What should have been the proper response to 9/11?

[wimp]

Assuming the official story is 100% true, what should been America's proper response?

[darklordoftech]

Send troops into Tora Bora like Powell or McCain would have.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Send troops into Tora Bora like Powell or McCain would have.

Yes, also in terms of internal changes

1. Better communication equipment for first responders
2. Better communication of foreign and domestic intelligence regarding terrorism between the CIA and FBI
3. More safeguards in airport security and on Planes
4. Nothing as widescale as The Patriot Act
5. Stronger building codes.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Putin had advised Bush W and a briefing was offered to Bush W and Bush W went on vacation anyways

The reason Bush W escaped impeachment, Rs overperformed in Congress in 2002, he would have been impeached by Speaker Gephardt

But Bush W botched Katrina and D's took House anyways, had Gore went on vacation, he would have been impeached

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Putin had advised Bush W and a briefing was offered to Bush W and Bush W went on vacation anyways

The reason Bush W escaped impeachment, Rs overperformed in Congress in 2002, he would have been impeached by Speaker Gephardt

But Bush W botched Katrina and D's took House anyways, had Gore went on vacation, he would have been impeached

Only just a few reaches there. For one Democrats were notoriously spineless in this period so them pushing impeachment is rather unlikely.

[Meclazine for Israel]

I think they made the right decision to go hard after 9-11.

There appears to be these punctuated points in history when the US will act out of shock, and they are usually pretty savage.

There is always some little nasty group with 'small man syndrome wanting to have a crack. North Korea will be next.

Making an entire clusterf@%k out of Afghanistan and Iraq was not part of the planned result, especially with the US death toll and the Syrian refugee crisis.

History has a way of showing you what you should have done, but at the time, the nightmare was real, and Bush was only just starting out. The desire for revenge on the Middle East was overwhelming.

Very reminiscent of Pearl Harbour in many respects.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I think they made the right decision to go hard after 9-11.

There appears to be these punctuated points in history when the US will act out of shock, and they are usually pretty savage.

There is always some little nasty group with 'small man syndrome wanting to have a crack. North Korea will be next.

Making an entire clusterf@%k out of Afghanistan and Iraq was not part of the planned result, especially with the US death toll and the Syrian refugee crisis.

History has a way of showing you what you should have done, but at the time, the nightmare was real, and Bush was only just starting out. The desire for revenge on the Middle East was overwhelming.

Very reminiscent of Pearl Harbour in many respects.

Something had to be done, but the question is was the actions taken based on those results the right one and in some aspects there were missed opportunities and other areas, where things were taken too far.

[Fuzzy Bear]

We should have attacked Al Queda where it was, with no promises of rebuilding the rubble.  We did not need to rebuild Afghanistan.  If their leaders chose to harbor terrorists, that's on them.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Clearly, having almost every country on Earth using fears of Terrorism (TM) to justify crackdowns on Muslims/Islamists/all opposition (in more authoritarian governments), and just authoritarian rule in general, or policies that are very “sus” in terms of civil rights and civil liberties.

Nothing like this happened, of course.

[RINO Tom]

Our response was fine.  From my limited knowledge, it was our fairly ignorant understanding of the cultural divisions and dynamics that did us in throughout the following years ... not that we sent troops in, as we absolutely should have after what was done to our country and the obvious ties to Afghanistan.

[Agonized-Statism]

Arm and fund homegrown anti-Islamist groups. Don't destroy one of the last secular states in the Middle East.

[AlterEgo]

Arm and fund homegrown anti-Islamist groups. Don't destroy one of the last secular states in the Middle East.

Yes, because as a nation we've always seemed to know exactly the right side to arm and support. /s

[vitoNova]

See:  Obama's response to another terrorist who murdered Americans. 

His handling of Libya and Mummar Gaddafi.

But the same people complaining about muhNation building, will then turn around and complain we aren't spending billions in a decades-long occupation. 

Damned if you.  Damned if you don't. 

[Agonized-Statism]

Arm and fund homegrown anti-Islamist groups. Don't destroy one of the last secular states in the Middle East.

Yes, because as a nation we've always seemed to know exactly the right side to arm and support. /s

I wouldn't realistically expect the American government to support the right side, but the question is what would have been the appropriate response.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Serious answer:

With all of the unprecedented global solidarity with and goodwill toward the US in the immediate aftermath of 9/11:

- Invest heavily in diplomacy, multilateralism, and intelligence sharing, law enforcement, and other counterterrorism measures that respect civil liberties, civil rights, and the dignity of Muslims specifically and people around the world in general

- Partner with Muslim communities, both in the US and other countries, but let them take the lead as often as possible - don't surveil or harass mosques or Muslims in general, individually or collectively, unless absolutely necessary (and that would only apply to individuals or small groups at most); and always get a warrant for a any surveillance, wiretaps, searches or seizures within the US

- Quietly lean on the Gulf monarchies to cease funding and promoting Salafi extremism, both within and outside their countries (I said quietly, so the governments there could save face)

- Enlist the support of said Gulf monarchies and other relevant countries in encouraging both the Taliban and importantly, Pakistan to hand over Osama bin Laden, either to the US for a federal prosecution or to, perhaps, the Hague, to convict him for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and terrorism

- Enlist the help of our NATO allies, Russia, China, Iran, the Gulf monarchies, Pakistan, India, and as many other countries as possible (through the UN, if possible) to negotiate a substantial and constructive political settlement in Afghanistan between the Taliban, the Northern Alliance, and other Afghans

- Take the opportunity to invest more heavily and honestly in the peace process between Israel and Palestine and other conflicts that are relevant to US interests and national security (e.g. the Saudi-Iranian "Cold War")

- Encourage and support all efforts to more rigorously regulate the international banking system

- Take concrete diplomatic and reciprocal steps towards global elimination of nuclear weapons and prevention of nuclear proliferation

- Continue containment of Saddam Hussein's Iraq while reducing sanctions that only hurt Iraqi civilians as much as possible

And finally, summing all of this up:

- Do everything in our power - "our" being the entire world - to solidify and build on all of the aforementioned diplomatic efforts to create a better world, free from terrorism, war, poverty, social and political oppression and exclusion, climate change, and pandemics as much as possible

[The Mikado]

I really think not invading Afghanistan wasn't on the table as an option. The Taliban's open refusal to pass bin Laden to the US was completely unacceptable.

The US definitely should've focused more early attention to Afghanistan. Not invading Iraq and kind of forgetting about Afghanistan until it got really bad around 2010 would be an improvement.