9/11. Who won?

Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, is dead.

Thousands of civilians perished that day. Thousands of troops have died fighting two wars since. Estimates are over 100,000 civilians have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The US alone has spent $1.25 trillion on the two wars.

We endured a financial panic in September, 2008, worse than anything since the Great Depression. Many nations are still reeling from the aftershocks, and government banks are cash strapped and perhaps incapable of aiding the world economy. The economic ruin continues despite the stimulus package that was thrown at it.

What’s more, the US political system seems broken. The parties are barely capable of discussing anything diplomatically. Citizens demonstrate as much intolerance at times.

The recession aside, is what we are experiencing a cyclical change in politics in Western countries? Or is it a fundamental shift in the way things work?

Should the economic difficulties be traced to the cost of the two wars?

Did the attacks of 9/11 cause us to lose our common sense?

Who won the War on Terror?