Ten Lessons Since the 9/11 Attacks:

mehreenkasana:

The Council of Foreign Relations was asked to submit their thoughts on 9/11 and the lessons acquired since. Ten essays were submitted that revolved around issues concerning immigration policy, counterterrorism, intelligence reform and unconventional warfare but very little has been said regarding the judicial nature of the entire phenomenon. The legitimacy of Guantanamo Bay and enhanced interrogative methods is questioned aptly by Linda Greenhouse in her NYT opinion piece.

Here is the compilation presented by the CFR on the lessons learned since 9/11 attacks.

1. Immigration Policy Needs Easing by Edward Alden:
   
   “The tightening of U.S. border and immigration policy since the 9/11 attacks has been far too sweeping, turning away the kind of visitors who have strengthened the country.”
2. Intelligence Reform is Working by Richard K. Betts:
   
   “The payoff of huge investments in security precautions mean better intelligence collection, surveillance, and other security infrastructure that combine to make the likelihood of an al-Qaeda attack today very slim.”
3. Learning To Live With Insecurity by Stephen Biddle:
   
   “While we can contain terrorism, we can’t afford the costs of trying to eliminate it and will have to learn how to live with the chronic threat of low-level attacks.”
4. Why Terror Attacks Have Not Been Repeated by Max Boot:
   
   “A near absence of terrorist incidents in the United States since 9/11 points to the success of the Bush administration’s counterterrorism measures that once stirred controversy but now have bipartisan acceptance.”
5. Improve Discourse in the Muslim World by Robert Danin:
   
   “While U.S. efforts to forge a better relationship with the Muslim world are important, it will also take leadership within that world to challenge the myths that lead to anger and disapproval toward the United States.”
   
   
6. A Safer, Yet Vulnerable, Homeland by Richard A. Falkenrath:
   
   “U.S. homeland security is unquestionably safer a decade after 9/11 and will remain so if the country pursues a robust, yet proportional, counterterrorism effort abroad.”
7. Unfinished Nuclear Safeguards by Michael A. Levi:
   
   “The United States has made real strides against nuclear terrorism, but efforts to secure nuclear materials are incomplete and will require continued commitment.”
8. A Decade of Mistakes in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Daniel Markey:
   
   “Initial U.S. successes in Afghanistan and Pakistan after 9/11 masked deeper problems that have beset Washington’s effort to stabilize the “AfPak” theater.”
9. Detention-Policy Paralysis by Matthew C. Waxman:
   
   “Guantanamo Bay, where hundreds of terror suspects have been detained since 9/11, has underscored the need for flexibility and careful balancing in detainee policy to confront twenty-first-century threats.”
10. Beware the Rise of Drones by Micah Zenko:
    
    “Drones have become a cost-effective default tactic for dealing with potential terrorist threats since 9/11, but this policy could lead to drone strikes by other countries as well as pushback from targeted states.”