It’s been nine years since the devastating 9/11 terrorist attacks. Over the weekend, many participated in memorials to honor those on that day. At the Pentagon, the president called for “unity and renewal” at a time when some Americans are increasingly suspicious of Islam.
It’s now clear that we overreacted in our 9/11 response.

In the nine years since that fateful day, we have engaged in two costly wars, immensely expanded the powers of the executive, and at times compromised our values and violated our own laws. Our reaction has not been commensurate with the threat posed by terrorism. True, Al Qaeda is a much diminished threat. But what we have been most successful at is creating a culture of hysteria and fear at home and abroad.

9/11 is a day that will be forever part of our collective conscious. I don’t, and no one should, minimize what happened or the loss of life that occurred.

Yet let us carefully examine our response: the invasion of Iraq under a false, and possibly deliberately deceptive, pretext. The abuses at Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib. The continuing practice of “extraordinary renditions,” in which the U.S. government essentially sanctions torture.

Laws such as the Patriot Act, which handed unprecedented powers over to law enforcement. A sprawling and duplicitous national-security state akin to “Big Brother.”

And we are still at war.

Typical freshmen have seen their country at war for half of their lives. Semantics aside, we will be engaged militarily in Iraq and Afghanistan for the foreseeable future — an extremely daunting prospect.

All of this has cost us trillions of dollars. For all the concern over debt and deficits, there’s scant mention that fighting terror has seriously undermined our fiscal health.

Even today, nine years after the fact, criticism of our response to 9/11 is usually met with derision. The public now has fully soured on the Iraq war and increasingly views Afghanistan as a “mistake.”
Yet there is disturbing continuity between Bush and Obama on national security. It is the Obama administration that has sought powers to assassinate American citizens. And it is the Obama administration that has denied victims of torture the ability to bring their cases to court. Obama, a former constitutional-law professor, has disappointed many.

History will ultimately be the judge, but I fear the country has changed irrevocably. The debate surrounding the proposed “Ground Zero mosque” is a reflection of that. A significant number of Americans conflate all of Islam with its fringe elements. People of all political stripes are willing to sweep aside the constitutional rights of a minority to assuage their fears.

The discussion over immigration is emblematic as well. Some of the most ardent opponents of sensible reform are driven by paranoia and irrationality — beheadings and the like. Or “they” are taking “our” jobs and committing crimes. It’s not just fear of the unknown, but a default suspicion of the other.

The terrorists have changed us.

Was it inevitable and understandable that after 9/11 we might overreact in some ways? Sure. The entire apparatus we built in response to 9/11 can no longer be justified, however.

Each generation plays a role in shaping the national security character of its government. Soon, young people will be able to shape the contours of U.S. foreign policy, war, and diplomacy.

So yes, we will always remember. But let us always think, question, and be willing to change as well.