An Anniversary of Shame
Fifteen years after 9/11, we're still entangled in the bad decisions America made following the disaster. But some in the CIA say the whole thing could have been over in six months.
By Michael Hirsh
September 11, 2016
Fifteen years ago, Americans given a glimpse of the future wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that the nation was still observing a day of remembrance for 9/11. But they would likely have been shocked to know the country was still enmeshed today in the farther-reaching historical tragedy that 9/11 spawned. Today, in large part through our own strategic and tactical errors, a conflict that started as a contained, focused campaign—an attempt to root out a small band of terrorists who had one lucky day—has grown exponentially. First it became the Global War on Terror, or GWOT. Now we have begun to call it the Forever War. It is already, by many years, America’s longest war ever (if war it is, as opposed to a mere violent global muddle). And fifteen years after 9/11, it is not close to being over.
What makes the observance of this 9/11 anniversary so enervating and even shameful is an acute sense of what might have been. According to some experts, the main conflict against al Qaeda could have effectively ended in as little six months, by mid-to-late 2002, had the right decisions been made by our elected officials.
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http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/9-11-15-years-anniversary-of-shame-214239
