Since it’s been over 20 years since 9/11, it’s easy to think the event doesn’t matter, or is ancient history.
At the time of this writing, though, President-elect Donald Trump is making moves in 2024 as he prepares to enter office — and many of his decisions illustrate just how important 9/11 is to the world today. This is why it is a vital subject matter for today’s teenage students. Let’s take a look at some specific issues.
Before There was Silicon Valley, There Was PNAC
The Bush administration’s desire for a military agenda as expressed prior to the its inauguration in January of 2001. In September of 2000, the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) — a think tank that contained many members that would go on to have great influence in the Bush administration — published a report entitled, “Rebuilding America’s Defenses.”
As the title suggests, the document expressed an interest in ensuring America’s military remained very strong, even going so far as to say that absent an event like a “new Pearl Harbor” public support for re-militarization may be hard to obtain. Specifically, “Rebuilding America’s Defenses” called for a sweeping transformation of the US military, including the implementation of a $50 billion missile defense program and the increased use of specialized military technologies.
Likewise, though Trump has yet to take office for his second term, his most passionate supporters are voicing a message eerily similar to what PNAC expressed over 20 years ago. US weapons contractor Anduril has published a blog entitled “Rebooting the Arsenal of Democracy,” which makes the case for essentially rebuilding America’s defenses — just as PNAC did 20 years prior. Here is a key excerpt from the opening of Anduril’s manifesto:
The 20th century is well behind us, and with it the sense that America and its allied democracies are the undisputed leaders of the world. World War II — the last major war that America and its allies can truly be said to have won — feels awfully long ago…
…The absence of a crisis made us complacent. In the aftermath of the Cold War, America and its allies felt invincible. Former Soviet states appeared to be liberalizing. China’s economy was growing, and most modernization theorists believed that the Chinese Communist Party would move inexorably toward open democracy. It was the end of history — the triumph of Western ideals and a new age of American-led world order.
Until it wasn’t. Instead of acquiescing, our competitors seized the moment. China and Russia spent two decades harnessing our most powerful weapon — innovation — and built advanced weapon systems designed to neutralize and surpass our own. The results are sobering: today, in almost every wargame the United States Department of Defense models against China, China wins.¹
All too quickly, we have reached the point where, in the words of General C.Q. Brown, “We must accelerate change, or lose.”
It should be noted that Anduril is not simply an outside observer offering a detached opinion on the situation. Anduril is a part of what has become known as the Thielverse — the network of powerful companies and individuals connected to Peter Thiel, who is wielding an increasingly large amount of political power.
Thiel invested in the previous company started by Anduril’s founder, Palmer Luckey, and invested in Anduril by way of his venture capital firm, Founders Fund. Thiel also previously employed, and subsequently donated to, the political campaigns of Vice President-elect JD Vance. In addition to Anduril, Thiel is also a co-founder of Palantir, another defense tech company that will surely benefit from military funding.
What We’ve Got Here is, Failure to Investigate
Arguably the greatest failure of the entire 9/11 debacle was the failure to conduct any criminal investigation. The Attorney General — the individual who is essentially the chief law enforcement officer of the nation — during the 9/11 attacks was John Ashcroft. Ashcroft had connections to the military industrial complex, perhaps most visibly by his relationship with Karl Rove.
Rove worked for John Ashcroft over the course of two decades, including his 1980s campaigns for governor and the US Senate. Rove was also a paid consultant to 3 of Ashcroft’s political campaigns before Ashcroft was appointed Attorney General. Additionally, Jack Oliver, the Deputy Finance Chairman of President Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign, was the Director of Ashcroft’s 1994 Senate campaign and later worked as Ashcroft’s Deputy Chief of Staff. This close relationship raised concerns about Ashcroft’s ability to fairly prosecute Bush administration officials.
The stage may be set for history to repeat itself when one considers Trump’s desired Attorney General, Pam Bondi. Pam Bondi’s brother, Bradley Bondi, has defended Tesla during SEC inquiries; the CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk, who is also the founder of SpaceX, an emerging defense tech contractor like Anduril. Pam Bondi also defended Trump in his first impeachment trial, perhaps creating a conflict of interest that would make it hard for her to impartially investigate any Trump allies.
Will History Repeat?
We should be careful of extrapolating and inferring too much, and seeing connections that are innocuous or meaningless. However, it would also be a mistake to ignore parallels, and fail to consider potential scenarios. This is part of the great value in studying history. In our current times, it may be especially worthwhile to remember the history of 9/11.
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