The author reflects on the 9/11 attacks and Osama bin Laden's justification for them, which he claimed was a response to US freedom and democracy, citing the US-backed Israeli invasion of Lebanon as a catalyst. Bin Laden argued that by destroying the Twin Towers, Americans would "taste some of what we tasted" from their own suffering. The author disputes this narrative, arguing that it was inhumane and immoral to punish the innocent and that it failed to achieve its intended goal of deterring future violence. Instead, the US responded with aggressive military actions that led to further chaos and the rise of right-wing extremism.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-11,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
On October 8, 2024, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was killed, an event that has become a significant marker for young conservatives in America, akin to September 11, 2001 and the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023. The day of his death is now referred to by some as 9/10, symbolizing its impact on political activism among students. Meanwhile, the small Canadian town of Gander played a pivotal role during the September 11 attacks when U.S. airspace was closed, leading to 38 international flights landing there, doubling the population overnight and necessitating an impromptu humanitarian effort by locals to aid around 7,000 stranded passengers and crew members for several days. This act of kindness inspired the Broadway musical "Come From Away," which highlights Gander's generosity and humanity in times of crisis.
Written for “9/11 Anniversary Reflections” on 2026-09-12,
grounded in this article and the 167 other(s) covering the same event.
For six months to a year after the destruction of the twin towers in 2001, I found I couldn’t write about anything else.
asserted
I → find → anything
I even wrote a column on how I couldn’t stop, as if some compelling mystery needed unravelling.
asserted
mystery → write → column
You could’ve predicted it and you could’ve explained it.
uncertain
you → predict → it
Still, U.S. President George W. Bush managed to muddle it.
asserted
Bush → manage → it
Asked shortly after the event, while flitting erratically around the U.S. seeking safety, why it occurred, Bush said, “they” hate our freedoms and democracy.
asserted
they → ask → freedoms
Osama bin Laden, head of al-Qaeda, asked, if that was so, why hadn’t they attacked Sweden?
asserted
they → ask → Sweden
In 2004, he elaborated on motives in a video that ran on Al Jazeera as well as the New York Times and CBS News.
asserted
that → elaborate → Jazeera
He said he “watched” as Israel invaded Lebanon in the early 1980s, backed by the U.S. navy, which bombarded hills and villages behind Beirut.
asserted
which → say → Beirut
He recalled it so vividly that many of us thought he’d been there, though he meant on TV.
asserted
he → recall → TV
“I couldn’t forget those moving scenes, blood and severed limbs, women and children sprawled …
asserted
I → forget → scenes
And as I looked at those demolished towers … it entered my mind we should punish the oppressor in kind and that we should destroy towers in America in order that they taste some of what we tasted and … be deterred from killing our women and children.”
asserted
we → look → women
It sounds human enough, even — in that peculiar way humans have of needing to feel vindicated — well-intentioned.
asserted
humans → sound → way
It punished the innocent.
asserted
It → punish → innocent
And it didn’t work.
asserted
it → work → ?
It so didn’t work.
asserted
It → work → ?
I mean that the U.S., institutionally and individually, didn’t learn the lessons bin Laden said he wanted to teach them.
asserted
he → mean → them
(“Those to whom evil is done,” Auden corrected, “Do evil in return.”)
asserted
Auden → do → return
So in response to 9/11, the U.S. attacked Iraq, lying about an Iraqi role in 9/11 quite deliberately, leading to carnage, vast migrations across the Arab world and Africa, precipitating racism and xenophobia in Europe and a rise of right-wing anti-immigration demagogues there and as far as Argentina and the U.S.
asserted
U.S. → attack → Argentina
Not quite what bin Laden says he envisioned for the aftermath.
asserted
he → say → aftermath
Why don’t we learn from history?
asserted
we → learn → history
Because we’re enmeshed in it too, in our own versions that we pick up as we enter the world and can’t easily transcend.
asserted
we → ’re → world
There’s a deep hubris in thinking you can map out and produce historical effects, as bin Laden believed, whereas the results were the opposite, including the unleashing of populist demagogues (FWIW, not all populists are demagogues) who ginned up racism to seize power and break down centuries worth of (albeit vastly flawed) democratic institutions.
asserted
who → ’ → institutions
“History is a nightmare,” said Abraham Joshua Heschel, a teacher in my past.
asserted
Heschel → say → past
He was writing in the context of the Biblical prophets who, in his view, rejected an approach based on historical factors and figures that were rooted mainly in power differentials.
asserted
that → write → differentials
Heschel’s prophets preferred the pursuit of unadorned justice which, to be sure, entails its own dilemmas.
asserted
which → prefer → dilemmas
In our own time, wise minds have tended to invest hope in democratic processes that include not just elections but education and discussion, in that pursuit.
asserted
that → tend → pursuit
And what if bin Laden’s proclaimed objective had been achieved?
asserted
objective → proclaim → ?
Americans would’ve suddenly realized it’s a bad thing to murder non-white people in distant lands!
asserted
it → realize → lands
You’re then faced with the problem of ends and means.
asserted
You → face → ends
Would that justify pulverizing the World Trade Center and all those in it — a truly academic conundrum that only seems to make sense in philosophy seminars and exists mainly to avoid moral issues, not confront and resolve them.
asserted
that → justify → them
Yet if bin Laden lost, he also won, in the sense that the U.S. showed that his characterization of it was on target: racist, greedy, crazy religious, violent and corrupt.
asserted
characterization → lose → target
As usual, Told Ya So, spoken in triumphant tones, is highly unsatisfying.
asserted
Told → tell → tones
