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Did We Win the War on Terror?

Read the original at The Dispatch ↗
Cite

Goldberg, J., Hayes, S., French, D., & Nelson, M. (2026, September 11). Did We Win the War on Terror? The Dispatch. https://thedispatch.com/podcast/dispatch-podcast/did-we-win-the-war-on-terror/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Dispatch · collected 2026-09-11 · by Jonah Goldberg, Steve Hayes, David French, Mike Nelson

Quick Summary

The discussion on the Dispatch podcast brings together four guests - Steve Hayes and three experts: Jonah Goldberg, Mike Nelson, and David French - to reflect on the 9/11 attacks and its impact 25 years later. The conversation explores the events of that day, how it changed lives and journalism, and whether the US won the war on terror. There is no specific mention of numbers or statistics in the article, but it discusses the legacy of the 9/11 attacks on American politics and society today. The discussion serves as a reflection and analysis of the events, rather than a straightforward report.
Written by AI on 2026-09-11, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, New York City's first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani, faces controversy over his decision to attend memorial events despite calls from some victims' families and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani for him to stay away. Mamdani, who lost an older brother in the attacks, insists on honoring those affected by reading out names at Ground Zero. Meanwhile, nearly 110,000 signatures have been collected through a petition urging Mamdani not to attend, citing concerns over his past associations and appointments that some see as conflicting with the solemnity of the event. Despite this opposition, Mamdani is moving forward with plans to release more than 170,000 pages of documents related to air quality around Ground Zero in the months following 9/11, aiming to provide transparency on what the city knew about toxic conditions and how they handled it.

Written for “9/11 Memorial Controversies” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 169 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 9/11 Memorial Controversies
Politics · 170 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads centre and hedges 8% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
CBS News
Hedges 2 of 72 claims Outlet record 66/100
CBS News
Hedges 0 of 1 claims Outlet record 66/100
Zeteo
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 0 of 7 claims
The Straits Times
Hedges 3 of 27 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Independent
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 4 of 48 claims Outlet record 59/100
CBC News
Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 60/100
Toronto Star
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 2 of 53 claims Outlet record 64/100
The Dispatch
⚖️ Centre Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 61/100
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans right further right than this Hedges 1 of 81 claims Outlet record 70/100
The Dispatch
Hedges 0 of 5 claims Outlet record 61/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
25
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
8%
2 of 25 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Centre
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
61/100
The Dispatch's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
170
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-11 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Dispatch · 397 article(s) · 1 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 1 correction(s)

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Topics

Al-Qaeda America Dispatch Special Forces the 9/11 attacks

Subjects

Dispatch ORG · 3× America GPE · 2× David French PERSON · 2× Jonah Goldberg PERSON · 2× Mike Nelson PERSON · 2× Steve Hayes PERSON · 2× Al-Qaeda ORG · 1× George W. Bush PERSON · 1× JAG ORG · 1× Special Forces ORG · 1×

Narrative

The Agenda: —Remembering the events over the course of the day —How lives were changed after 9/11 —Journalism’s evolution after the attacks —Did we win the war on terror? —The enemy gets a vote Show notes: [intro music plays] Welcome to the Dispatch podcast.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-11
🔮 I will remember, I came out of my office, and I saw a couple of secretaries.
2026-09-11 · The Dispatch
Did We Win the War on Terror? · assertive framing

Claims (25 extracted, 2 hedged)

Steve Hayes is joined by Jonah Goldberg, Mike Nelson, and David French to discuss former President George W. Bush’s response to the 9/11 attacks, how the tragedy shaped domestic policy today, and whether or not we won the war on terror. asserted
we → join → terror
The Agenda: —Remembering the events over the course of the day —How lives were changed after 9/11 —Journalism’s evolution after the attacks —Did we win the war on terror? —The enemy gets a vote Show notes: [intro music plays] Welcome to the Dispatch podcast. asserted
music → remember → podcast
On today's roundtable, we discuss the Al-Qaeda attacks on America on September 11th, 2001, and the twenty-five years of war and recovery since then. asserted
we → discuss → war
How did the 9/11 attacks change us? asserted
attacks → change → us
Did the US win the war on terror? asserted
US → win → terror
How did the attacks and America's response contribute to our politics today? asserted
attacks → contribute → politics
I'm joined by Dispatch Editor-in-Chief, Jonah Goldberg, retired Special Forces officer and Dispatch contributor, Mike Nelson, and retired JAG officer and New York Times columnist, David French. asserted
I → join → Goldberg
Let's dive right in. asserted
's → let → ?
[theme music plays] Good morning, gentlemen. asserted
music → play → ?
I wanna start with a pretty simple question, and David, I'll start with you. asserted
I → start → you
Where were you when the attacks occurred, and what were your thoughts that day? asserted
thoughts → occur → ?
I will remember, I came out of my office, and I saw a couple of secretaries. asserted
I → remember → secretaries
You know, this is before flat screen TV. asserted
this → know → TV
I mean, I think this is when people first started getting a plasma, [chuckles] you know? asserted
you → mean → plasma
Do you remember those things? asserted
you → remember → things
And there was a couple of TVs in the parts of the firm where the secretaries worked, and they were huddled around looking at something on a very small TV, and I looked over their shoulders, and one of the World Trade Centers was on fire. asserted
one → be → fire
And it was live television, and I was like, "What happened?" asserted
What → happen → ?
And they said, "Nobody knows. asserted
Nobody → say → ?
It's just burning." asserted
It → burn → ?
And everyone was trying to figure it out, and then I watched the second plane hit just right there. asserted
plane → try → it
And I could immediately tell that was a commercial airliner. uncertain
that → tell → ?
Like, everybody who knew anything at all about aviation could tell immediately it was a commercial airliner. uncertain
it → know → aviation
And, and that moment, just my mind just changed in a completely different mode. asserted
mind → change → mode
That's what's happening." asserted
what → happen → ?
And I remember immediately walking upstairs. asserted
I → remember → ?
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