25 Years After 9/11, The Intercept Argues Bin Laden Won—By Driving Endless Wars, Debt, and a Trumpian Autocracy

An Intercept opinion piece argues that Osama bin Laden’s 9/11 attacks helped usher in an era of endless wars, ballooning deficits, and democratic erosion, with Donald Trump’s presidency epitomizing the autocratic drift. It cites a rise in the national debt from about $5.8 trillion in 2001 to roughly $40 trillion today, health tolls from Ground Zero, and widespread authoritarian actions to suggest bin Laden’s strategic aim has endured long after his death.