Osama Bin Laden Won

President Donald Trump has declined to attend the Ground Zero ceremony commemorating the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks by Al Qaeda. It is believed that the President desired to deliver a speech, but the event has traditionally disallowed political remarks from politicians. Instead, Trump will visit the Pentagon, also targeted by the terrorist attack, where he can criticize and lament the events.

He might also make a brief reference to the victims. During the last 9/11 remembrance event at the Pentagon, Trump stated, "We recall the light of America’s best and bravest and the love that they showed in their final moments." This was a prewritten speech; Trump's remarks on the 9/11 attack during a live TV interview that day were far more revealing.

He boasted that his building, the Trump Tower, surpassed the World Trade Center in height before the attack and even after it. This claim was false and disrespectful. Nearby, 70 Pine Street was actually taller. Just a few days ago, it would have been impossible for me to imagine that the real estate mogul who exploited 9/11 to elevate his property's status would become the President of the United States.

Had I predicted that Trump's supporters would storm the Capitol to undermine democracy after failing to do so on 9/11, and that he would still be re-elected despite his actions, I would have dismissed such a thought as absurd. However, this and numerous other outcomes have materialized as Trump's influence over the nation has grown more dangerous than Al Qaeda and other foreign threats.

While Bin Laden is no longer alive, his successor in the White House continues his legacy. Bin Laden’s audacious coordinated assault on the U.S. on September 11, 2001, exacerbated an already slow-motion collapse of American power, leading the nation into a spiral of ruinous economic, foreign policy, democratic, authoritarian, and military debacles.

By instigating wars that drained the country economically and politically, Bin Laden aimed to create a quagmire from which the U.S. could not escape. His strategy was inspired by the tactics of the mujahideen who battled the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. The 9/11 Wars have persisted long after Bin Laden's death, with his vision now materializing in a more potent form through President Donald Trump.