Did We Win the War on Terror?

Steve Hayes is joined by Jonah Goldberg, Mike Nelson, and David French to discuss former President George W. Bush’s response to the 9/11 attacks, how the tragedy shaped domestic policy today, and whether or not we won the war on terror. The Agenda: —Remembering the events over the course of the day—How lives were changed after 9/11 —Journalism’s evolution after the attacks—Did we win the war on terror?—The enemy gets a vote Show notes: Steve Hayes is CEO and editor of The Dispatch, based in Annapolis, Maryland. Prior to co-founding the company in 2019, he worked at The Weekly Standard for 18 years, covering Washington, politics, and national security. Steve is the author of two New York Times bestsellers. He also worked as a contributor at CNN and Fox News, and currently serves as a political analyst at NBC News. When Steve is not focused on The Dispatch, he’s probably traveling with his family, grilling, or riding his mountain bike. Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief and co-founder of The Dispatch, based in Washington, D.C. Prior to that, enormous lizards roamed the Earth. More immediately prior to that, Jonah spent two decades at National Review, where he was a senior editor, among other things. He is also a bestselling author, longtime columnist for the Los Angeles Times, commentator for CNN, and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. When he is not writing the G-File or hosting The Remnant podcast, he finds real joy in family time, attending to his dogs and cat, and blaming Steve Hayes for various things. Mike Nelson is a retired Army Special Forces officer and a member of the Atlantic Council’s Counterterrorism Project. He is formerly of the Institute for the Study of War and the National Security Institute. You can find him on x.com at @mikenelson586. David French is a columnist for the New York Times. He’s a former senior editor of The Dispatch. He’s the author most recently of Divided We Fall: America's Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation. The podcast transcription below was generated using artificial intelligence and may include occasional errors or misspellings. Steve Hayes 0:00 [intro music plays] Welcome to the Dispatch podcast. I'm your host, Steve Hayes. On today's roundtable, we discuss the Al-Qaeda attacks on America on September 11th, 2001, and the twenty-five years of war and recovery since then. What was that day like? How did the 9/11 attacks change us? Did the US win the war on terror? How did the attacks and America's response contribute to our politics today? I'm joined by Dispatch Editor-in-Chief, Jonah Goldberg, retired Special Forces officer and Dispatch contributor, Mike Nelson, and retired JAG officer and New York Times columnist, David French. Let's dive right in. [theme music plays] Good morning, gentlemen. Thank you for joining us on this twenty-fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. I wanna start with a pretty simple question, and David, I'll start with you. Where were you when the attacks occurred, and what were your thoughts that day? David French 1:16 Yeah, I was at my law firm, just a normal day. I will remember, I came out of my office, and I saw a couple of secretaries. You know, this is before flat screen TV. I mean, I think this is when people first started getting a plasma, [chuckles] you know? Do you remember those things? David French 1:33 And there was a couple of TVs in the parts of the firm where the secretaries worked, and they were huddled around looking at something on a very small TV, and I looked over their shoulders, and one of the World Trade Centers was on fire. And it was live television, and I was like, "What happened?" And they said, "Nobody knows. It's just burning." And everyone was trying to figure it out, and then I watched the second plane hit just right there. And I could immediately tell that was a commercial airliner. Like, everybody who knew anything at all about aviation could tell immediately it was a commercial airliner. David French 2:12 And, and that moment, just my mind just changed in a completely different mode. It was, "We're under attack. That's what's happening." And this is like my generation's Pearl Harbor. And I remember immediately walking upstairs. There was a partners meeting happening. I was a, an associate- Interactive transcripts are available to Premium members. Join to follow along with the audio. Join Now More We Think You’d Like