Nothing prepares you for losing everything

The morning of Sept. 11, 2001, was bright. Living outside Washington, the writer had just dropped his children at school when the car radio reported that what appeared to be a small plane had hit one of the World Trade Center towers in New York. At first it seemed like an accident. Then television showed the second plane strike, the collapse of the city’s two tallest buildings and the heroism of police officers and firefighters.

Nothing prepares anyone for the possibility of losing everything. The writer describes the fear of feeling that an entire life hangs by a thread, with no one else holding it. Instinct took over: protect himself, protect his family and send a report to the newspaper.

His wife, who worked near the White House, took almost three hours to get home. She walked along deserted avenues with strangers who became companions. Snipers had taken positions on rooftops. The enemy could not be seen, but it felt close.

The writer says the government appeared absent as the president flew around on Air Force One and did not return to Washington or address the nation until evening. The president spoke with patriotism and determination, but people had already organized themselves. Children had returned from school, phone lines were overwhelmed and supermarkets had run out of supplies.

The article argues that the attacks imposed a logic of force and shaped the 21st century. It calls the president’s promise of revenge and declaration of a “war on terror” a grave strategic error whose consequences are still being paid. The writer links that fury to violence and wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Iran, Ukraine, Sudan and Palestine, and warns that the resulting insecurity leaves Western societies vulnerable to populists and advocates of white supremacy.

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war on terror