Eight years later, what have we accomplished? — VOICES for REASON

Most people I know remember exactly where they were and what they were doing on the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 11. They remember the ghastly images that got played and replayed on all the networks and cable news shows, for the following weeks. They remember how they felt at hearing the news about the World Trade Center. Many then recognized that America must fight back.

So what have we accomplished in the eight years since 9/11? Spectacularly little.

In a new op-ed, I talk about the debacle in Afghanistan.

Eight years ago, practically everyone agreed we must (and could) eliminate the Taliban and its jihadist allies–a primitively equipped force thousands of times less powerful than Imperial Japan. Now that goal seems unreachable.

Today swaggering holy warriors control large areas of the country. They summarily execute anyone deemed un-Islamic, and operate a shadow government with its own religious law courts and “virtue” enforcers. Last year the CIA warned that virtually every major terrorist threat the agency was aware of threaded back to the tribal areas near the Taliban-infested Afghan-Pakistan border.

Why has America’s military response to 9/11 been so unsuccessful? The fundamental problem — in Afghanistan and permeating our post-9/11 policy — is that Washington has waged what I call a self-crippled war.

That’s the broad theme demonstrated in my upcoming book, Winning the Unwinnable War, which analyzes America’s response to 9/11 and offers a positive alternative. It offers a foreign policy dedicated to protecting the lives and freedom of Americans–ensuring our security, so that we never have to worry about another 9/11.