What Have We Learned in the Past 10 Years?

 

Last week, I reviewed a number of personal experiences that happened on and just after 9/11.  The world around us has changed dramatically in the past 10 years. When the 9/11 attacks blindsided America, two billion people “” one third of the world’s population “”  were glued to television and computer screens, watching the attacks unfold.  There was no Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube to update the tragic events of that historic day.  Since then, the country has modified how it communicates.  But is America’s world view any different?  Are we better prepared for future terrorist attacks, and if so, at what price?   How much are we willing to compromise our civil liberties for greater security?  We  talked about these issues on my radio show this week, and “lessons learned and not learned” is the focus of this week’s column.  You can read it now by Clicking Here, or by going to the flashing red box above.

Below, I’m talking with Ahmed Chalabi,  who’s rhetoric our military leadership too quickly embraced , and who was then the leader of the Iraqi National Congress and former Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq.  Chalabi was a real charlatan in convincing the U.S. that they had a winning strategy and should play ball with him.  I quickly found him to be a charmer and quite convincing.  But he led the U.S. down a primrose path that now seems to have no end in sight.