Arafat trying to quash the news about the joy there. Now the "death-to-America" faction is running things.

Posted by Bubba Lover of the Faeries8843 2021-09-10 09:36|| 2021-09-10 09:36|| Front Page Top

#2 They've certainly centralized and grabbed more power over our lives since then. The ruling class is more about power and control than solving problems. Their faux virtue is more important than doing what is necessary as shown by thousands of years of human history.

Posted by Procopius2k 2021-09-10 09:54|| 2021-09-10 09:54|| Front Page Top

#3 After Vietnam we were shown the end of the "losing is not an option" school of thought.
Afghanistan has given us the "Winning is not an option" result.
Mayhaps the exit from this particular loop we're in is to abandon the win/lose binary, and just go with smite them.

Posted by ed in texas 2021-09-10 12:38|| 2021-09-10 12:38|| Front Page Top

#4 I joked about it at the time, but we might have been better off with Gore in power because he might have moved us away from the oil economy and onto Nukes. That combined with the initial removal of Taliban would have been a nice move.

Of course Gore's a lib and thus anti-nuke so it wouldn't have worked the way I'd hoped.

Posted by ruprecht 2021-09-10 12:57|| 2021-09-10 12:57|| Front Page Top

#5 If the neocons are finally discredited, that's a positive outcome.

Posted by M. Murcek 2021-09-10 13:44|| 2021-09-10 13:44|| Front Page Top

#6 So on the 20th anniversary of 911 we have come to realize a few things. 1. The people that attacked America, on American soil have won the war. This is a first as no one have ever attacked us and survived. 2. We gave them status and legitimacy on the world stage. They are now going to the UN as a legit state due to us. 3. We completely outfitted their military. 4. And in the Biden budget we have a funding line to pay for rebuilding their country. Tomorrow will be a tough day as we remember the lives and fortune we spent and walked away losers.

Posted by 49 Pan 2021-09-10 18:12|| 2021-09-10 18:12|| Front Page Top

#7 Pretty much everything Bin Laden wanted to achieve by 9/11 we in fact simply handed it to AQ. Perhaps, he had that understanding all along.

Posted by Rex Mundi 2021-09-10 21:17|| 2021-09-10 21:17|| Front Page Top

#8 The Hundred Year was was actually more than one war between the same countries. War on Terror may resume if the Taliban over-reaches.

Posted by rjschwarz 2021-09-10 23:30|| 2021-09-10 23:30|| Front Page Top

#9 See also, Crusades.

Posted by George Elmoluting3662 2021-09-10 23:57|| 2021-09-10 23:57|| Front Page Top

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