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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums14 Years After 9/11, the War on Terror Is Accomplishing Everything bin Laden Hoped It Would
Al Qaeda goaded us into doing what it had neither the resources nor the ability to do.
By
Tom Engelhardt
http://www.thenation.com/article/14-years-after-911-the-war-on-terror-is-accomplishing-everything-bin-laden-hoped-it-would/
Fourteen years later and do you even believe it? Did we actually live it? Are we still living it? And how improbable is that?
Fourteen years of wars, interventions, assassinations, torture, kidnappings, black sites, the growth of the American national security state to monumental proportions, and the spread of Islamic extremism across much of the Greater Middle East and Africa. Fourteen years of astronomical expense, bombing campaigns galore, and a military-first foreign policy of repeated defeats, disappointments, and disasters. Fourteen years of a culture of fear in America, of endless alarms and warnings, as well as dire predictions of terrorist attacks. Fourteen years of the burial of American democracy (or rather its recreation as a billionaires playground and a source of spectacle and entertainment but not governance). Fourteen years of the spread of secrecy, the classification of every document in sight, the fierce prosecution of whistleblowers, and a faith-based urge to keep Americans secure by leaving them in the dark about what their government is doing. Fourteen years of the demobilization of the citizenry. Fourteen years of the rise of the warrior corporation, the transformation of war and intelligence gathering into profit-making activities, and the flocking of countless private contractors to the Pentagon, the NSA, the CIA, and too many other parts of the national security state to keep track of. Fourteen years of our wars coming home in the form of PTSD, the militarization of the police, and the spread of war-zone technology like drones and stingrays to the homeland. Fourteen years of that un-American word homeland. Fourteen years of the expansion of surveillance of every kind and of the development of a global surveillance system whose reachfrom foreign leaders to tribal groups in the backlands of the planetwould have stunned those running the totalitarian states of the twentieth century. Fourteen years of the financial starvation of Americas infrastructure and still not a single mile of high-speed rail built anywhere in the country. Fourteen years in which to launch Afghan War 2.0, Iraq Wars 2.0 and 3.0, and Syria War 1.0. Fourteen years, that is, of the improbable made probable.
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Read this at the NATION. I have to say it seems a pretty fair assessment. Well worth a thoughtful read.
http://www.thenation.com/article/14-years-after-911-the-war-on-terror-is-accomplishing-everything-bin-laden-hoped-it-would/
NRaleighLiberal
(60,014 posts)JEB
(4,748 posts)you might want to read it 3 or 4 times very slowly. It takes me awhile to let things sink in and make the deeper connections. Such a massive waste of lives, money and reputation.
NRaleighLiberal
(60,014 posts)Small things - like 14 years of singing god bless america in the 7th inning stretch. So Guliani-ish. We've become this schizoid, brave as hell and chicken shit as can be country.
We are a mess.
We decided to go to war with "an idea" instead of a country - and keep creating more and more enemies daily. Not very good odds for us, in my view.
JEB
(4,748 posts)who see it much like I do. Thanks for posting your thoughts.
NRaleighLiberal
(60,014 posts)The idiotic, stupid decisions keep getting made (demanded to be made?) as we watch in daily horror - those of us to choose to open our eyes and engage our brains.
Anyway - thanks for posting that compelling article.
have a great evening.
malokvale77
(4,879 posts)Like you, I retreat to my garden more and more.
msongs
(67,405 posts)Live and Learn
(12,769 posts)http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2780887
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4052917
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=125x94724
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5552710
JEB
(4,748 posts)It really was not too difficult to see what was happening. Bush and Bin Laden opposite sides of the same oil minted coin.