What and who led to defeat from a historical perspective in the war against terrorism

Caroline Glick recently had the following to say about how and why the USA lost the war against jihadists, pointing to past incidents in history within 2 decades that explains quite a bit about why in the long run, the war against terrorism was a failure:

Biden is personally responsible for the humanitarian and strategic disaster unfolding before our eyes. He is the only American leader in history who has willfully abandoned Americans and American allies to their fate behind enemy lines. But while Biden is solely responsible for the decision to leave Afghanistan in the manner it is, it isn’t Biden’s fault that after twenty years of war, the Taliban was still around, stronger than it was on September 11, 2001, and fully capable of seizing control of the country. The foundations of that failure were laid in the days, weeks and months that followed the September 11 attacks.

In the aftermath of September 11, then president George W. Bush and his national security team put together the guiding assumptions for what came to be known as the global war on terror. In the years since then, some of the assumptions were updated, adapted or replaced as conditions on the ground evolved. But three of the assumptions that stood at the foundation of America’s military, intelligence and diplomatic planning and operations since then were not revisited, save for the final two years of the Trump administration. All three contributed significantly to America’s defeat in Afghanistan and its failure to win the war against global terror as a whole. The first assumption related to Pakistan, the second to Iran, and the third to Israel.

By rights, Pakistan should have been the first domino to fall after the September 11 attacks. The Taliban were the brainchild of Pakistan’s jihad-addled ISI intelligence agency. Al Qaeda operatives also received ISI support. But aside from a few threats and temporary sanctions around the time of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, the U.S. took no significant actions against Pakistan. The reason for America’s inaction is easy to understand.

In 1998 Pakistan tested nuclear weapons. By September 11, 2001, Pakistan fielded a significant nuclear arsenal. Following the attacks, Pakistan made clear its view of nuclear war, and the connection between its position and its sponsorship of terror.

In October and December 2001, Kashmiri terrorists sponsored by Pakistan attacked the Jammu and Kashmir parliament and the Indian parliament. When India accused Pakistan of responsibility and threatened reprisals, then Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf placed the Pakistani military on alert. India began deploying troops to the border and Pakistan followed suit.

Rather than side with India, the U.S. pressured Delhi to stand down, which it did in April 2002. In June 2002, Pakistani-backed terrorists carried out suicide bombings against the wives and children of Indian soldiers. The countdown to war began again. In June 2002, again bowing to U.S. pressure, India pledged it would not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons to the conflict. Musharraf refused to follow suit.

Rather than rally behind India, the Bush administration wrested an empty promise from Musharraf that he would stop sponsoring terrorism and then pressured India to stand down again.

The U.S. message was clear. By credibly threatening to use its nuclear weapons, Pakistan deterred the Americans. Less than six months later, North Korea expelled UN inspectors from its nuclear reactor at Yangbyon and cancelled its signature on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran escalated its covert nuclear activities at Isfahan and Natanz.

The U.S.’s decision to dodge a confrontation with Pakistan following the Sept. 11 attacks empowered the ISI to rebuild the Taliban and al Qaeda after the U.S. decimated both in its initial offensive. Taliban leaders decamped to Pakistan where they rebuilt their forces and waged a war of attrition against U.S., NATO forces and the Afghan army and government they built. Osama bin Laden was living in what amounted to a Pakistani military base when he was killed by U.S. commandos. That war ended with Biden’s surrender and the Taliban’s recapture of Kabul this month.

The politician responsible for failure in the past was Bush. He caused trouble for Israel, India, and every innocent soul in Europe. All by downplaying the seriousness of the issues, and refusing to focus on all Islamic regimes where al Qaeda/Taliban was a serious threat. A so-called conservative who was no better than his equally awful father was in his time.

And on that note, more recently, during the 9-11 Memorial, Bush practically unmasked and let know where he really stands, as he attacked Americans on a day that's supposed to be committed to unity and not offensive statements:

Many media and political figures expressed outrage online after former President George W. Bush appeared to use his speech commemorating the 20th anniversary of 9/11 to compare January 6 Capitol protesters to the Islamic terrorists who viciously attacked America, killing nearly three thousands innocents and wounding more than double that number.

Here's more on Revolver News about this horrific act of his in Shanksville. As noted:

9/11’s Twentieth Anniversary would be a good time to reflect on the bloody failures of the George W. Bush administration. There could be a frank discussion on how Bush took America’s greatest moment of national unity since World War 2, and channeled it into two disastrous overseas wars while greatly empowering intelligence agencies at home. There could be discussion on how, instead of asking Americans to sacrifice, Bush urged them to go shopping and launched a federal spending spree that has never stopped. There could even be a frank discussion on how Bush failed to stop the attacks themselves, which might be related to Bush explicitly running on a pledge to scale back racial profiling in airports.

This is also why in the long run, the war in Afghanistan wound up a failure. I'd written in the past about Bush's pretensions, but this is by far one of the most repulsive and divisive things he could ever do. Ashli Babbit's mother had strong words for Bush following this horrific example set. I heard a podcast by Steve Bannon where it's stated that with his reprehensible minimization, Bush has effectively put himself among the ranks of the most disgraced names in US politics.

The worst part of this hijacking of the 9-11 Memorial by establishment figures is that in the future, it could end up discouraging sensible people from attending, if they're worried that traitorous politicians like Bush could make offensive statements like that again. This year's become the most tarnished for the 9-11 Memorial service as a result.

Update: Right Wing Uncut has more.