Unlearning the Lessons of 9/11

Mike Gerson: “The United States now enters a high-stakes race between its over-the-horizon technologies and the talent of terrorists. Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, may be right that ‘the relevant terrorist groups in Afghanistan do not possess advanced external plotting capabilities.’ But in that country, al-Qaeda is not a parasite feeding off the Taliban; it is an integral part of the regime. The United States’ capitulation to the Taliban is sure to encourage a new generation of young, bright and ambitious mass murderers. And when a terrorist group is hosted by a nation, capacities may be quickly gained.”

“As the 20th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, unlearning its lessons would be a dangerous way to honor it.”

Ross Douthat: “A set of moods that flourished after 9/11: a mix of cable-news-encouraged overconfidence in American military capacities, naïve World War II nostalgia and crusading humanitarianism in its liberal and neoconservative forms. Like most Americans, I shared in those moods once; after so many years of failure, I cannot imagine indulging in them now. But it’s clear from the past few weeks that they retain an intense subterranean appeal in the American elite, waiting only for the right circumstances to resurface.”