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Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN
Updated 7:06 AM ET, Sat September 11, 2021
(CNN)America went into battle on September 11, 2001, united in defense of its values and way of life.
Twenty years on, it is at war with itself, its democracy threatened from within in a way Osama bin Laden never managed.
In the moment, the 9/11 attacks that came from a blue sky on a crisp, clear morning stretched credulity in their horror and dastardly conception and proved that vast oceans could no longer shield the US from the terror of the outside world.
But for a few weeks at least, everyone — liberal, conservative, no matter the race or creed — was as one in mourning nearly 3,000 dead and fearing more strikes.
In hindsight, however, the attacks heralded the dawn of an era of political trauma and turbulence that snuffed out a brief period when a prosperous US had basked in a post-Cold War glow of peace, standing as a lone superpower.
Continued
Carl Sagan
Article URL : https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/11/politics/9-11-anniversary-biden-afghanistan/index.html