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The 9/11 Legacy
Unsurprisingly the first circle is where there is most focus. All the stories of those who lost their lives or loved ones have an essential humanity that it is impossible to escape. Now a generation on we see the images of small children with the parents they never got to know who are grown up and can reflect on the lives that could have been lived. So many of the stories are around small life moments and decisions that could have changed everything. A train that was missed, a decision to call in sick or to run errands that saved a life. United 93, for example, the flight where the passengers fought back causing it to crash into a field, was initially delayed allowing those on board to hear what had happened to the Twin Towers and take action.
Documentary makers have had the time and license to interview and get full honest reflections from the key players in the UK Government. Former President Bush explained to the BBC how when being told by aides that America was under attack, he decided to continue reading stories to children not to panic them whilst gathering his thoughts. His movements on that day are a reminder of the chaos and fear that gripped the country that day. The President was on a defenceless Air Force One worried that he was going to be targeted whilst Americans fled their offices in Washington terrified that any aircraft above may be about to crash into them.
In terms of the second circle – everyone knows where they were on 9/11. Listening to oral histories they often start with the weather. People remember the surprisingly hot September morning, the clear blue sky that would contrast so devastatingly with the all-enveloping dust that would cover the New York a few hours later. Bush administration officials would reflect that he was a relatively new President who was focused on a domestic agenda. 9/11 would take him in an entirely different direction and it is in American foreign policy that the largest numbers of people were affected by that single day.
Without 9/11 it is inconceivable that the US would have invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. Would the Taliban have remained in power in Kabul and Saddam Hussein in Iraq? It is hard to see an alternative at least in the short term. Instead, the ‘War on Terror’ was launched and has metastasised over time with vast cost and consequence. Brown University’s Costs of War project reveals the cost since September 11, 2001 exceeds $8 trillion and that wars have directly killed an estimated 897,000 to 929,000 people.
Former President Bush defended his decisions arguing that there hasn’t been a major attack on the US homeland since 9/11. Yet the original ‘Bush Doctrine’ was set out against States that support or harbour terrorist groups. Today the Taliban is back in power in Kabul and the central Middle East is still recovering from the territorial ambitions of ISIS, arguably the most resourced and dangerous terrorist entity of the modern age. America no longer has the ambitions to ensure that ungoverned parts of the world can’t be used by terrorist entities. Yet it has subsequently developed the means of remote warfare to conduct surveillance with lethal options in the forms of drones that give it a standoff presence in all corners of the planet.
The moment of 9/11’s twentieth anniversary will understandably focus on the most immediate circle of those have been affected, yet it is non-Americans who represent the single largest cohort of those whose lives were changed by what followed the attack and their voices are marginalised at these moments of remembrance.
by: James Denselow
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- November 7, 2024
Amid growing anxiety among several European countries participating in NATO over Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte stated he looks forward to sitting down with Trump.
Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.
Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.
On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.
It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.
Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.
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