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Welcome to the Post-Post-9/11 Era

9/11 beams of light from across the bridge in New York City

One year ago, the U.S. military pulled out of Afghanistan. Was underwayAfter 20 years of conflict. We celebrated a year anniversary of President Joe Biden’s passing in February. AnnouncementThe U.S. will no longer be supporting “offensive actions” in Yemen by Saudi-led intervention. December marks the first anniversary of (most recent) the. End of theU.S. military mission to Iraq 

However, these milestones do not tell the entire story. One year ago I was worried about my health. A post at The WeekOur troops must leave Afghanistan to end the U.S.-led intervention in Afghanistan. Even without a residual force, “over the horizon” strikes—As the one that killed Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri in July—could continue apace. It seems that my concern was misplaced. Airwars’ data shows the Biden government has not been able to track U.S. strikes with independent information and official acknowledgements. dramatically wound downDrone war and other aerial strikes It’s not just AfghanistanHowever, it extends to the entire Middle East.

Next, there is the new intelligence assessmentThis week, it was published. This consensus is based on the U.S. intelligence and shows that Al Qaeda has not “reconstituted its presence” in Afghanistan in the twelve months since American troops left. There are only “less than a dozen” al Qaeda core members left in Afghanistan. CNN reported. Terrorist organization responsible for the attacks on 9/11 no longer “has the capability to launch attacks against America or its interests overseas from Afghanistan.”

Even though 2024’s presidential election isn’t yet underway, it is interesting to see how far away counterterrorism and the associated wars remain from this nascent race. This goes beyond the superficiality of foreign policy. Is regularly issuedFor these events, former President Donald Trump spoke, for instance, about terrorists and wars The murder of a loved oneDuring his 2016 campaign, terrorists regularly targeted innocent relatives. Now, however, Washington Post Analyse of hisRecent rally topics suggest that those subjects are not often on Biden’s radar. Biden, meanwhile, It has been remarkably quiet aboutHis own accomplishment in ending the drone war.

This all seems like an important shift when taken together. We may be nearing the end to American foreign policy after the attacks of September 11. My The entire political processThis has occurred in the shadows of 9/11 and Washington’s exaggerated response to those horrors. I offer this warning with caution. It appears that we might be on the cusp of something entirely new. There are new problems to solve and new warnings to avoid hubris, human inhumanity and imprudence.

However, the old era of war, although it is ending, has not yet ended. The authorizations for use of military force (AUMFs) which initiated the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—and were later stretched to provide implausible legal cover for a host of other military interventions Congress never directly approved—remain in force. They should be officially repealed to ensure that Biden, and any future Presidents, can clear the hurdle of at least a vote before expanding the U.S. military presence there.

Relatedly, Biden’s more stringent rulesApproval drone strikes is an improvement on the Loose approachTrump’s administration and The Increased civilian casualtiesIt helped to produce. However, these rules aren’t laws. They’re executive guidance that can be immediately altered by the next president—which could well be Trump or another Republican with a similarly nonchalant mindset about bombing children and innocent civilians. Biden needs to make sure that he codifies a more cautious approach in law, even though his party is the majority in both Houses of Congress.

Washington’s perpetual wars and forever quasi-wars must be stopped. This includes copying Washington’s complete withdrawal from Afghanistan. U.S. bootson the ground. Although Biden had ended the combat mission, there was a residual U.S. military force. Many thousandsIt is There are still someIn an advisory-and-assist position; many U.S. soldiers are also still in this role SomaliaAnd SyriaAnd the Yemen policy change is It’s not so sweeping.As Biden’s opaque rhetoric suggested. Each of these points are a small, but necessary risk. Reescalation could be triggered by U.S. intervention in Yemen. This has significantly contributed to Yemen’s most severe humanitarian crisis.

The post-9/11 era should be relegated to domestic policy updates. Because the war against terror wasn’t just about foreign policy, it also included domestic policy. The February issue of We learned about the CIA has conducted National Security Administration–style warrantless mass surveillance, including of Americans, in the name of fighting terror, and since then…nothing happened? There are no records of the surveillance. never even gotAll details about this illegal spying. The Transportation Security Administration is also due for reform, if not complete abolition. to be a cruelAnd Demonstrated incompetentimposition upon Americans privacy rights It’s Security theaterJustifiable by an incredibly unrealistic risk assessment. It should be followed closely by other vestiges from the post-9/11 era.

Reason.com’s first post was entitled Welcome to the Post-Post-9/11 Era