Washington D.C. — Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks, Foreign Policy for America remembers the nearly 3,000 people killed that day: office workers, first responders, passengers, and colleagues who never came home. We hold their families, and all who continue to carry that loss, in our thoughts.
This anniversary is a moment for solemn reflection, not only on the lives taken in the attacks, but on everything asked of the country in their name in the years since. As we mark this day, we must also recognize the costs and consequences of the decisions that followed.
America’s post-9/11 wars have consumed a generation. The wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Iran, as well as smaller operations around the world in the name of counterterrorism, have cost trillions of dollars and thousands of American lives. They were, and are today, sustained with too little debate in Congress, too little accounting to the public, and, at times, too little relation to the vital interests of the American people. The broader opportunity costs have been steep, damaging America’s credibility as well as our preparedness to meet the challenges of the future.
Leaders in both parties have promised for a decade to end these forever wars. That promise is still unmet. Twenty-five years on, we owe the American people a new vision for U.S. engagement in the world that is transparent about its costs, answerable to Congress, and laser focused on delivering safety, security, prosperity, and opportunity for Americans in a rapidly changing world.
###
