Jeremy Scahill: How Osama bin Laden Led the US to Declare War on the World

Jeremy Scahill: How Osama bin Laden Led the US to Declare War on the World

Jeremy Scahill: How Osama bin Laden Led the US to Declare War on the World

Jeremy Scahill explains that Osama bin Laden is dead, but so are the hundreds of thousands of victims of the US War on Terror

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

On Democracy Now! this morning, The Nation‘s Jeremy Scahill explains that Osama bin Laden’s killing in Pakistan yesterday is not necessarily a cause for celebration: the United States used the man who launched the September 11 attacks on America as a reason to "declare war on the world," Scahill says. In response to September 11, "Iraq was invaded, a country that had nothing to do with Al Qaeda, nothing to do with bin Laden. The United States created an Al Qaeda presence in Iraq by invading it, made Iran a far more influential force in Iraq than it ever would have been. We have given a grand motivation to people around the world that want to do harm to Americans in our killing of civilians, our waging of war against countries that have no connection to Al Qaeda and by staying in these countries long after the mission was accomplished… This is a somber day, when we should be remembering all of the victims: the three thousand who died in the United States and then the hundreds of thousands that died afterward."

Click here for more from The Nation on Osama bin Laden and the US war on terror.

Independent journalism relies on your support


With a hostile incoming administration, a massive infrastructure of courts and judges waiting to turn “freedom of speech” into a nostalgic memory, and legacy newsrooms rapidly abandoning their responsibility to produce accurate, fact-based reporting, independent media has its work cut out for itself.

At The Nation, we’re steeling ourselves for an uphill battle as we fight to uphold truth, transparency, and intellectual freedom—and we can’t do it alone. 

This month, every gift The Nation receives through December 31 will be doubled, up to $75,000. If we hit the full match, we start 2025 with $150,000 in the bank to fund political commentary and analysis, deep-diving reporting, incisive media criticism, and the team that makes it all possible. 

As other news organizations muffle their dissent or soften their approach, The Nation remains dedicated to speaking truth to power, engaging in patriotic dissent, and empowering our readers to fight for justice and equality. As an independent publication, we’re not beholden to stakeholders, corporate investors, or government influence. Our allegiance is to facts and transparency, to honoring our abolitionist roots, to the principles of justice and equality—and to you, our readers. 

In the weeks and months ahead, the work of free and independent journalists will matter more than ever before. People will need access to accurate reporting, critical analysis, and deepened understanding of the issues they care about, from climate change and immigration to reproductive justice and political authoritarianism. 

By standing with The Nation now, you’re investing not just in independent journalism grounded in truth, but also in the possibilities that truth will create.

The possibility of a galvanized public. Of a more just society. Of meaningful change, and a more radical, liberated tomorrow.

In solidarity and in action,

The Editors, The Nation

Ad Policy
x