How to know we lost the War on Terror

Life sentences for KSM, Attash, and Hawsawi, the masterminds of 9/11, are an outrage. But the terrorists’ deal is not unexpected, given our generational failures & desire to forget the War on Terror.

Yesterday, reports revealed that the US government agreed to a deal with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, and Mustafa al Hawsawi that will give them life in prison for their roles in the planning and execution of Al Qaeda’s horrific attack on September 11, 2001. The shameful plea agreement is merely the latest data point revealing that we’ve lost the War on Terror.

In case you’ve forgotten about 9/11—and some, especially younger people, perhaps can’t be blamed, as the government and media are okay with that—19 Al Qaeda operatives infiltrated the US, learned to fly airplanes at flight schools, hijacked four airplanes, and flew two of them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon. The fourth plane crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, when passengers heroically battled the terrorist hijackers after learning about the attacks in New York and Washington, DC. (Watch Flight 93, perhaps one of the most chilling yet inspiring stories of our time.)

The results: 2,976 people murdered. The Twin Towers and many other buildings in Manhattan reduced to rubble. The Pentagon in flames. US air travel suspended for days. A country gripped by fear of the next attack. More than $30 billion in economic losses. An onerous security regime imposed on American citizens to thwart future attacks. Two decades of inconclusive and failed wars resulting in the deaths of over 7,000 American servicemen and servicewomen, more than 53,000 officially wounded and maimed, and unseen trauma for hundreds of thousands more. The erosion of US power and influence. The abandonment of our allies in Iraq and Afghanistan, who sacrificed hundreds of thousands of soldiers, policemen, and civilians as they battled Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and eventually the Islamic State.

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) was described by the 9/11 Commission as “the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks.” Walid bin Attash helped select and train the 9/11 hijackers. Fun fact: he was also involved in the 1998 East Africa Embassy Bombings that killed more than 224 people and wounded over 4,500 and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 sailors and wounded 37. Mustafa al Hawsawi helped finance the 9/11 attack and facilitate the travel of the hijackers.