Echoes of 9/11 | Alhurra
Twenty-five years later, we’re still living with the legacy of 9/11.
This week’s Friday Briefing takes a closer look at a day that changed the world — and what questions it left behind.
What happened to the promise of justice for the victims? How did the wars that followed shape Iraq and the region? What did 9/11 mean for Arab and Muslim Americans? And how did the attacks change the balance between freedom and fear?
We also look at what America learned from the long war on terror, and whether those lessons have been forgotten. As one writer asks: Did 9/11 really change America as much as we think?
Take a few minutes to look back with us. You may see 9/11 — and its aftermath — in a different light.
Welcome back to the MBN Friday Briefing, our roundup of the best stories on our flagship Arabic-language Alhurra platform which is also available in English. Read the Arabic version of this newsletter here. If you were forwarded this Friday Briefing, subscribe here. We’d love to hear from you at thebriefing@mbn-news.com.
This Week on MBN
After 25 Years, 9/11 Trial Still Awaits
9/11 mastermind suspect Khaled Sheikh Mohammed. REUTERS
It has been 25 years since 9/11 and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the person accused of masterminding the attacks still hasn’t faced trial. A maze of legal disputes, rotating judges and procedural issues has kept the case tied up for years. After being captured in Pakistan in 2003, Mohammed and the other defendants were held at secret CIA sites before being moved to Guantanamo Bay. A 2024 plea deal that could have avoided the death penalty was later scrapped, sending the case back toward trial. Now, a military judge has set June 2028 as the trial date — nearly 27 years after the attacks that killed almost 3,000 people.
Iraq’s Unfinished Dream
A U.S. soldier watches as a statue of Iraq’s President Saddam Hussein falls in central Baghdad April 9, 2003. REUTERS
Have the hopes created by Saddam Hussein’s fall been fulfilled? Ghassan Taqi asks this question while looking back at Iraq 25 years after 9/11. He delves into whether Iraqis have more political and media freedoms today, and whether the country is more secure. Still, the years after 2003 brought war, terrorism, sectarian violence and enormous destruction. Experts interviewed in the article say the biggest failure was removing Saddam Hussein without a succession plan and the lack of effective governance that followed the invasion. Ordinary Iraqis who once dreamed of a prosperous and stable country now have more modest hopes: reliable electricity and basic public services.
A Different Side of 9/11
Karim Kazem, managing editor of MBN’s Alhurra website, recalls how, just hours after 9/11, his supervisor at the U.S. postal service checked on him to make sure he was safe. An Iraqi refugee living in Maine at the time, Kazem feared that the attacks might lead to hostility toward Arabs and Muslims. Sadly, hate crimes and discrimination did increase across the United States after the attacks. But Kazem also remembers Americans, churches, synagogues and community groups reaching out to Muslims with support and kindness. He argues that this spirit of compassion is another important part of the 9/11 story that deserves to be remembered.
When Fear Becomes Punishment
MBN contributor Joumana Haddad argues that 9/11 changed the way governments use power and security. Instead of punishing perpetrators of actual crimes, governments increasingly targeted people based on fears of what they might do. She says suspicion began affecting airports, border security, immigration law, personal privacy and everyday life. People were increasingly expected to prove they were not dangerous, even without evidence of wrongdoing. Haddad says 25 years later, that dynamic still holds true.
The 9/11 Expertise America Risks Losing
The second tower of the World Trade Center bursts into flames after being hit by a hijacked airplane in New York in this Sept. 11, 2001 file photograph. REUTERS/Sara K. Schwittek
Twenty-five years after 9/11, the U.S. has built a deep pool of expertise on terrorism and jihadist groups, argues Aaron Y. Zelin of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. But he warns that this knowledge is slowly fading as priorities shift. Expertise helped prevent another attack on the scale of 9/11 and taught the U.S. hard lessons from wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. His concern is that a future terrorist resurgence could catch Washington unprepared, with fewer experts who understand what worked, what failed, and why.
9/11 Changed America Less Than We Think
Ground Zero on 9/11. AFP PHOTO Doug KANTER
Sept. 11 changed America far less than many people assume, writes Jacob Heilbrunn, editor of The National Interest. After the attacks, President George W. Bush urged Americans to keep traveling, shopping and enjoying life, and the country largely followed that directive. Many domestic problems today, such as high gas prices, economic concerns, and political tensions, resemble those of earlier decades, notes Heilbrunn. In foreign policy, the U.S. also continues many familiar commitments, including NATO and close ties with allies in Asia. Unlike Pearl Harbor, he concludes, 9/11 did not lead Americans to make major sacrifices or fundamentally reshape the country.
Quote of the Week: War on Terror
Our war on terror begins with Al Qaida, but it does not end there.
—President George W. Bush, Sept. 20, 2001