All posts tagged: General Colin Powell

What Israel Can Learn From America’s 9/11 Response

What Israel Can Learn From America’s 9/11 Response

“I hope Israel looks hard at what the U.S. does when provoked and does better,” one reader argues. Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Stringer / Reuters October 25, 2023, 3:45 PM ET Welcome to Up for Debate. Each week, Conor Friedersdorf rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here. Last week, as observers characterized the recent attack on Israel as that country’s 9/11, I asked, “What did you learn from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and America’s responses to them?” Replies have been edited for length and clarity. R. writes: I learned that Al Qaeda was a horrifically evil group in a part of the world where evil is all too common. But I also learned that separating the world into good and evil is not a good way to conduct foreign policy. Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11, and our war in Iraq did more harm than good. My advice to Israel is to proceed …