"The 25-year-old U.S. 'war on terror' was launched ostensibly in response to the hijacking and crashing of four commercial planes on Sept. 11, 2001," Ida Audeh writes. "That criminal act, in which just under 3,000 victims were killed, has been used to justify the U.S. and Israeli destruction of Arab and Muslim countries that defy U.S. and Israeli hegemony."

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Former diplomat George Aldridge reflects on working in the Foreign Service after 9/11, and how the U.S. can better engage the Arab world: "By the time I joined the U.S. Consulate General Casablanca in August 2002, provisions of the Patriot Act were being implemented. As one would expect, there ensued a heightened scrutiny of any young Arab male (Muslim or otherwise) applying for a U.S. visa. If a visa was approved at post, it was routinely submitted to DC for further screening—the extreme vetting that President Donald Trump would claim needed to be established years later."

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