U.S. Army Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division unload from a Chinook 47 helicopter during a combat mission March 5, 2002 in eastern Afghanistan.
Keith D. McGrew | US Army | Getty Images News
Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks that killed 2,977 people and changed the world forever. It has permanently changed the security landscape in the United States and elsewhere, forcing governments to completely overhaul their defense strategies, policies and counter-terrorism tactics.
Twenty years later, the events in the very country where the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks took off.
The collapse of Afghanistan after the US troop withdrawal and its takeover by the Taliban – the group that hosted al-Qaeda in its attacks on the West – is a symbolic and devastating failure for many.
Millions of lives have been claimed and trillions of dollars spent in the last two decades of the war on terrorism. Speaking to CIA, military and diplomacy veterans of the ongoing war on terror, CNBC asked what they think America has learned – and not learned – since September 11, 2001.
What have we learned since 9/11?
Nada Bakos, former CIA analyst
“To be honest, I don’t think we learned that much. I think we are probably destined to make some of these mistakes all over again. But hopefully we are through with huge occupations of other countries.
“I hope that we have now reached the point where we understand that we cannot spread our democracy and that other countries in our model cannot be built in such a way that we were naive enough at the time to believe that it would work.”
Jay, Former U.S. Navy and Afghanistan War Veteran
“We have learned that 20 years of war have made us the best in the world in small-force tactics, but fighting insurgency is none of our business.
I think the consequence (from Afghanistan) is that no one will rush to intervene. Somewhere. Until the trauma from all of this is gone.
William Patey
Former British Ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq
“I think a lot of Americans have learned not to trust their government. ‘Leadership’ lied to the American public for 20 years, while the actual situation on the ground in Afghanistan was no secret to the people who served there for decades, while senior ‘leadership’ from the military or government into high-paying jobs as an arms company changes. ”
The One World Trade Center is reflected in front of the 20th
Carlos Barria | Reuters
“Here’s the scary thing though: I don’t think the public has learned anything. You didn’t invest in the GWOT [Global War on Terrorism] on a large scale. If it had been they would demand responsibility for the whole thing, with the Kabul debacle as a catalyst. ”
Jay requested that his last name be withheld due to occupational restrictions on speaking to the press.
Merging terrorism and religion was, in my opinion, the biggest mistake that was made. We made enemies that weren’t there.
Sayed Jalal Karim
Former Afghan Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
William Patey, former British Ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq
“We have certainly learned how limited the use of force is in dealing with a problem like global terrorism – we have learned that it is more complicated and that liberal democracies are not very good at having the time and resources to deal with it are impatient to spend on work and their political horizons are very short.
“Since 9/11 we have also learned that the radical Islamist threat is still as strong as ever, it has not disappeared. And above all, we have learned that radical Islamist ideology is not Islam.
“We still have things like the war on terrorism, the war on drugs. These are wars that fail. These are ongoing social and ideological issues that require complex, difficult politics that are not easily manageable with something as simple as war . “
Sayed Jalal Karim, Afghan diplomat and former ambassador to Saudi Arabia
“I think the US intent was good intent because the 9/11 attack was a horror for everyone. I believe the general war on terrorism is a legitimate thing.
“But merging terrorism and religion was, in my opinion, the biggest mistake that was made. We made enemies that weren’t there.”
The rubble of the World Trade Center is glowing after a September 11, 2001 terrorist attack in New York.
Porter Gifford | Getty Images
Cole T. Lyle, Former U.S. Navy and Afghanistan War Veteran and Former Senate Military Adviser
“In the past twenty years we have learned again that the US military cannot be defeated tactically or operationally. But the United States can be defeated strategically.”
Fragile or failed states are breeding grounds for terrorism, and I think we have created new breeding grounds.
Tracy Walder
Former Officer, CIA Counter Terrorism Center
“Foreign and defense policy makers in the DC need to start thinking longer term about America’s strategic interests around the world, rather than short term choosing what is in their best interests. The American people must demand that their elected officials have a firm grip on strategic goals. States in any major conflict in the future. “
Is the world a safe place today?
Tracy Walder, former officer, CIA Counterterrorism Center
“September 11th forced us into a war of ideas rather than a war of people or conquest of territory and land. I think we’re safer because we understand better.
“However, because of things we’ve done there since September 11th, we’ve created a certain instability in the countries. Fragile or failed states are breeding grounds for terrorism, and I think we’ve created new breeding grounds as a result.”
Nada Bakos, former CIA analyst
“I think we went back and forth to safety. The U.S. government has had a policy since Nov.
“I think in some ways we’re safer, I think in other ways our actions have obviously caused a lot more chaos and damage, and – ISIS. I mean, let’s be realistic, we wouldn’t have ISIS, if we hadn’t invaded Iraq there wouldn’t be al-Qaeda in Iraq. “
Sayed Jalal Karim, Afghan diplomat and former ambassador to Saudi Arabia
“I don’t think we’re any more insecure now, but we could have been in a much better position if we had balanced the fight against terrorism in all its aspects – education, economy, mentality, rather than just military – and not merged terrorism with Religion.”
William Patey, former British Ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq
“It was obviously safer for the United States, which has not had serious terrorist attacks on the American mainland in 20 years. But Europe and the Middle East have seen more terrorist attacks … The threat has now spread across the world ”.
Taliban will take control of Hamid Karzai International Airport after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan is completed on August 31, 2021 in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Wali Sabawoon | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
“We have better intelligence defenses; it is much more difficult for terrorists to carry out complex attacks like 9/11 … The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan will likely have encouraged these people.
“The nature of the threat has changed – it is less concentrated and more dispersed around the world.
Ahmad Wardak, Afghanistan expert and former journalist from Kabul
“I think the United States is much weaker than it was 20 years ago, mainly because of the two unsuccessful wars. And if we go before 9/11, the Middle East has been relatively peaceful.
“If you look at failed states, so many of those failed states are vulnerable to terrorist organizations as a result of the US invasions in the Middle East and Afghanistan. That’s a national security fear.”
My heart hurts. It hurts the people in Afghanistan who haven’t known real peace for decades … it hurts my country, whose national honor has suffered.
Cole T. Lyle
former U.S. Navy and Afghanistan war veteran
“I think the world is no better than it was before 2001. Now the US and its Middle Eastern allies are in a much more vulnerable position with Iran being a regional hegemon – in the absence of Saddam Hussein – and the Taliban back.” of power in Afghanistan. “
How would you describe your feelings when you ponder where we are now?
Tracy Walder, former CIA Counter-Terrorism Center officer
“Those last two weeks of August just speaking for myself have been incredibly difficult for me. I felt like everything I did didn’t matter. As if all the good I was trying to do was somehow obliterated .
“I am very frustrated. I feel like we literally left humans there to die. I don’t blame Biden, Trump, Obama – I don’t blame anyone. The whole thing is frustrating. We didn’t understand Afghanistan culturally.
William Patey, former British Ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq
“I think the biggest thing is frustration combined with sadness because it didn’t have to be that way. I think we didn’t suffer total defeat for a relatively small investment compared to what we previously invested.
A man mourns at the 9/11 Memorial on the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks in Manhattan, New York City, the United States, September 11, 2021.
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“We built an Afghan army that was totally dependent on daily air support and logistics when we pulled the rug out from under them and were a bit surprised when they collapsed. So the way we went was very frustrating. “
Jay, Former U.S. Navy and Afghanistan War Veteran
“I really hope that more people inside and outside the government are taking notes and willing to overhaul the entire national security apparatus because our adversaries around the world are definitely paying attention.”
Cole T. Lyle, Former U.S. Navy and Afghanistan War Veteran and Former Senate Military Adviser
“The war in Afghanistan was the most morally justified war Americans have entered since World War II.
“How do I feel about the war overall? My heart hurts. It hurts for the people in Afghanistan who have had no real peace for decades and who will now live again under the evil rule of the Taliban.
An artist paints a tribute to the victims of the bomb explosions at the Hamid Kazrai International Airport in Kabul in front of an art school in Mumbai, India, August 27, 2021.
Francis Mascarenhas | Reuters
“It hurts the Gold Star families who have lost everything. It hurts my brothers and sisters in the US and British Forces who have lost friends. It hurts my country, whose national honor has suffered as we American citizens and the people who fought with us. “
William Patey, former British Ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq
“The restrictions on overwhelming military power shown by Iraq and Afghanistan will make countries in the West very reluctant to interfere.
“I think the consequence is that no one will rush to intervene. All over. Until the trauma from all of this is gone. “
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