How Terrorists Change History

Terrorist attacks do not only kill people, they change the trajectory of Western democracies.

W. Galt | September 11, 2026

Terrorist attacks do not only kill people. They change the course of democracies when they find, behind them or in their wake, political forces willing to betray their nations. September 11, 2001 in the United States and March 11, 2004 in Spain are two clear examples of how terrorism — almost always Islamist — combined with the complicity of progressive forces, has altered the history of two Western democracies and opened the door to toxic alliances that erode our civilization.

On September 11, 2001, nineteen Al Qaeda jihadists crashed commercial planes into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 dead. The American response was immediate and monumental: the Department of Homeland Security was created, the Patriot Act was passed, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were launched, and domestic surveillance and the security apparatus were massively expanded.

The long-term costs have been enormous. According to estimates from Brown University’s Costs of War project, the total budgetary spending associated with the post-9/11 wars easily exceeds several trillion dollars. Many American soldiers died. Executive power was reinforced at the expense of Congress. Mass surveillance was normalized. Political polarization deepened — and the Democrat party has exploited the resulting climate to betray American democracy.

Three days before the 2004 Spanish elections, bombs planted on commuter trains in Madrid killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,800. A narrative was constructed in which the Islamists had carried out the attacks in retaliation for President Aznar’s political support for President Bush. Evidence was eliminated, scapegoats were prepared, false leads were planted. The consequence: the People’s Party of José María Aznar — which was governing and........

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