Is Endless War The Legacy Of 9/11?

NPR: Sept. 11 Legacy: One Endless War Against Many Radical Enemies

In the quarter-century from the end of the Vietnam War in the 1970s until Sept. 11, 2001, the United States rarely went to war, and when it did, the conflicts were so brief they were measured in days. The Gulf War in 1991 lasted 43 days. Airstrikes in the former Yugoslavia in 1995 went on for 22 days, followed by another round in 1999, that time for 78 days.

But since the Sept. 11 attacks, the United States has been fighting every single day for 15 straight years, the longest unbroken period in American history. The U.S. has carried out airstrikes, sent in ground forces, or both, in seven countries stretching from Pakistan in the east to Libya in the west. None of these conflicts has been resolved, and all signs point to years of strife ahead.

Sept. 11 has reshaped the U.S. in countless ways, but perhaps the most profound has been the transformation from a country where peacetime was the norm into one seemingly locked into a permanent state of war. Yet strangely, the country doesn't feel much like it's at war.

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WNU Editor: I certainly do not see any light at the end of the tunnel.

15 Years After 9/11 The Terror Threat From Radical Islam Still Exists

United Airlines Flight 175 flies low toward the South Tower of the World Trade Center, shortly before slamming into the structure. The north tower burns after an earlier attack by a hijacked airliner in New York City, on September 11, 2001. (Reuters/Sean Adair)

Joby Warrick and Greg Miller, Washington Post: Fifteen years after 9/11, the jihadist threat looms larger than ever across the globe

Nine days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, President George W. Bush stood before Congress to outline a two-pronged response to history’s deadliest terrorist act: dramatic improvements in security at home and an all-out assault against what he called a “fringe form of Islamic extremism” at war with the West.

Fifteen years later, the first goal arguably has been met, as Americans by almost every measure are safer today from another 9/11-scale attack than in 2001.

Yet the struggle to defeat the global network of violent, rabidly anti-Western jihadist groups has recorded fewer successes. Indeed, the problem appears to have grown bigger.

The al-Qaeda organization once led by Osama bin Laden has been decimated and is no longer capable of orchestrating a sophisticated, trans-national plot on its own, terrorism experts say they believe. Al-Qaeda’s branches in North Africa and Yemen also have been weakened by Western military strikes and ongoing fighting with rival factions.

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WNU Editor: Here is an easy prediction .... this threat is going to still exist long after I have past from this world.

Waiting For The Next 9/11

Abraham H. Miller, Observer: The Next 9/11—Not If, But When

If our memory of the World Trade Center is fading, the carnage of Paris and Brussels should serve as a fresh reminder

There will be another 9/11. Terrorism against a superpower like the United States is basically political theater. Terrorists revel in lots of cameras transmitting their images, talking heads bobbing long into the night, and many of us re-experiencing the drama by living in fear. If theater is what you seek, America is just the ticket, offering a big stage and providing an audience of infinite proportions.

Because the terrorists crave publicity, they need to attack where the cameras are, where the time zone yields the longest news day for the continent. That means New York City or Washington, D.C.

Nearly half of America dwells in the Eastern Time Zone and nearly 80 percent dwell in the Central and Eastern Time Zones combined.

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WNU Editor: It appears that terror groups and their followers are now focused on Europe when it comes to conducting mass terror attacks .... but it will only be a matter of time before their focus is on the U.S. and elsewhere (if not already).

Why Another 9/11 Will Happen

Photo: Sean Adair/Reuters

Why 9/11 Can Happen Again -- Gary Hart and Norman Augustine, LA Times

Congressional oversight remains an organizational maze. Instead of doing what various studies recommended, Congress has made matters worse.

In February 2001, a bipartisan federal commission on which we served warned that terrorists would acquire weapons of mass destruction and mass disruption. "Attacks against American citizens on American soil, possibly causing heavy casualties, are likely over the next quarter-century," the Hart-Rudman Commission said. "In the face of this threat, our nation has no coherent or integrated governmental structures." We added: "Congress should rationalize its current committee structure so that it best serves U.S. national security objectives."

We identified 50 ways to improve national security, none of which was implemented before 9/11. One recommendation — to create a single agency to deal with homeland security — was not acted on until a year and a half after those tragic attacks.

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My Comment: Yup .... the question is not if another 9/11 attack will occur .... but when. But even if the recommendations that Gary Hart and Norman Augustine outlined are implemented .... it can never be a guarantee that another 9/11 terror attack can be prevented. So .... do we limit our freedom and privacy in a police state so that we can feel safe .... that is the question that should not even be asked .... but it is being debated today.

Could Today's NSA Surveillance Program Stopped The 9/11 Plot?

Would NSA Surveillance Have Stopped 9/11 Plot? -- Peter Bergen, CNN National Security Analyst

(CNN) -- The Obama administration has framed its defense of the controversial bulk collection of all American phone records as necessary to prevent a future 9/11.

During a House Intelligence Committee hearing on June 18, NSA director Gen. Keith Alexander said, "Let me start by saying that I would much rather be here today debating this point than trying to explain how we failed to prevent another 9/11."

This closely mirrors talking points by the National Security Agency about how to defend the program.

In the talking points, NSA officials are encouraged to use "sound bites that resonate," specifically, "I much prefer to be here today explain these programs, than explaining another 9/11 event that we were not able to prevent."

On Friday in New York, Judge William H. Pauley III ruled that NSA's bulk collection of American telephone records is lawful. He cited Alexander's testimony and quoted him saying, "We couldn't connect the dots because we didn't have the dots."

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My Comment: Some have speculated that the Pentagon's Able Danger program was successful in identifying some of the 9/11 conspirators. But the bottom line is still the same .... we will never know. As to future terror plots .... let can hope that luck will be on our side.

Winners And Losers Of 9/11

10 Winners And 10 Losers Of 9/11 -- Radio Free Europe

While it's clearly an oversimplification, we couldn't allow this anniversary to pass without offering our own list of "winners & losers" in the decade since 9/11 and the accompanying "war on terror."

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My Comment: I would add Afghanistan and Iraq in the "loser" list, and in the "winner" list I would add conspiracy theories and China. Why China .... no one is paying attention to them, and the incredible growth in economic/military/political power that they have experienced since 9/11.

'We Are Totally Unprepared' -- A Commentary

Image: The South Tower of the World Trade Center on 9/11

Nine Years After 9/11, A Chilling Complacency About WMD Attacks -- Wall Street Journal

The most important overlooked story of the past few weeks was overlooked because it was not surprising. Also because no one really wants to notice it. The weight of 9/11 and all its implications is so much on our minds that it's never on our mind.

I speak of the report from the inspector general of the Justice Department, issued in late May, saying the department is not prepared to ensure public safety in the days or weeks after a terrorist attack in which nuclear, biological or chemical weapons are used. The Department of Homeland Security is designated as first federal responder, in a way, in the event of a WMD attack, but every agency in government has a formal, assigned role, and the crucial job of Justice is to manage and coordinate law enforcement and step in if state and local authorities are overwhelmed.

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My Comment: Santayana is correct .... if you ignore history you are doomed to repeat it .... and it appears that we are repeating history.

9/11 And The 'Good War'

From The Wall Street Journal:

It was the furies of the Arab world, not Afghanistan, that struck America eight years ago today.

The road that led to 9/11 was never a defining concern of President Barack Obama. But he returned to 9/11 as he sought to explain and defend the war in Afghanistan in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Phoenix, Ariz., on Aug. 17. "The insurgency in Afghanistan didn't just happen overnight and we won't defeat it overnight, but we must never forget: This is not a war of choice; it is a war of necessity. Those who attacked America on 9/11 are plotting to do so again. If left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which al Qaeda could plot to kill more Americans."

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My Comment: Only an Arab academic like Fouad Ajami .... with a background in the Middle East and radical Islam .... could write a commentary like this one.

I have a video of him on the Charlie Rose show that was done after 9/11 .... he was prophetic then .... he is even more so now.

Read the whole thing.