9/11 changed the U.S.; can we change back?

Read the original at CBS News ↗
Cite

Fallows, J. (2026, September 6). 9/11 changed the U.S.; can we change back? CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/911-changed-the-u-s-can-we-change-back/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

CBS News · collected 2026-09-06 · by James Fallows

Quick Summary

Author James Fallows reflects on the legacy of 9/11, 25 years after the terrorist attacks, and argues that while some positive changes occurred, such as a sense of national unity and cooperation among countries, many negative developments have also been permanent or are still unfolding, including the expansion of the surveillance state, increased militarization of local police, and ongoing "forever wars". Fallows notes that before 9/11, there was no Department of Homeland Security, TSA, or ICE, and that these changes were bipartisan and incremental. He suggests that the US may have an opportunity to reconsider some of these developments in the future.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-06, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

On the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, New York City's first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani, faces controversy over his decision to attend memorial events despite calls from some victims' families and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani for him to stay away. Mamdani, who lost an older brother in the attacks, insists on honoring those affected by reading out names at Ground Zero. Meanwhile, nearly 110,000 signatures have been collected through a petition urging Mamdani not to attend, citing concerns over his past associations and appointments that some see as conflicting with the solemnity of the event. Despite this opposition, Mamdani is moving forward with plans to release more than 170,000 pages of documents related to air quality around Ground Zero in the months following 9/11, aiming to provide transparency on what the city knew about toxic conditions and how they handled it.

Written for “9/11 Memorial Controversies” on 2026-10-22, grounded in this article and the 169 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 9/11 Memorial Controversies
Politics · 170 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 5% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
CBS News · 0.85 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 1 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles reference the 9/11 terrorist attacks as a specific historical event, sharing the same title and anniversary date (25 years later).”
How 9/11 Shaped My Life same event · 100%
TIME
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 7% hedged 25 of 358 📰 publisher trust 59
“Both articles reference the 9/11 terrorist attacks as a significant historical event, specifically mentioning its 25th anniversary in 2026.”
New York Post
⚖️ Leans strongly right further right than this 🔴 5% hedged 3 of 60 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles are discussing the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, occurring in the same year (2026), and referencing the same historical event.”
ABC News (AU)
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 5% hedged 8 of 171 📰 publisher trust 68
“Both articles mention the September 11 terror attacks in 2001 as a historical event with a lasting impact on America, and both reference it as occurring 25 years prior to their respective publication dates.”
CBS News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 3% hedged 2 of 72 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles mention the 25th anniversary of 9/11 terrorist attacks and are dated September 6, 2026, suggesting they refer to the same specific event.”
Zeteo
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 7
“Both articles reference the 9/11 attacks as a singular event occurring on September 11, 2001, and are dated to commemorate its 25th anniversary.”
The Straits Times
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 11% hedged 3 of 27 📰 publisher trust 68
“Both articles are reporting on the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.”
The Independent
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 8% hedged 4 of 48 📰 publisher trust 59
“Both articles are reporting on the exact same occurrence: the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.”
CBC News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 2 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles mention the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 as a turning point in history and refer to the same anniversary (25 years after the attack)”
Toronto Star
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 4% hedged 2 of 53 📰 publisher trust 63
“Both articles describe the same terrorist attack on September 11, 25 years after the incident, and are dated around the same time”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
20
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
5%
1 of 20 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
66/100
CBS News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
170
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-06 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

CBS News · 3494 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

James Fallows
1 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 We live through history's turning points, but with no idea which way history will turn.
2026-09-06 · assertive framing · 9/11 changed the U.S.; can we change back?
The only article under this byline in the corpus.

Topics

9/11 Americans French U.S. White House

Subjects

U.S. GPE · 6× Americans NORP · 2× Carter PERSON · 1× French NORP · 1× George W. Bush PERSON · 1× James Fallows PERSON · 1× Le Monde ORG · 1× NATO ORG · 1× Washington GPE · 1× White House ORG · 1×

Narrative

Remembering 9/11: Where tragedy left its marks Remembering 9/11: Andrew Card on the moment everything changed Remembering 9/11: Robert De Niro on helping revive Lower Manhattan after September 11 Remembering 9/11: When Gander provided safe haven in a time of crisis Remembering 9/11: "Come From Away": Transforming tragedy into art, darkness into light For more info: Story produced by Annie Iezzi.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-06
🔮 We live through history's turning points, but with no idea which way history will turn.
2026-09-06 · CBS News
9/11 changed the U.S.; can we change back? · assertive framing

Claims (20 extracted, 1 hedged)

We live through history's turning points, but with no idea which way history will turn. asserted
history → live → idea
, the attack on Pearl Harbor, a date which will live in infamy, marked the end of U.S. isolation, and the beginning of permanent engagement around the world. asserted
which → live → world
At the time, it seemed to change everything. asserted
it → seem → everything
But on this 25th anniversary, here is my sense of changes we might have hoped would be permanent, but weren't, and others that future generations may strive to change back. uncertain
generations → hop → that
The worst of times can bring out the best in people. asserted
worst → bring → people
"We are all Americans," as the French newspaper Le Monde put it. asserted
newspaper → put → it
For the only time in NATO's history, its member countries all voted to come to a stricken ally's defense. asserted
countries → vote → defense
In the U.S., people honored our first responders and ordinary brave fellow citizens. asserted
people → honor → responders
President George W. Bush, who had been caught unawares by the attack, went just days later to Washington's Islamic Center. asserted
who → catch → Center
There, he reminded the entire country that while the attackers were Muslim, Islam itself was not the enemy: "In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect," he said. asserted
he → remind → respect
Too much of that unifying sentiment faded too fast. asserted
much → unify → sentiment
And too little of what lastingly changed in America has received the awareness and scrutiny it deserves. asserted
it → change → awareness
Those functions were carried out more modestly, with less overreach. asserted
functions → carry → overreach
Before 9/11, local police in the U.S. were not kitted out in combat gear as if fighting in Fallujah. asserted
police → kitte → Fallujah
That is because before 9/11, there was no war in Iraq (for which 9/11 was the excuse, though no Iraqis were involved), and nothing like the "forever wars" that have followed. asserted
that → be → wars
And as we look back, we see a country that survived an attack and avoided a repetition. asserted
that → look → repetition
But it is also a country whose daily life and civic culture those attackers managed to change. asserted
attackers → manage → life
The U.S. has had other hinges of history that turned in the wrong direction: In the late 1800s, with the turn against Reconstruction and equal rights after the Civil War; in the 1920s and '30s, when the U.S. closed its doors to the world, even as Nazis and fascists rose to power elsewhere. asserted
Nazis → have → power
Let us hope that 25 years from now, the U.S. has reckoned more seriously with who we are, and who we want to become, than we have done so far. asserted
we → let → who
Remembering 9/11: Where tragedy left its marks Remembering 9/11: Andrew Card on the moment everything changed Remembering 9/11: Robert De Niro on helping revive Lower Manhattan after September 11 Remembering 9/11: When Gander provided safe haven in a time of crisis Remembering 9/11: "Come From Away": Transforming tragedy into art, darkness into light For more info: Story produced by Annie Iezzi. asserted
Gander → remember → Iezzi
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