The War on Terror: How 9/11 Changed America Forever

On the morning of September 11, 2001, America changed. Nineteen hijackers with box cutters killed 2,977 people and set in motion changes that would reshape American government, foreign policy, civil liberties, and national identity.[1]

The towers fell. Then came twenty years of war, a surveillance state, torture programs, and the erosion of rights Americans had taken for granted.

But here's what the patriotic narratives don't tell you: the War on Terror was the largest upward transfer of wealth in human history. While working-class Americans—disproportionately Black and brown—fought and died in desert wars, defense contractors became some of the most profitable companies on Earth. While ordinary citizens surrendered their privacy, the surveillance industry became a multi-billion dollar bonanza. While 7,000 American soldiers died and hundreds of thousands suffered PTSD, the architects of these wars faced no consequences and some became wealthy.

This is the story of how fear was manufactured, weaponized, and monetized—and what it cost everyone except those who profited.

Part I: September 11, 2001

At 8:46 AM Eastern Time, American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. At 9:03 AM, United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower. At 9:37 AM, American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon. At 10:03 AM, United Airlines Flight 93—likely headed for the Capitol or White House—crashed in a Pennsylvania field after passengers fought the hijackers.

By 10:28 AM, both towers had collapsed. Nearly 3,000 people were dead, including 343 firefighters and 72 law enforcement officers.[1]

The victims came from 77 countries. They were janitors and executives, immigrants and native-born, Muslim and Christian and Jewish. They were cooks and analysts and secretaries. In death, they were equal—as they should have been in life.

The Intelligence Failures

The 9/11 Commission—the bipartisan body created to investigate the attacks—concluded:

"The 9/11 attacks were a shock, but they should not have come as a surprise."

— National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, 2004

The warning signs had been abundant:

• August 2001: A CIA briefing titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." was delivered to President Bush.[2]
• Summer 2001: The FBI's Phoenix office warned that Bin Laden supporters were attending flight schools[18]
• Pre-9/11: The CIA tracked two of the eventual hijackers but failed to inform the FBI or put them on watch lists[18]
• Years before: Al-Qaeda had attacked the World Trade Center (1993), U.S. embassies in Africa (1998), and the USS Cole (2000)

The Commission found systemic failures: agencies that didn't share information, warnings that weren't elevated, dots that weren't connected. The attacks succeeded not because they were unforeseeable but because the systems designed to prevent them had failed.

Who Was Listening—And Who Wasn't

It's worth noting who was paying attention to terrorism in 2001—and who wasn't.

The outgoing Clinton administration tried to warn the incoming Bush team about Al-Qaeda. National Security Advisor Sandy Berger told Condoleezza Rice that she would spend more time on terrorism than any other issue. Rice later testified she didn't recall the briefing as particularly alarming.[19]

The Bush administration's priorities before 9/11 were missile defense and tax cuts—Cold War thinking for a post-Cold War world.

Part II: The PATRIOT Act

Forty-five days after September 11, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act).[3]

The 342-page bill was passed with minimal debate. Few members had read it entirely. The vote was 98-1 in the Senate (only Russ Feingold voted no) and 357-66 in the House.[3]

"An Act to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and for other purposes."

— Public Law 107-56, October 26, 2001

What the Act Enabled

Surveillance without traditional warrants: The Act authorized "roving wiretaps" that followed individuals rather than specific phones, and expanded the government's ability to access business records, library records, and internet activity.

National Security Letters: The FBI gained power to demand records from companies without court approval, accompanied by gag orders preventing disclosure.

Expanded FISA powers: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which operated in secret, gained broader authority to approve surveillance.

Indefinite detention: Non-citizens could be detained without charge based on the Attorney General's certification of threat.

"Sneak and peek" searches: Authorities could search homes without notifying occupants.

Many provisions had sunset clauses, but most have been renewed repeatedly. The surveillance infrastructure created in 2001 remains largely intact today.

The NSA Programs

The PATRIOT Act was just the beginning. In secret, the NSA expanded surveillance far beyond what the public law authorized:

• Warrantless wiretapping: The NSA intercepted international communications of U.S. persons without FISA court approval
• Bulk metadata collection: Phone records of millions of Americans were collected and stored
• PRISM: Tech companies were compelled to provide access to user data

These programs weren't publicly confirmed until Edward Snowden's 2013 disclosures. The surveillance state had grown in secret for over a decade.

The Surveillance-Industrial Complex

The post-9/11 surveillance expansion wasn't just about government agencies—it was a massive wealth transfer to private contractors.

According to the Washington Post's "Top Secret America" investigation:[5]

• 1,271 government organizations and 1,931 private companies work on counterterrorism
• 854,000 people hold top-secret security clearances
• 70% of the intelligence budget goes to private contractors

Companies like Booz Allen Hamilton, SAIC, and Palantir became billion-dollar enterprises. The surveillance buildout created a permanent contractor class that profits from monitoring the public.

Edward Snowden worked for Booz Allen when he disclosed the NSA's surveillance programs, highlighting the private contractor role in a public surveillance regime.

Part III: War in Afghanistan

On September 18, 2001—one week after the attacks—Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force:[4]

"The President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001."

— Public Law 107-40, September 18, 2001

The vote was 98-0 in the Senate and 420-1 in the House (Barbara Lee of California cast the sole dissenting vote).[4]

This authorization remains in effect today. It has been used to justify military operations in at least seven countries, against groups that didn't exist in 2001.

The Initial Campaign

The Afghanistan War began on October 7, 2001. The Taliban regime—which had harbored Al-Qaeda—fell within months. By December, the Taliban had fled Kabul and Osama bin Laden had escaped into Pakistan.

Mission accomplished? It seemed so. But the mission expanded.

The Twenty-Year War

What began as a targeted operation against Al-Qaeda became an open-ended nation-building project. The U.S. stayed to build an Afghan government, train an Afghan army, and transform Afghan society.

The Afghanistan Papers—documents obtained by the Washington Post—revealed what officials knew:[14]

"Critical analysis of strategic failures and lessons learned from two decades of military operations in Afghanistan."

— U.S. Army Press, Military Review, July-August 2022

Officials admitted privately what they denied publicly: the war was unwinnable, metrics were manipulated, and the Afghan government was irredeemably corrupt. But no one could figure out how to leave.

The Toll

When the U.S. finally withdrew in August 2021:[6]

• 20 years of war
• 2,461 U.S. military deaths
• 20,752 U.S. military wounded
• Over 170,000 Afghan deaths (military, police, civilians)
• $2.3 trillion spent
• The Taliban returned to power within weeks

Who Fought and Who Didn't

The class dimensions of the Afghanistan War—and the War on Terror generally—deserve scrutiny.

After 9/11, military recruitment surged. But who enlisted? Data from the Department of Defense shows:[22]

• Recruits disproportionately came from rural areas and small towns
• Working-class and lower-middle-class families were overrepresented
• Recruits disproportionately came from Southern states and areas with fewer economic opportunities
• Only 0.5% of the population served, down from 12% during WWII

Meanwhile, the children of the war's architects—Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith—did not serve. Of the 535 members of Congress who voted for war, only a handful had children in uniform.

This was a working-class war fought for interests that benefited the wealthy. As Warren Buffett noted, "There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning."[20]

Part IV: The Bush Doctrine and Preemptive War

In September 2002, the White House released a new National Security Strategy. It established what became known as the "Bush Doctrine":[15]

"We will not hesitate to act alone, if necessary, to exercise our right of self-defense by acting preemptively."

— The White House, National Security Strategy, September 2002

This was revolutionary. Traditional international law permitted preemptive action only against imminent threats. The Bush Doctrine claimed the right to attack based on potential future threats—a far lower bar.

The doctrine would soon be tested.

Part V: The Iraq War

On October 16, 2002, Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq:[16]

"The President is authorized to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq."

— Public Law 107-243, October 16, 2002

The case for war rested on claims that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and had ties to Al-Qaeda. Both claims were false.

The WMD Intelligence Failure

The Senate Intelligence Committee later concluded:[7]

"Most of the major key judgments in the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate were either overstated or not supported by the underlying intelligence reporting."

— U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, September 2006

Iraq had no active nuclear weapons program. Iraq had no significant chemical or biological weapons stockpiles. Iraq had no operational relationship with Al-Qaeda.

The intelligence failure (or manipulation—the extent of deliberate distortion remains debated) led to war.

The Downing Street Memo

British documents, leaked in 2005, revealed what officials knew before the war:[8]

"The intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."

— UK Cabinet Office, Meeting Minutes, July 23, 2002

The decision to invade Iraq had been made. Intelligence was being shaped to justify a predetermined conclusion.

The UK Inquiry

The Chilcot Inquiry—the UK's official investigation—concluded:[9]

"The UK chose to join the invasion of Iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted."

— Iraq Inquiry, Sir John Chilcot (Chair), July 6, 2016

The Toll

The Iraq War's costs:[6]

• 4,431 U.S. military deaths
• 31,994 U.S. military wounded
• Estimated 150,000-600,000 Iraqi deaths (estimates vary widely)
• Millions of Iraqi refugees
• $2+ trillion spent
• Rise of ISIS from the chaos
• Empowerment of Iran as regional power
• No weapons of mass destruction found

Follow the Money: Who Profited from Iraq

The Iraq War was, in many ways, the privatization of warfare—and the profits were staggering.

Halliburton: Vice President Dick Cheney's former company received over $39 billion in Iraq contracts. A 2004 Pentagon audit found Halliburton had overcharged the government by $1.4 billion.[10]

KBR (Halliburton subsidiary): Received massive no-bid contracts for Iraq reconstruction and logistics services.[10]

Blackwater: The private military contractor founded by Erik Prince (brother of Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos) received over $1 billion in Iraq contracts. In 2007, Blackwater guards killed 17 Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square. Four guards were eventually convicted—and later pardoned by President Trump.[11]

While 4,431 American soldiers died and hundreds of thousands came home wounded, defense industry CEOs became fabulously wealthy. In 2021, the five major defense contractors paid their CEOs a combined $96 million.[12]

The Revolving Door

The architects of the Iraq War faced no consequences. Many became wealthier:

• Dick Cheney: Returned to private sector, reportedly worth $100 million+
• Donald Rumsfeld: Returned to his investment firm, estimated worth $50-200 million at death
• Paul Wolfowitz: Became president of the World Bank, later a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute
• Douglas Feith: Returned to academia and think tank work
• Condoleezza Rice: Joined the boards of Dropbox and Chevron (where she had previously served)

Not one architect of the Iraq War was held accountable for the hundreds of thousands of deaths their false claims produced. Not one served time. Not one was even professionally sanctioned.

Part VI: The Permanent War

The Authorization for Use of Military Force passed on September 18, 2001—intended to target those behind the 9/11 attacks—has been invoked to justify operations in:[6]

• Afghanistan
• Iraq
• Syria
• Yemen
• Somalia
• Libya
• Pakistan

Against groups that didn't exist in 2001. In countries unconnected to the 9/11 attacks. Two decades after the authorization passed.

The "War on Terror" has no defined enemy, no defined battlefield, and no defined end. It continues.

Part VII: What It Cost

The War on Terror's costs go beyond body counts and budgets:

Civil liberties: Mass surveillance became normalized. Indefinite detention without trial (Guantánamo) became accepted. Enhanced interrogation (torture) was authorized at the highest levels.

Political culture: Dissent was treated as disloyalty. "Support the troops" became a cudgel to silence war critics. Fear became a permanent political tool.

International standing: Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo, and drone strikes damaged America's moral authority. The invasion of Iraq—without UN authorization—undermined the international order America had built.

Fiscal health: Trillions spent on wars meant trillions not spent on infrastructure, education, health care, or debt reduction.

National focus: Two decades focused on the Middle East while China rose, infrastructure crumbled, and domestic problems festered.

Part VIII: The True Cost—By the Numbers

Let's put the War on Terror's spending in perspective. According to Brown University's Costs of War Project, the total cost through 2023 exceeds $8 trillion—including future veterans' care and interest on war debt.[6]

What could $8 trillion have bought instead?

Instead, we got:[6][13]

• Wars that killed over 929,000 people (including 387,000+ civilians)
• 38 million refugees displaced
• 7,057 U.S. service members killed
• 30,177 U.S. service members died by suicide (more than 4x combat deaths)
• The Taliban back in power
• Iraq destabilized with Iran empowered
• A surveillance state targeting American citizens
• Civil liberties eroded perhaps permanently

The Veteran Crisis

The human cost to American veterans is staggering:[13]

• Over 1.8 million veterans deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan
• 30,177 veteran suicides from 2001-2021 (compared to 7,057 combat deaths)
• 22 veterans die by suicide every day
• Over 250,000 troops suffered traumatic brain injuries[21]

The VA has been chronically underfunded. While contractors became billionaires, veterans waited months for appointments and died on waiting lists.

This is the class dimension of war: the wealthy profit, the working class fights, and when the fighting is done, the working class is abandoned.

The Lessons

What should we learn from the War on Terror?

Fear is exploitable: In the aftermath of 9/11, Americans accepted measures they would have rejected the day before. Fear makes people pliable. As Naomi Klein documented in The Shock Doctrine, crisis is used to push through policies that would never pass in calm times.

Wars are easier to start than end: Both Afghanistan and Iraq began with quick military victories. Both became quagmires lasting years beyond any rational justification. The military-industrial complex that Eisenhower warned about has incentives to start wars and keep them going—because war is profitable.

Intelligence can be wrong—or manipulated: The WMD claims were catastrophically wrong. Whether through error or deception, the result was the same. When those who profit from war also control the intelligence that justifies war, we should be deeply skeptical.

Sunsets matter: Emergency powers granted in crisis tend to become permanent. The PATRIOT Act provisions are still largely in effect. The 2001 AUMF is still invoked. What was "temporary" became forever.

The costs are hidden—and unequally distributed: War deaths make news; veteran suicides don't. Budget costs are spread across decades. And the people who pay—in blood and trauma and opportunity cost—are disproportionately working-class Americans, while the people who profit are already wealthy.

Accountability matters: Not one architect of the Iraq War faced consequences. The message: you can lie your country into war, and as long as you're powerful enough, you'll face no reckoning. This is how democracies die.

What Should Have Happened

From a social democratic perspective, the response to 9/11 should have looked very different:

1. Targeted action against Al-Qaeda—not open-ended nation-building or regime change in unrelated countries
2. International cooperation—working through NATO and the UN rather than "coalitions of the willing"
3. Address root causes—including U.S. foreign policy that creates resentment, and economic conditions that fuel extremism
4. Protect civil liberties—refusing to sacrifice the freedoms we claim to defend
5. Invest at home—using the trillions spent abroad to address poverty, healthcare, education, and infrastructure
6. Hold people accountable—those who lied us into war should have faced justice

Instead, we got the opposite: endless war, surveillance, torture, and a bipartisan consensus that the working class would fight while the wealthy profited.

Understanding how September 11 transformed America is essential for understanding America today. The surveillance state, the permanent war footing, the erosion of civil liberties, the partisan weaponization of national security—all trace back to those burning towers and the choices made in their shadow.

The question now is whether those choices can be unmade—whether we can build a country that invests in its people rather than its wars, that holds the powerful accountable, and that refuses to let fear override our values.

The War on Terror didn't just change America. It revealed what America is: a country where the wealthy profit from crisis, the working class pays the price, and accountability is reserved for the powerless.

The towers fell. Then we fell—into wars, surveillance, and fear. Twenty years later, we're still falling.

The question is whether we can catch ourselves.

• VA Suicide Data - Department of Veterans Affairs
• Halliburton Iraq Contracts - Government Accountability Office
• Blackwater Nisour Square - Human Rights Watch
• Defense Contractor CEO Pay - Institute for Policy Studies