A QUARTER of a century since the Sept 11 terrorist attacks, the world continues to feel the effects of that epochal event. The US response to the attacks on its soil went beyond a counterterrorism operation. It metastasised into a sprawling imperial ‘crusade’ that laid to waste countries that had nothing to do with the terrorists who had hijacked the American airliners.

In fact, the US misadventure in Iran is a continuation of these flawed policies. Today, the world is no safer from religiously inspired terrorism than it was 25 years ago, reflecting the futility of the American-led ‘global war on terror’ and its modern-day iterations.

Soon after the attacks, Muslims, including Arabs, in the US faced intense........

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