More brains, less Halliburton

Why Dick Cheney is wrong.

WTC a few weeks after the attack. From the private collection of the author

With Kabul falling hours ago and the 20th anniversary of 9/11 a few weeks ahead of us, I am sharing my article written in March of 2009. I would not write it differently today. HAK

In his first interview after leaving office, former Vice President Dick Cheney said that Obama’s policies “raise the risk” of a U.S. terror attack. His argument goes back to an old dilemma: should terrorism be considered a military problem, as the Bush administration treated it, or should it be a law enforcement issue, as the current administration is inclined to do.

We did not have any major terrorist attacks after 9/11 and Mr. Cheney takes credit for that. I would object. The fact that we did not have any major terrorist act since September 11 has nothing to do with the war on terror. Quite the opposite: the Muslim masses perceived the war on terror as an expansion of American imperialism. This helped radical Islam gain popularity, broadening the breeding ground for a new generation of potential terrorists. As a result, the actual terrorist threat increased, as we have more young indoctrinated people willing to become terrorists.

The big screw-up
A few days before September 11, 2001, I was visiting New York and drove by the World Trade Center towers. During a casual conversation with family, we…