If you've gotten any messages from my GMail account in the last decade-ish (IE, since I've had it basically) you know my take on this.
I'm of the opinion that it was, in fact, an al Qaeda operation, and that it was neither perpetrated nor allowed by the Bush administration (except perhaps for some negligence or incompetence but while I bear that administration no love, I don't believe that Bush/Cheney would have allowed it KNOWINGLY to happen), but ultimately as you point out in several comments above:
It was in many ways very, very convenient for them, and allowed the implementation of further steps providing political benefits (Patriot Act, invasion and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan) and economic benefits (KBR, Halliburton, Blackwater/Xe, and so forth).
You cannot say 'the terrorists have won' any more than you can say we have 'won the war on terror' because there's no finish line for victory in either case, really. However it's fair to say that the events of September 11, 2001 cause massive and (in the short to medium term) irreparable damage to the United States and the freedoms and civil liberties of it's citizens and those visiting it's territories (and even those further afield than that).
Suffice to say, 9/11 and our response was the watershed moment where I went from loving 'America' to loving the IDEA of America and what we can be and were rather than what we are at the moment. I hope to go back someday.
no subject
I'm of the opinion that it was, in fact, an al Qaeda operation, and that it was neither perpetrated nor allowed by the Bush administration (except perhaps for some negligence or incompetence but while I bear that administration no love, I don't believe that Bush/Cheney would have allowed it KNOWINGLY to happen), but ultimately as you point out in several comments above:
It was in many ways very, very convenient for them, and allowed the implementation of further steps providing political benefits (Patriot Act, invasion and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan) and economic benefits (KBR, Halliburton, Blackwater/Xe, and so forth).
You cannot say 'the terrorists have won' any more than you can say we have 'won the war on terror' because there's no finish line for victory in either case, really. However it's fair to say that the events of September 11, 2001 cause massive and (in the short to medium term) irreparable damage to the United States and the freedoms and civil liberties of it's citizens and those visiting it's territories (and even those further afield than that).
Suffice to say, 9/11 and our response was the watershed moment where I went from loving 'America' to loving the IDEA of America and what we can be and were rather than what we are at the moment. I hope to go back someday.