25 Years After 9/11, the Zombie War on Terror Stumbles On
Nobody seems to care anymore about the fears and threats that originally motivated the war on terror. Yet 25 years after September 11, 2001, that war continues to infect American life at home and abroad, more violently and menacingly than ever.
Twenty-five years after 9/11, the war on terror that George W. Bush put into motion and every one of his predecessors escalated has become radically more lawless and extreme, while embedding itself menacingly deeper into Americans’ daily lives. (Brooks Kraft LLC / Corbis via Getty Images)
What does it mean to “Never Forget,” as we’re often asked to do when it comes to the September 11 attacks that killed nearly three thousand people? After all, few people who witnessed the crime in real time could ever forget it or the horrors in its wake: the bodies falling, the survivors crushed beneath rubble and dust, the people riddled with disease years later.
Certainly, “Never Forget” means keeping alive the memory of those whose lives were tragically lost. It could also be to remember and hold accountable those who perpetrated the crime. Or maybe, it’s to remember how and why it happened and the immense suffering that followed, to avoid repeating the disastrous choices that led to it all.
One thing’s for certain, twenty-five years after the attacks: if we’re talking about the last two, we have forgotten.
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