Yes, after this date, we can have US soldiers fighting in Afghanistan who were born after the date that triggered that mission. For me, this particular anniversary is notable for being the first time I am teaching undergrads who have no memory of that day. This year is the first time in eight years I am teaching undergrads, so I have gone from those whose first major IR memory was 9/11 to those who cannot have a memory of that day.
I am not sure how that is going to change how I teach today. I do know that the general sentiments in my previous 9/11 posts are particularly intensified, as I am angry and sad that whatever unity that could have been gained from the common experience of that day has been wasted. More than that, we have kids in cages, we have Puerto Rico never getting the assistance it should have been, we have alienated allies who bled for the US in Afghanistan, and so on.
9/11 will always be a pivot point in US history, where things could have gone in a number of directions. Same is true for the 2016 election. It didn't have to be this way. But it is, and it is so very, very frustrating how much effort has been wasted, how many unforced errors have been committed, how much unnecessary pain is being inflicted.
As I do need to teach today, I will leave it there for now. For those who lost people on that day or in the responses to it, I am so very sorry.
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