Respec
. I gently and respectfully disagree. I think the world (and NATO) was behind the USA on this operation. The plot that murdered over 3000 Americans came from there. Bin laden had a track record of killing Americans (embassy bombings). (BTW, the USA under GWB lost that goodwill 2 years later by convincing a chunk of people the Iraqi's were behind 9/11 and launched that invasion. I'll agree with you on that, and they lost a chunk of the world with that operation for sure. I dont know if the USA fully recovered from that. Stabbing the Ukrainians in the back - as Trump did to the Kurds - will really haunt the USA).
Clinton in fact had Intel on bin laden that he was in Afghanistan hunting with other Saudi princes (prior to 9/11). But he didn't authorize it, yet a chunk of CIA folks were upset (and wrote books explaining how maybe they could have prevented 9/11. Thus, he spared civilians, but at what cost? Many future civilians in both countries?).
I may also be biased. I lived in NYC at the time and knew some of the victims, and had to smell the dead body smell for 6 months in lower Manhattan. Plus seeing the people at work who lost family and friends. Whole fire companies wiped out. It was a horrific time. I supported that Afghanistan military operation 100%.
I think USA used their technology, unlike the Russians, to spare civilians as much as possible. But people and machines fuck up. And there were some awful fuck ups. But the Iraq thing was the real problem and tracks more closely to your critique, in my pov.
The only article 5 NATO act was to support the US after 9/11, true. But the US blew through that good will by turning it into the GWOT. The wars on Iraq had massive protests and Canada refused to join in. The war on Afghanistan over Bin Laden staying there was misguided at best. But I guess they were an easier target than the Saudis or whoever else was really backing Bin Laden.
There is no doubt that 9/11 was horrific, but there is also no doubt that the wars on Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine have not also been horrific.
None of it has made any place safer or better.
With NATO at least there was some pretence at acting more like cops and less like brutal invaders. Remember the stink over Canadians taking part in torture?
Now those stories don't even make the news anymore.
With trump all the pretence is gone, now its naked power/land grabs because he thinks he can get away with. The US has been pushing against rule by law, with attacks on the UN, NATO, ICC and human rights, now they've set the ground for trump just taking it one step further.
