Written by Walter Hecht   

The Global war on terrorism could and should have ended at Tora Bora, Afghanistan, in December 2001 or January 2002 with the killing or capture of bin Laden and much of al-Qaeda. It might have ended the Afghan war, our longest, thirteen years ago. Someone, perhaps Donald Rumsfeld, decided to let Pakistani troops guard the eastern escape routes from Tora Bora into sanctuaries in Pakistan. That person’s terrible decision has led to all subsequent consequences including a ballooning national debt, death and destruction in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere, CIA torture, NSA spying on Americans, long lines at airport security and other consequences of the state of siege we currently are experiencing.

Whoever made that blunder needs to come forward and acknowledge his or her mistake. If he or she does not, then a Congressional investigation would be appropriate. The current revelations about CIA torture are only a small part of the consequences, but it is a beginning. Americans will not trust their leaders again until we have the whole truth. It is worth pondering while you wait in a long line at airport security, when you worry about a national debt caused by fighting wars on borrowed money, or your privacy from NSA surveillance. Bin Laden may have started this war, but the US response was the GWOT. Actions have consequences, and it was the US reaction that made the GWOT what it is today, a costly overreaction.