# Remembering 09/11/2001 -- what are the lessons? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 11, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716 "2015-09-11T21:09:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rather\_a\_Vicious\_Gentleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@Rather\_a\_Vicious\_Gentleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rather_a_Vicious_Gentleman)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2015, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716/21 "2015-09-12T16:36:30Z")
Before you fight terrorists in the Middle East, fight the ones in our power elite. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716/22 "2015-09-15T08:15:04Z")
The more personal lesson we learned…from the fight in the airplane over Shanksville, the people advised to return to their desks rather than evacuate the doomed towers, the people crawling through the smoke and flames at the Pentagon, is this: You are responsible for your own survival. We can’t always wait for the authorities to make an announcement, or for the helicopters to arrive. We can’t assume that the old way of doing things, like not resisting hijackers, applies to new situations. We have to act; we must save ourselves. No more asking, “Is this a fire drill, do we really have to leave our desks when these TPS reports are due?” And take your brothers and sisters with you. The things we remember most “fondly” from that day, if that word can be said to apply, the stories we hope define ourselves, are all about the firefighters who ran up when any sane person would have run down. The hands held out to fallen strangers. The voices guiding us through the smoke and flames. That is how we want to think of ourselves. That is who we can be. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716/23 "2015-09-15T12:42:43Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Today is the 15th anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s little unauthorized demolition project. What lessons should we take from that event? The biggest lesson is that we need to wake up to the reality of Islam: they want to either convert us or kill us. There is no middle ground for them. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716/24 "2015-09-15T18:08:10Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Unfortunately there was no superior there to fire Bush for incompetent Actually, there was. Unfortunately on November 2, 2004, they failed to do their job. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716/25 "2015-09-15T18:12:23Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > The biggest lesson is that we need to wake up to the reality of Islam: they want to either convert us or kill us. There is no middle ground for them. What policies would follow from this observation, especially concerning law abiding Muslims who are American citizens? ---
**Author:** ![Hiker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3be4f8/32.png) [@Hiker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hiker)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716/26 "2015-09-15T19:06:53Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > The biggest lesson is that we need to wake up to the reality of Islam: they want to either convert us or kill us. There is no middle ground for them. Oh dear - there are 1,6 Billion Muslims in the world. You’re screwed. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716/27 "2015-09-15T19:21:01Z")
Hey that duck dynasty guy said the same thing. “Convert them or kill them.” Maybe Isis needs to wake up to reality. With some Christians, there is no middle ground! ---
**Author:** ![canned\_mayhem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/53a042/32.png) [@canned\_mayhem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/canned_mayhem)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716/28 "2015-09-15T23:49:40Z")
What lesson did I learn from 9/11? I learned that state sponsored terrorism directed at my country will result in of thousands of deaths toward both the country that supported it and the religion that celebrated it. As far as I know, there hasn’t been another attack on my country that has been fully sponsored like Afghanistan did with the Taliban. The rest of the earth learned real quick that we don’t fucking play when it comes to aggression on our soil. We nuked Japan over their stupidity and smashed Afghanistan for theirs. Hell, we even smacked around Iraq just because we felt like it. Was Iraq a bad idea? Maybe, but we showed the rest of the world what we could do if we felt like it. I laugh at the next country who thinks they can get away with giving the number one badass on the block a black eye. Good luck with that stupidity lmao… ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716/29 "2015-09-16T04:38:06Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > It seems this can be summarized succinctly: don’t trust the government, ever. Wow, that’s totally reasonable and in no way a complete overgeneralization! > [@canned\_mayhem](#): > > What lesson did I learn from 9/11? > > I learned that state sponsored terrorism directed at my country will result in of thousands of deaths toward both the country that supported it and the religion that celebrated it. As far as I know, there hasn’t been another attack on my country that has been fully sponsored like Afghanistan did with the Taliban. > > The rest of the earth learned real quick that we don’t fucking play when it comes to aggression on our soil. We nuked Japan over their stupidity and smashed Afghanistan for theirs. Hell, we even smacked around Iraq just because we felt like it. Was Iraq a bad idea? Maybe, but we showed the rest of the world what we could do if we felt like it. > > I laugh at the next country who thinks they can get away with giving the number one badass on the block a black eye. Good luck with that stupidity lmao… …Wat Neither of Iraq or Afghanistan had anything to do with 9/11. It wasn’t state-sponsored terrorism. It was a rogue terrorist group, and we _utterly failed_ to deal with them. Instead, we bloodied our knuckles on some random schlubs elsewhere and made ourselves public enemy number one for far more of the Arab world. And what did it get us? _Nothing_. We _lost_ in Afghanistan and Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![canned\_mayhem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/53a042/32.png) [@canned\_mayhem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/canned_mayhem)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716/30 "2015-09-16T04:47:20Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Wow, that’s totally reasonable and in no way a complete overgeneralization! > > …Wat > > Neither of Iraq or Afghanistan had anything to do with 9/11. It wasn’t state-sponsored terrorism. It was a rogue terrorist group, and we _utterly failed_ to deal with them. Instead, we bloodied our knuckles on some random schlubs elsewhere and made ourselves public enemy number one for far more of the Arab world. And what did it get us? _Nothing_. We _lost_ in Afghanistan and Iraq. I disagreed and so did most of the leaders at the time (thank god). It was state-sponsored and we dealt the Taliban a losing hand. Sucks for them… The Arab world hated us before 9/11 and hate us still. We taught them a fine lesson in the aftermath however. Fly another plane into our building and watch what we do to 10’s of thousands of your ilk. Lmao ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716/31 "2015-09-16T10:41:54Z")
> [@canned\_mayhem](#): > > Lmao Yes, the insane laughter of the truly uninformed. Any attacks that have been prevented have been based on a better awareness of what the enemies might want to do, along with recruiting more Muslims to help us ferret out such plots before they are launched. It is nonsense to claim that the Arab world hated us before the WTC/Pentagon attacks. It simply has no validity as a claim. It is probably true that some larger number hate us following our unreasonable and unjustified attack on Iraq, but if we behave stupidly, we suffer the consequences of that stupidity. It is also a display of incredible ignorance to speak as though the “Arabs” are the enemy when the MENA region includes many more people than simply Arabs. Does it never bother you to base all your opinions on a lack of knowledge or a misunderstand of the few facts you grasp? ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716/32 "2015-09-16T14:07:08Z")
> [@canned\_mayhem](#): > > I disagreed and so did most of the leaders at the time (thank god). Yes, thank god we were totally wrong and deceived into a war that didn’t achieve what it set out to achieve. Thank _god_ for that. > [@](#): > > It was state-sponsored and we dealt the Taliban a losing hand. Odd, it’s now been over a decade against the world’s strongest military, and the Taliban is still very much alive and well, and still have pretty good odds at straight-up _owning_ Afghanistan when this mess is over. You don’t know your history or your news with regards to the Afghan war. > [@](#): > > The Arab world hated us before 9/11 and hate us still. We taught them a fine lesson in the aftermath however. Fly another plane into our building and watch what we do to 10’s of thousands of your ilk. You know what lesson reached the terrorists? “Fly planes into buildings and they’ll overreact like complete idiots and further our cause more than we ever could have hoped”. Yeah, the Arab world has some gripes with us. No surprise there, if you ever spent any time looking into the region. However, the only “lesson” here is that America is led by complete tools who have no idea how to handle the kind of attack that the Middle East shrugs off on a near-constant basis. > [@](#): > > Lmao Yes, the death of millions certainly is a laughing matter. For some demographics. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716/33 "2015-09-16T14:17:25Z")
[Geez, what all this has done to us . . .](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=768809) ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716/34 "2015-09-16T14:53:33Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > 9/11, like Pearl Harbor, were shocks to our system. We are used to being safe; protected by our oceans. Both FDR and GWB did what they thought was best in moments of extreem duress. It’s in moments of extreme duress that you find out whether your principles are really principles, or just aspirational. We’re supposed to be _different_; the land of liberty and justice for all, etc. After Pearl Harbor, we rounded up thousands of our own citizens with no evidence of wrongdoing and without paying a penny in compensation until decades later. After 9/11, we tortured, imprisoned without trial, and invaded the wrong fucking country. 9/11 showed us we’ve still got a lot of work to do. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716/35 "2015-09-16T15:21:13Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Today is the 15th anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s little unauthorized demolition project. Apparently we haven’t learned to subtract 2001 from 2015. We haven’t learned shit. We overreacted by factors of several thousand, waging costly wars that destabilized the region and wrecked our own economy. We unleashed the demons of racism, tribalism, and religious bigotry. We demonized an entire major religion by the actions of a demented few. Our media swallowed the lies of the Bush Administration hook, line, and sinker. We allowed our national honor to be forever stained by the moral outrage that is torture. Worse, we’d do the same thing all over again, given half a chance. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716/36 "2015-09-16T15:44:32Z")
> [@Hiker](#): > > Oh dear - there are 1,6 Billion Muslims in the world. Next you’re going to say there are more Muslims than there are Americans! That’s the kind of negative thinking that isn’t going to Make America Great Again!1! ---
**Author:** ![psikeyhackr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/97f17d/32.png) [@psikeyhackr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psikeyhackr)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716/37 "2015-09-16T17:37:14Z")
The Laws of Physics do not need to be tested for weird events. Like, where was the center of gravity of the top of the south tower that tilted 22 degrees. The NIST didn’t even apply the concept to the skyscraper as a whole. Well they only had 10,000 pages, so there must not have been room. psik ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716/38 "2015-09-16T20:44:52Z")
> [@canned\_mayhem](#): > > Fly another plane into our building and watch what we do to 10’s of thousands of your ilk. Tens of thousands? It’s over a million, mostly innocents. But I have to say that we’ve certainly straightened out the Arab world by doing it! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716/39 "2015-09-16T21:44:45Z")
> [@psikeyhackr](#): > > The Laws of Physics do not need to be tested for weird events. > > Like, where was the center of gravity of the top of the south tower that tilted 22 degrees. The NIST didn’t even apply the concept to the skyscraper as a whole. Well they only had 10,000 pages, so there must not have been room. > > psik 😕 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716/40 "2015-09-16T21:45:54Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Apparently we haven’t learned to subtract 2001 from 2015. Numbers divisible by 5 have more emotional anniversary-resonance, therefore it is the 15th anniversary, so there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remembering-09-11-2001-what-are-the-lessons/730716.md?page=3)