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Over the last several decades thee true
costs of the wars the U.S. has waged overseas have been largely hidden.
We have had to pay the military bills but few Americans have died. The
death and destruction was all overseas. That changed on September 11.
The violence reached the United States.
The September 11 attacks, however, were not simply acts of retribution.
They were also provocation. Bin Laden expected the U.S. to respond with
massive violence, knowing this would bring him new recruits. Ultimately,
he hoped to win the majority of the Muslim world to support his holy war
on the U.S.
[Osama bin Laden says:] More martyrs, more recruits.
The Bush Administration responded according to bin Laden's script.
George W. Bush declared a War on Terrorism," using "good vs. evil"
rhetoric that mirrored bin Laden's. Bush and his advisors were ready,
even eager, for the war bin Laden wanted. They saw the September 11
attacks as a grand opportunity to boost military spending and
demonstrate U.S. military power.
"This will be a monumental struggle of good versus evil ... This
crusade, this war on terrorism, is going to take a while." (G.W. Bush,
Sept. 12 and 16, 2001) [79]
Bush's "War on Terrorism" began with U.S. warplanes bombing Afghanistan.
The Bush Administration refused to negotiate or consider any
alternatives to war. When the Afghan government asked for evidence
against bin Laden, a reasonable request that might have made it possible
to cooperate with the U.S., Bush replied:
I said -- no negotiations! Cough up bin Laden now or die along with him!
Relatives prepare the bodies of four small children for burial after a
U.S. airstrike. Kabul, October 2001. [80]
The people of Afghanistan suffered the consequences. U.S. bombing killed
many civilians and the war cut off relief supplies to millions already
facing starvation. The total number of deaths will never be known, but
it's likely there will be many times more civilian deaths in Afghanistan
than in the World Trade Center.
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