We were not that far out from the Cold War at this point. And a lot of people had been raised with
the understanding that if strikes on American soil were on the table, then nuclear war was on the table. I feel like a lot of people forget, there was not just a fear of war after 9/11 there was a fear of nuclear war. Which is exactly why that “weapons of mass destruction” lie worked so well.
In Britain I distinctly remember someone saying the US was going to turn the Middle East to glass. There was definitely a feeling of “what are they going to do now..?” about it, and what cascade events would follow.
Then Blair supported his boy’s invasion of not one but two simultaneous conflicts, one of which was unrelated. I trained up and served in one of them, and 25 years later the US is less stable as an ally than ever and even Iran is telling it to do one.
Bin Laden was killed, but he basically got his strategic victory of weakening US global hegemony. Sad times for all involved.
23
u/GiantLesbian 13h ago
We were not that far out from the Cold War at this point. And a lot of people had been raised with
the understanding that if strikes on American soil were on the table, then nuclear war was on the table. I feel like a lot of people forget, there was not just a fear of war after 9/11 there was a fear of nuclear war. Which is exactly why that “weapons of mass destruction” lie worked so well.