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By C.J. Atkins
It has been almost 20 years since Al Qaeda terrorists flew hijacked planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and crashed another into a field in Pennsylvania after a passenger revolt. On that day, 2,977 people lost their lives, leaving behind hundreds of thousands of grieving family members, friends, co-workers, and neighbors. First responders in the immediate target cities and volunteers from around the country courageously rushed to aid those in need, coming together in a moment of national unity unmatched since perhaps Pearl Harbor.
Today, the country is again living through a disastrous tragedy. It is one that emerged outside our borders but which has been made immeasurably worse by the failed response of our country’s leader. The COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to Trump’s lies and incompetence, has claimed over 193,000 American lives as of Sept. 11, 2020. That’s more than 65 times the number of people who perished on 9/11. When this nightmare finally ends, someday, tens of millions will count themselves among those who’ve lost someone to the virus.
Besides the shared death and human destruction that characterize these two periods, they’re also defined by something else—both represent a time of huge wins for the military-industrial complex. In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, war profiteering exploded as the administration of George W. Bush forked over billions of dollars to giant defense corporations (whose former heads populated his cabinet). Now, Trump is doing the same.
Military merger mania
The current occupant of the White House tries to play the role of an isolationist, anti-war president, constantly pledging to “bring our troops home” from this or that military adventure. He rails against his predecessors for pursuing policies of endless war. He even made the stunningly correct criticism this week that Pentagon leaders...
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