Thread by @portraitinflesh

The September 11th attacks were nothing more or less than an attempt to murder as many people as possible, as quickly as possible and in the most gruesome and spectacular manner possible. No amount of quisling talk about "blowback" can obscure these facts. #911Anniversary

Thanks to Al Qaeda, billions of people all over the world had to contemplate what it must be to be forced to choose between burning or falling to death. Hitherto unimagined new vistas of horror were opened up, for good. #911Anniversary

Some might say the fact we haven't seen an attack on remotely that scale since proves that Islamic terrorism was always a paper tiger. But to my mind, this gives far too little credit to the security services who work to keep us safe. #911Anniversary

The human cost of such measures as wiretaps and drone strikes is all too apparent, while we'll never know of the lives saved thanks to Western counterterrorism efforts. #911Anniversary

"They hate us for our freedom" became a cliché, but does contain a fundamental truth. What really horrifies the likes of Bin Laden about our civilisation is not the presence of US bases in their countries, but rather liberated women and a thriving music scene. #911Anniversary

Our own religious right understands this perfectly well, which is why some of them, like Dinesh D'Souza, went as far as openly seeking common cause with Islamic extremists. Always and everywhere, we need to stand in defence of liberalism against fanaticism. #911Anniversary

Evil, as Granny Weatherwax once says, begins when you start seeing people as things. The killers of 9/11 didn't see their victims as living, breathing human beings, but simply as pawns of the Great Satan. It was ideology that led them to that point. #911Anniversary

Today is also a day to remember the almost inconceivable bravery of the United 93 passengers, who knowingly sacrificed their lives to save others. The best of humanity, killed by the worst. #911Anniversary

People born afterwards or shortly before will never understand the atmosphere of those weeks. Nobody knew if those attacks would be the end of it, or if our civilisation might come under more sustained assault. #911Anniversary

A friend of mine worked in the White House during that time. He went to work every day in the solemn conviction that he was going to be killed soon, along with everyone he cared about. #911Anniversary

I didn't say US foreign policy wasn't a factor at all, but our disagreement with groups like Al Qaeda is ultimately civilisational and would persist even if Western powers had no military presence in Muslim countries. #911Anniversary

https://twitter.com/DavidDPaxton/status/1436615045350318082

It's important to remember how grim things were for Muslims in the US after 9/11, and indeed for anyone with brown skin. That's one of the caveats you have to insert into any misty-eyed remembrance of "the whole country coming together". #911Anniversary

https://twitter.com/abughazalehkat/status/1436749583158239237

Yes, things weren't as bad as they might have been, and Bush deserves praise for having thrown his arms around the Muslim community, which likely saved lives. But still, an honest accounting can't leave it out. #911Anniversary

This, by the way, is one of the rare occasions when the term "microaggression" is entirely apt. #911Anniversary