As the country sadly marks the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on Saturday, I’ve been thinking about where America was 20 years ago and where it’s headed.
In the weeks and months following the deaths of nearly 3,000 Americans at the Twin Towers in New York City, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pa., Americans were united in a way it’s hard to imagine today.
Patriotic country songs were written about America and what it stands for – positive, uplifting songs – and everyone in New York City and Washington promised to rebuild the fallen towers even taller.
Politically, we were all singing from the same bipartisan hymnal: We had to strike back quickly and severely punish the Islamist terrorists who did us harm.
Every politician in Washington – even career non-interventionist Ron Paul – called for kicking al-Qaeda’s butt by destroying their training camps and “headquarters” in Afghanistan.
Our great military quickly did just that and, for good measure, dethroned the brutal Taliban government that was providing safe harbor for al-Qaeda.
Then for the next 20 years America pretty much went to Hell.
Today, after a series of botched Middle East wars, the deaths of thousands of our soldiers and the spending of trillions of our dollars, we’re a politically divisive, unhappy and humiliated country.
It’s bad enough that the Taliban are back in charge of Afghanistan, hunting down and killing their enemies, prohibiting girls from going to school and forcing women to look and act like it’s the 7th century.
But four of Afghanistan’s top leaders are terrorists we once held at Guantanamo.
The last 20 years have been one big American foreign policy blunder after another.
In Afghanistan we wasted lives and money on a tribal, backward, corrupt, ungovernable and historically unconquerable country that our leaders in Washington apparently thought we could turn into Switzerland.
Between them, Bush II and Obama and their third-string generals mismanaged the war for 16 years, kicking the Afghanistan war tin can down the road, and leaving it for first Trump and then Biden to figure out how to end it.
Biden, not surprisingly, did the worst possible job in the shortest time, screwing up the American evacuation of Afghanistan in every way imaginable.
President Biden deserves all the criticism he’s gotten – and much more. But the Afghanistan debacle is not entirely his fault.
It’s what happens when you don’t fight a war to win – or when you fight and win a war but then don’t know when it’s time to get out.
In case you haven’t noticed, with the exception of maybe Grenada, the last war America actually won was World War II.
We won it because FDR and his generals knew we had to totally crush Germany and Japan and we did it unconditionally.
If you’re going to take your country to war, if you’re going to risk your country’s precious blood and treasure, you better crush your enemy.
We didn’t crush the Taliban.
And we didn’t win in Afghanistan because the war there became a political issue, not a military one, and our politicians of both major parties were more interested in winning elections.
So while America mourns 9/11 this weekend, the Taliban are celebrating it. While we are mourning our 20-year failure in Afghanistan, the Taliban are having a victory party.
I have no idea what the surrenderer-in-chief is going to say to make the families of 3,000 dead Americans feel better when he visits the three 9/11 memorial sites on Saturday.
He’ll be lucky if some families of the 9/11 victims don’t turn their backs on him.
He might even hear an echo of what thousands of America’s young people were chanting at a handful of sold-out (and unmasked) college football games last weekend.
Their three-word chant – which had the initials “FJB” – is vulgar and disrespectful. But it’s about the only thing recently that has given me hope for the future of America.
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Copyright 2021 Michael Reagan, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.
Michael Reagan, the son of President Ronald Reagan, is an author, speaker and president of the Reagan Legacy Foundation. Send comments to [email protected] and follow @reaganworld on Twitter.
America mourns 9/11 (those of us who love our Country mourn 9-11, those people in our Country who hate our Country, do not mourn 9/11). and Joe Biden collaborates with the Taliban. This shows one who Joe Biden’s allegiance is to, namely the Taliban. Joe Biden, Tony Blinken, Lloyd Austin and Jen Psaki are all America haters, so they do not mourn 9-11.
THe way the left keeps MIS TEACHING history, i wouldn’t be shocked to see in 5 more years, WE STOP mourning this day, but CELEBRATE IT as the ‘talibans victory over the great satan!”
That’s exactly what Omar (diaper head) and Tlalib (4 eyed pig face) are doing right now.
“Every politician in Washington – even career non-interventionist Ron Paul – called for kicking al-Qaeda’s butt by destroying their training camps and “headquarters” in Afghanistan. Our great military quickly did just that and, for good measure, dethroned the brutal Taliban government that was providing safe harbor for al-Qaeda.”
Then for the next 20 years America pretty much went to Hell.
When we the People allowed the traitorous, treasonous, hateful socialist Democrat Party to manipulate the presidential election and put their corrupt, demented puppet president Joe Biden in the White House. Now these traitorous, treasonous, hateful socialist Democrat Party puppeteers can hide in the background and issue orders to puppet Biden, who obeys their orders and takes the blame.
This traitorous, treasonous, hateful socialist Democrat Party has become our country’s most destructive and Deadliest ENEMY! 👿
I very much agree with your statement. I’ve been saying for years now that Pelosi, Schummer, Waters, Biden, and the rest of the liberals in our government are this country’s greatest enemy. Unless we the people take things into our own hands and purge every liberal democrat in office, they will succeed in destroying this constitutional republic. They make me wonder if my 26 years of military service was worth it. I’m so glad I’m old and hopefully won’t be around to see that happen.
Gus, you are not the only one, who served, who is now wondering “WAS IT worth it!”
All this happening is something that has been in the agenda of the one in charge over a decade ago. To make sure the plan works, release those who can become leaders and run the country; leave them military equipment as set in motion over a decade ago; in the USA put a puppet that is easily controlled by the puppeteer, create division among the USA citizens so they cannot fully see the “woke” gaining power to suppress the very freedoms the USA is known for. If you use the race card, crt, blm (burn, loot, maim) and the backing of those with billions available to spend, your goal will be reached by 2025 at the very latest. “We, the people” can overcome all this with one single strike – VOTE THEM OUT.
This whole scenario was PLANNED by the monster Billionaire who financed and backed the Democrat Party ! I am speaking about George Soros, a Socialist/Marxist who originally was responsible for the election of Barack Obama. He and his son, have been working behind the scenes to DESTROY this Country, and they have been doing a pretty good job of it. Alexander, his son chose the WORST possible candidate for the VP in Kamala Harris. We have allowed this country to be destroyed from the INSIDE. if we have any hope at all of bringing America BACK, we MUST
throw these people out of office, and elect sensible people who RESPECT the Constitution AND the AMERICAN PEOPLE !
God help this country we need your intervention !!!
Remembering the 3000 is one thing just like the 2200 who died on 12-7-’41. But right now the remembrance should be focused on the ones the were left behind, thanks to senile raw sewage bag Joe. Are they going to end up like the POW-MIAs from the Viet Nam War? There never has been a full investigation into that and I’m sure the left behind in Afghanistan will get the same treatment.
For decades, we’ve had groups dedicated to trying to FIND those MIA/POW’s from nam. BUT WITH THE abject hate our govt, seems to be giving us i can certainly SEE THEM HAMSTRIBGING ANY group who tries to find those w left in kabul…