You know it's coming, but you dread having to relive that day. In just a few weeks from now, we will have the endure the 5th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Most of us remember that day down to the most miscellaneous details. And of course, we know what fallout of that day led to, and how it created a new climate of fear and unquestioning support of our government in the short term.
But...what if everything you saw on that day, from the first plane striking the north tower, to hearing word about whether or not your loved one(s) who might have been near the WTC was alive. What if the day that we came to know as "9/11" never happened?
Would we still have had a seemingly inevitable confrontation with Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan?
Would Bush have been able to get us into Iraq?
Would we be as willing to acquiesce to the government in the area of civil liberties?
Would the Democrats have done better in the 2002 midterms and election 2004?
...I want to know what you all think. New York Magazine put out this article on alternate history speculation, and while I disagree with some of their predictions, overall the alternate timelines do seem plausible.
Personally, I think that, had 9/11 not happened, Al Qaida still would have attacked us (at least while Bush was still in the White House.) But instead of planes flying into the WTC towers, it would have been simoultaneous subway or airliner attacks, or suicide bombings in malls or sports events. "9/11/2001" could have been "9/12/2002" or "3/20/2003" (assuming that the "mubtakkar" plot that was canceled by Al Zawahiri in anticipation of Iraq, happened.)
I think that Democrats would have done better had there been no attack, or a smaller-scale attack that kills far fewer people. 9/11 was an attack on a spectaculor scale; one that would emotionally stir the public in ways a smaller attack could not have.
...Oh, and the Chandra Levy-Gary Condit case would have dominated the headlines much longer...at least until the Enron scandal broke in late November of that year. Laci, Jacko, Natalee, and the others would still have been covered.