September 10, 2026 at 8:54 AM EDT
4.7 Million Dead, $8 Trillion: Counting the Devastating Human & Economic Costs of the Post"'9/11 Wars

4.7 Million Dead, $8 Trillion: Counting the Devastating Human & Economic Costs of the Post"'9/11 Wars As part of our weeklong coverage marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks and the launch of the United States' so-called war on terror, we take a look at the human, financial and environmental costs of U.S. military intervention around the world with Neta Crawford, co-founder of Brown University's Costs of War Project. Researchers at the Costs of War Project estimate that nearly a million people have been killed as a direct result of U.S. military violence in the Middle East since 2001. At least half are estimated to be civilians. An additional 3.8 million deaths can be attributed to the indirect effects of war, including injuries, famine and long-term health conditions. And the wars have also increased the U.S. debt, military footprint, greenhouse gas emissions, destruction and destabilization abroad and unchecked executive power at home. "The consequences are all around us," says Crawford.As part of our weeklong coverage marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks and the launch of the United States' so-called war on terror, we take a look at the human, financial and environmental costs of U.S. military intervention around the world with Neta Crawford, co-founder of Brown University's Costs of War Project. Researchers at the Costs of War Project estimate that nearly a million people have been killed as a direct result of U.S. military violence in the Middle East since 2001. At least half are estimated to be civilians. An additional 3.8 million deaths can be attributed to the indirect effects of war, including injuries, famine and long-term health conditions. And the wars have also increased the U.S. debt, military footprint, greenhouse gas emissions, destruction and destabilization abroad and unchecked executive power at home. "The consequences are all around us," says Crawford.

September 10, 2026 at 8:45 AM EDT
"Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump": Spencer Ackerman

"Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump": Spencer Ackerman "The 'war on terror' was always a construct to be waged, never quite to be ended." We discuss the origins and impacts of the global "war on terror," launched by the U.S. government in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., with Spencer Ackerman, author of Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump. "We saw, beginning at the very outset of the 'war on terror,' our leaders told us to understand 9/11 as an assault of a foreign civilization, one that had nothing to do with the consequences of American extractive and exploitative foreign policy in the Muslim world or its support for Israel." Ackerman says the "war on terror" and its repercussions have extended past U.S. ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to its current war on Iran, Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and the development of extensive surveillance architecture and state repression of Muslim minority groups around the world. "A whole lot of regimes around the world, rising powers looking for their own advantage, saw what the United States was constructing and realized they wanted that for themselves," he says."The 'war on terror' was always a construct to be waged, never quite to be ended." We discuss the origins and impacts of the global "war on terror," launched by the U.S. government in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., with Spencer Ackerman, author of Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump. "We saw, beginning at the very outset of the 'war on terror,' our leaders told us to understand 9/11 as an assault of a foreign civilization, one that had nothing to do with the consequences of American extractive and exploitative foreign policy in the Muslim world or its support for Israel." Ackerman says the "war on terror" and its repercussions have extended past U.S. ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to its current war on Iran, Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and the development of extensive surveillance architecture and state repression of Muslim minority groups around the world. "A whole lot of regimes around the world, rising powers looking for their own advantage, saw what the United States was constructing and realized they wanted that for themselves," he says.

September 10, 2026 at 8:34 AM EDT
Report from Kabul: NRC Head Jan Egeland on Global Aid Cuts, Poverty & Taliban Repression of Women

Report from Kabul: NRC Head Jan Egeland on Global Aid Cuts, Poverty & Taliban Repression of Women In the five years since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan following the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country, millions of Afghan refugees have been forced out of neighboring Iran and Pakistan, where they had been living and "dumped at the border" without immediate access to food, water or shelter. At the same time, conditions for women and girls in Afghanistan continue to deteriorate, as basic rights to education, freedom of movement and access to services are increasingly curtailed under the Taliban's authoritarian rule. "It's a crisis for humanity," says Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, speaking to Democracy Now! from Kabul. "We're so overstretched and underfunded. " We're too alone on the ground here in Afghanistan," explains Egeland, one of the few international aid workers continuing to support displaced people in the country. "The reason we have to lay off female aid workers, female teachers, teaching primary school girls, is because of lack of funding. It's not because of the Taliban." Despite the outsized role it played in destabilizing the country, there has been "zero funding" this year from the U.S. to humanitarian organizations operating in Afghanistan. "Don't forget your promises when you went for the door abruptly five years ago," Egeland says, addressing the United States and other, largely European, countries that made up the U.S.-led NATO coalition in Afghanistan.In the five years since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan following the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country, millions of Afghan refugees have been forced out of neighboring Iran and Pakistan, where they had been living and "dumped at the border" without immediate access to food, water or shelter. At the same time, conditions for women and girls in Afghanistan continue to deteriorate, as basic rights to education, freedom of movement and access to services are increasingly curtailed under the Taliban's authoritarian rule. "It's a crisis for humanity," says Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, speaking to Democracy Now! from Kabul. "We're so overstretched and underfunded. " We're too alone on the ground here in Afghanistan," explains Egeland, one of the few international aid workers continuing to support displaced people in the country. "The reason we have to lay off female aid workers, female teachers, teaching primary school girls, is because of lack of funding. It's not because of the Taliban." Despite the outsized role it played in destabilizing the country, there has been "zero funding" this year from the U.S. to humanitarian organizations operating in Afghanistan. "Don't forget your promises when you went for the door abruptly five years ago," Egeland says, addressing the United States and other, largely European, countries that made up the U.S.-led NATO coalition in Afghanistan.

September 10, 2026 at 8:13 AM EDT
25 Years Later: Afghan New Yorker Masuda Sultan Remembers 9/11 & 19 Relatives Killed in U.S. Bombing

25 Years Later: Afghan New Yorker Masuda Sultan Remembers 9/11 & 19 Relatives Killed in U.S. Bombing Almost 25 years ago, just days after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, President George W. Bush addressed the nation, making the case for war against al-Qaeda, whose leader, Osama bin Laden, was based in Afghanistan. "I sensed that something like this was not going to go unpunished," Afghan American New Yorker and women's rights activist Masuda Sultan told Democracy Now! at the time. Within a few weeks, the U.S. invasion began. Sultan would lose 19 members of her family when the U.S. military bombed their village outside of Kandahar. We revisit our coverage of the initial U.S. invasion, including our first interviews with Sultan in 2002, and speak to Sultan again today. She reflects on her experience, including working with Rita Lasar, the sister of a 9/11 victim, to advocate for acknowledgment and compensation for the families of Afghan civilians killed by the U.S. military. The United States war in Afghanistan lasted for nearly 20 years, the longest-ever active conflict in U.S. history. Now as the Taliban government -- overthrown by the U.S. in 2001 and later reestablished following the end of U.S. military occupation in 2021 -- tightens its patriarchal restrictions on women in Afghanistan, Sultan warns international actors not to "repeat the [mistakes of the] 1990s, of turning our backs on the country. We need to engage with the Afghan people, support Afghan women and support civil society."Almost 25 years ago, just days after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, President George W. Bush addressed the nation, making the case for war against al-Qaeda, whose leader, Osama bin Laden, was based in Afghanistan. "I sensed that something like this was not going to go unpunished," Afghan American New Yorker and women's rights activist Masuda Sultan told Democracy Now! at the time. Within a few weeks, the U.S. invasion began. Sultan would lose 19 members of her family when the U.S. military bombed their village outside of Kandahar. We revisit our coverage of the initial U.S. invasion, including our first interviews with Sultan in 2002, and speak to Sultan again today. She reflects on her experience, including working with Rita Lasar, the sister of a 9/11 victim, to advocate for acknowledgment and compensation for the families of Afghan civilians killed by the U.S. military. The United States war in Afghanistan lasted for nearly 20 years, the longest-ever active conflict in U.S. history. Now as the Taliban government -- overthrown by the U.S. in 2001 and later reestablished following the end of U.S. military occupation in 2021 -- tightens its patriarchal restrictions on women in Afghanistan, Sultan warns international actors not to "repeat the [mistakes of the] 1990s, of turning our backs on the country. We need to engage with the Afghan people, support Afghan women and support civil society."

September 10, 2026 at 8:00 AM EDT
Headlines for September 10, 2026

Headlines for September 10, 2026 Trump Predicts Iran War and High Fuel Prices Will Last Until November, Houthis Seize Red Sea Port City Near Bab al-Mandab Strait, Investors Ditch U.S. Treasuries, Sending U.S. Bond Yields to Highest Levels Since 2007, Rubio Defends U.S. Strikes on Boats, Calls Victims "Narco-Terrorists" , Trump Pledges $5,000 Payment to All U.S. Adults If Republicans Win Midterm Elections, Democratic Sen. John Fetterman Tells GOP Midterm Political Convention He'll Work with Trump, Trump Administration Proposes Overhaul of 2030 Census, 200,000 Salvadorans in U.S. Face Uncertain Future as Temporary Protected Status Expires, The Guardian: ICE Obtains Judge's Approval to Force-Feed Cuban Detainee on Hunger Strike, Israeli Airstrike Flattens Home in Gaza, Killing Family of Four, Including Two Children, Palestinians Injured During Israeli Raids in Occupied West Bank, Israeli Steps Up Attacks on Lebanon and Faces Accusations of "War Crimes" in Syria, Financial Records Reveal CUNY's Deep Investments in Weapons Firms Supplying Israel, Trump Falsely Claims That Firefighters Lifted Him Up and Carried Him Away on 9/11Trump Predicts Iran War and High Fuel Prices Will Last Until November, Houthis Seize Red Sea Port City Near Bab al-Mandab Strait, Investors Ditch U.S. Treasuries, Sending U.S. Bond Yields to Highest Levels Since 2007, Rubio Defends U.S. Strikes on Boats, Calls Victims "Narco-Terrorists" , Trump Pledges $5,000 Payment to All U.S. Adults If Republicans Win Midterm Elections, Democratic Sen. John Fetterman Tells GOP Midterm Political Convention He'll Work with Trump, Trump Administration Proposes Overhaul of 2030 Census, 200,000 Salvadorans in U.S. Face Uncertain Future as Temporary Protected Status Expires, The Guardian: ICE Obtains Judge's Approval to Force-Feed Cuban Detainee on Hunger Strike, Israeli Airstrike Flattens Home in Gaza, Killing Family of Four, Including Two Children, Palestinians Injured During Israeli Raids in Occupied West Bank, Israeli Steps Up Attacks on Lebanon and Faces Accusations of "War Crimes" in Syria, Financial Records Reveal CUNY's Deep Investments in Weapons Firms Supplying Israel, Trump Falsely Claims That Firefighters Lifted Him Up and Carried Him Away on 9/11

September 9, 2026 at 8:30 AM EDT
"Let's Just Round Them Up": The Rise of Islamophobia in the Post-9/11 Domestic War on Terror

"Let's Just Round Them Up": The Rise of Islamophobia in the Post-9/11 Domestic War on Terror The attacks on September 11, 2001, unleashed a wave of Islamophobia in the United States that resulted in widespread harassment and persecution of Muslim Americans. In addition to vigilante attacks targeting Muslims or those perceived to be Muslim, there was also state repression including police roundups, community surveillance, prosecutions on often flimsy terrorism charges and mass deportations. Meanwhile, the wars launched by the United States in the aftermath of 9/11 have killed close to 1 million people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere, according to the Costs of War Project at Brown University. "There were so many responses to 9/11. One was obviously fear and grief and shock, but another was rage. And so much of that rage was towards Muslims and those who looked like Muslims," says award-winning journalist Rozina Ali, author of Seasons of Fury: Four Families and the Rise of Islamophobia in America. We also speak with Fahd Ahmed, executive director of Desis Rising Up and Moving, or DRUM, a grassroots organization for South Asian and Indo-Caribbean immigrant workers and families in New York City. He says that much of the anti-Muslim retaliation came from law enforcement. "In New York City and in New Jersey and across the country, " we saw these massive roundups of mostly Muslim men or people that were perceived to be Muslim, and this included citizens, green card holders and undocumented people," says Ahmed. "There was at least 1,200 men that were picked up this way."The attacks on September 11, 2001, unleashed a wave of Islamophobia in the United States that resulted in widespread harassment and persecution of Muslim Americans. In addition to vigilante attacks targeting Muslims or those perceived to be Muslim, there was also state repression including police roundups, community surveillance, prosecutions on often flimsy terrorism charges and mass deportations. Meanwhile, the wars launched by the United States in the aftermath of 9/11 have killed close to 1 million people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere, according to the Costs of War Project at Brown University. "There were so many responses to 9/11. One was obviously fear and grief and shock, but another was rage. And so much of that rage was towards Muslims and those who looked like Muslims," says award-winning journalist Rozina Ali, author of Seasons of Fury: Four Families and the Rise of Islamophobia in America. We also speak with Fahd Ahmed, executive director of Desis Rising Up and Moving, or DRUM, a grassroots organization for South Asian and Indo-Caribbean immigrant workers and families in New York City. He says that much of the anti-Muslim retaliation came from law enforcement. "In New York City and in New Jersey and across the country, " we saw these massive roundups of mostly Muslim men or people that were perceived to be Muslim, and this included citizens, green card holders and undocumented people," says Ahmed. "There was at least 1,200 men that were picked up this way."

September 9, 2026 at 8:14 AM EDT
Meet 9/11 Health Watch, NYC Group Behind Mayor Mamdani's Release of 170K Pages on Ground Zero Toxins

Meet 9/11 Health Watch, NYC Group Behind Mayor Mamdani's Release of 170K Pages on Ground Zero Toxins Ahead of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has unsealed more than 170,000 pages of records that offer new insights into how the city responded to the disaster. Some of the papers indicate that officials lied about the hazardous toxins that burned and remained near ground zero for months afterward, even as the government assured New Yorkers the air was safe to breathe and rushed to reopen Lower Manhattan for business. In addition to the nearly 3,000 people killed on 9/11, thousands more are believed to have died from illnesses related to the attacks, including from cancer, heart disease and respiratory conditions. "The Bush administration, the Giuliani administration all denied that there was an impact from these toxins," says Benjamin Chevat, executive director of 9/11 Health Watch, which sued for the release of the records. He faults successive city governments for inaction, saying that "instead of mitigating the harm, they mitigated the city's liability."Ahead of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has unsealed more than 170,000 pages of records that offer new insights into how the city responded to the disaster. Some of the papers indicate that officials lied about the hazardous toxins that burned and remained near ground zero for months afterward, even as the government assured New Yorkers the air was safe to breathe and rushed to reopen Lower Manhattan for business. In addition to the nearly 3,000 people killed on 9/11, thousands more are believed to have died from illnesses related to the attacks, including from cancer, heart disease and respiratory conditions. "The Bush administration, the Giuliani administration all denied that there was an impact from these toxins," says Benjamin Chevat, executive director of 9/11 Health Watch, which sued for the release of the records. He faults successive city governments for inaction, saying that "instead of mitigating the harm, they mitigated the city's liability."

September 9, 2026 at 8:00 AM EDT
Headlines for September 9, 2026

Headlines for September 9, 2026 Canada, France and the U.K. Ban Trade with Israeli Settlements, Haaretz: Israeli Prime Minister Netayahu Failed to Heed Warning of October 7 Attacks, U.S. Forces Bomb Five Iranian Tankers as Iran Retaliates by Firing Missiles at U.S. Base in Jordan, Dueling Court Rulings on Missouri's Gerrymandered Voting Maps Pose Challenge to Midterm Elections Planning, Postal Service's Inspector General Says It Will Review Whistleblower Warning on Trump Admin's New Mail-In Voting Rule, Federal Appeals Court Blocks IRS from Sharing Taxpayer Data with ICE, U.N. Report: Sharp Rise in Wildfires and Heat Waves Undercutting Air Quality Worldwide, Federal Appeals Court Rules U.S. Constitution Does Not Guarantee Right to Clean Drinking Water, Reuters: Trump Admin Seeking Access to Venezuela's Minerals, Trump Proposes Renaming State of New Mexico as "New America", Trump Gave Executive Assistant Natalie Harp and Two Other White House Aides $45,000 Each, HHS Publishes Pseudoscientific Study Linking Trans Rights Advocacy to Political Violence, Researcher Quits Anthropic, Warning Self-Improving AI Poses Existential Risk, Protesters March on Albania's Parliament to Oppose Kushner-Linked Luxury Resort ProjectCanada, France and the U.K. Ban Trade with Israeli Settlements, Haaretz: Israeli Prime Minister Netayahu Failed to Heed Warning of October 7 Attacks, U.S. Forces Bomb Five Iranian Tankers as Iran Retaliates by Firing Missiles at U.S. Base in Jordan, Dueling Court Rulings on Missouri's Gerrymandered Voting Maps Pose Challenge to Midterm Elections Planning, Postal Service's Inspector General Says It Will Review Whistleblower Warning on Trump Admin's New Mail-In Voting Rule, Federal Appeals Court Blocks IRS from Sharing Taxpayer Data with ICE, U.N. Report: Sharp Rise in Wildfires and Heat Waves Undercutting Air Quality Worldwide, Federal Appeals Court Rules U.S. Constitution Does Not Guarantee Right to Clean Drinking Water, Reuters: Trump Admin Seeking Access to Venezuela's Minerals, Trump Proposes Renaming State of New Mexico as "New America", Trump Gave Executive Assistant Natalie Harp and Two Other White House Aides $45,000 Each, HHS Publishes Pseudoscientific Study Linking Trans Rights Advocacy to Political Violence, Researcher Quits Anthropic, Warning Self-Improving AI Poses Existential Risk, Protesters March on Albania's Parliament to Oppose Kushner-Linked Luxury Resort Project

September 8, 2026 at 8:51 AM EDT
25 Years After 9/11: Cover-Up of Air Quality Risk Proved to Be "Death Sentence" for Thousands

25 Years After 9/11: Cover-Up of Air Quality Risk Proved to Be "Death Sentence" for Thousands Bob Hennelly, general manager of WBAI Pacifica Radio in New York, broadcast live during the September 11 attacks in 2001 and has been covering developments ever since. He says officials rushed to reopen the city after the disaster, despite the health risks from toxic air and debris around ground zero. "There was no Zoom back then," Hennelly says. "People were ordered back to their desks in Lower Manhattan, which turned out to be a death sentence."Bob Hennelly, general manager of WBAI Pacifica Radio in New York, broadcast live during the September 11 attacks in 2001 and has been covering developments ever since. He says officials rushed to reopen the city after the disaster, despite the health risks from toxic air and debris around ground zero. "There was no Zoom back then," Hennelly says. "People were ordered back to their desks in Lower Manhattan, which turned out to be a death sentence."

September 8, 2026 at 8:44 AM EDT
"People I Flew with All the Time": Flight Attendant Union Head Sara Nelson Remembers 9/11 Victims

"People I Flew with All the Time": Flight Attendant Union Head Sara Nelson Remembers 9/11 Victims We speak with Sara Nelson, the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants, about how flight attendants were affected by the 9/11 attacks. Nelson was working in Chicago that day, but she lost five of her friends, who were fellow flight attendants, in the attacks. "My handbook is in the 9/11 Memorial Museum, that gave us the exact wrong training for that day. We were told to keep everyone calm, appease the hijackers." "Eighty-one billion dollars was given back by workers in the wake of 9/11, including transferring the cost of healthcare to us, destroying retiree healthcare, destroying pensions. And we're still trying to fight to get that back," adds Nelson.We speak with Sara Nelson, the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants, about how flight attendants were affected by the 9/11 attacks. Nelson was working in Chicago that day, but she lost five of her friends, who were fellow flight attendants, in the attacks. "My handbook is in the 9/11 Memorial Museum, that gave us the exact wrong training for that day. We were told to keep everyone calm, appease the hijackers." "Eighty-one billion dollars was given back by workers in the wake of 9/11, including transferring the cost of healthcare to us, destroying retiree healthcare, destroying pensions. And we're still trying to fight to get that back," adds Nelson.

September 8, 2026 at 8:28 AM EDT
Firefighter, EMT, Stuyvesant High School Student Describe 9/11 Exposure & Long Fight for Healthcare

Firefighter, EMT, Stuyvesant High School Student Describe 9/11 Exposure & Long Fight for Healthcare Twenty-five years after the 9/11 attacks, many New York City residents are still grappling with complicated health conditions related to exposure to the toxic air and debris around ground zero. "We were digging through the pile and using rakes to spread out all the debris to look for anyone's remains," says retired New York City firefighter Brenda Berkman. "We were working alongside really heavy equipment, as time went on, that picked up big loads of debris and dumped it, creating a cloud. This went on for 10 months. And at first, there was no proper decontamination at all." "EMS personnel were told, 'Oh, you couldn't be getting sick. You're not a firefighter. So don't worry. Just go back to work,'" says retired New York City EMT Marianne Pizzitola. "Moving into the years right after, " we started to find consistent diagnoses at our retiree meetings." Author and public health advocate Lila Nordstrom recounts how students at her school, Stuyvesant High School, located just three blocks away from ground zero, were also misled by officials after the attacks.Twenty-five years after the 9/11 attacks, many New York City residents are still grappling with complicated health conditions related to exposure to the toxic air and debris around ground zero. "We were digging through the pile and using rakes to spread out all the debris to look for anyone's remains," says retired New York City firefighter Brenda Berkman. "We were working alongside really heavy equipment, as time went on, that picked up big loads of debris and dumped it, creating a cloud. This went on for 10 months. And at first, there was no proper decontamination at all." "EMS personnel were told, 'Oh, you couldn't be getting sick. You're not a firefighter. So don't worry. Just go back to work,'" says retired New York City EMT Marianne Pizzitola. "Moving into the years right after, " we started to find consistent diagnoses at our retiree meetings." Author and public health advocate Lila Nordstrom recounts how students at her school, Stuyvesant High School, located just three blocks away from ground zero, were also misled by officials after the attacks.

September 8, 2026 at 8:15 AM EDT
"Toxic Nightmare": 25 Years After 9/11, Juan Gonza'lez on His Predictions of Worker Illness & Death

"Toxic Nightmare": 25 Years After 9/11, Juan Gonza'lez on His Predictions of Worker Illness & Death Twenty-five years after September 11, 2001, more people are believed to have died from cancer, respiratory and other illnesses due to exposure to the airborne toxins than the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center. In the weeks and months that followed 9/11, former New York City Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, as well as other city and federal officials, reassured residents and workers it was safe to return to the area surrounding ground zero, concealing the dangers of lingering toxins in the air after the collapse of the twin towers. Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonza'lez reads from his book, Fallout, in which he extensively reported on the toxic nightmare around ground zero. "No one could guarantee the air around Ground Zero was safe because no one had ever confronted a disaster of such proportions," Gonza'lez wrote in Fallout.Twenty-five years after September 11, 2001, more people are believed to have died from cancer, respiratory and other illnesses due to exposure to the airborne toxins than the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center. In the weeks and months that followed 9/11, former New York City Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, as well as other city and federal officials, reassured residents and workers it was safe to return to the area surrounding ground zero, concealing the dangers of lingering toxins in the air after the collapse of the twin towers. Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonza'lez reads from his book, Fallout, in which he extensively reported on the toxic nightmare around ground zero. "No one could guarantee the air around Ground Zero was safe because no one had ever confronted a disaster of such proportions," Gonza'lez wrote in Fallout.