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The Wasted Years
Steyn Online ^ | 12 Sep 2026 | Mark Steyn

Posted on 09/12/2026 3:15:01 AM PDT by Rummyfan

The Houthis chose to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of 9/11 by sticking it to the regime that spawned fifteen of the nineteen hijackers that day. In a couple of days, a group condescendingly dismissed by western media as "Yemeni rebels" has bollocksed Saudi oil exports and may yet do for the House of Saud. On the day before - September 10th - MBS, the Crown Prince, called the Oval Office, twice, to demand direct US military strikes on the Houthis. President Trump politely declined.

We shall attend to these developments starting on Monday, now that the anniversary week has drawn to a close. We began with the battle-cry of a now wholly forgotten American hero, Todd Beamer, "Let's Roll", and a look back to the weeks before 9/11 in the summer of sharks. Within less than a year, it was clear that Bush and other western leaders had no stomach for the broader fight ("The Way to Lose"), and we marked the day itself by reprising my initial reaction to the attacks.

As to the now traditional enervated and passive domestic ceremonies, we gave up on our annual observances almost a decade ago. The final straw was the laughably misnamed "Mad Dog" Mattis, Trump 45's first Defence Secretary and a man who (two years after the column below) turned on the President. Trump said he'd "essentially" fired Mattis, and General Kelly, another useless and duplicitous four-star wanker serving as "chief of staff", said the President must be "confused" about that.

(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
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1 posted on 09/12/2026 3:15:01 AM PDT by Rummyfan
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To: Rummyfan

I saw that live, AOC and That excuse for an elected mayor. The background sound on those beaming, joyful smiles was a young man in his US military uniform reading the names of the dead. His dead relative

I was gut wrench disgusted way before I turned on Steve Bannon to hear him say just what I was thinking.


2 posted on 09/12/2026 3:23:47 AM PDT by stanne
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To: Rummyfan

Bush blew it.
He had an angry united America and pissed it away almost instantly the his “Religion of Peace BS”
25 years later we’ve lost multiple wars have 5 times the Muslim population which is a force in our politics.


3 posted on 09/12/2026 3:52:41 AM PDT by Kozak (Слава Україні Герояам Слава. RuZZia is a terrorist stat)
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To: Kozak

He let the camel inside the tent


4 posted on 09/12/2026 4:01:31 AM PDT by Blue Highway ( )
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To: Rummyfan

“..”Yemeni rebels” has bollocksed Saudi oil..”

You have muzzies warring other country’s muzzies, the take-over of NYC of that 7th century death cult, London has already fallen, the Euroweenies seem to be inviting their own demise and the domestic dem commies are uniting with these animals. Not a wonder that the birth rate has dropped precipitously around much of the world.


5 posted on 09/12/2026 4:03:14 AM PDT by quantim (Victory is not relative, it is absolute.)
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To: Kozak

What are the multiple wars we lost?


6 posted on 09/12/2026 4:12:09 AM PDT by maddog55 (The only thing systemic in America is the left's hatred of it!)
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To: stanne

Ping


7 posted on 09/12/2026 4:12:55 AM PDT by SomeCallMeTim
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To: stanne

The fact that men and women in that crowd did not get up enmass and escort them out immediately tells American enemies exactly how cucked and weak headed we are...

They are laughing and plotting.

The most armed and supposedly strongest country in the world is toothless.


8 posted on 09/12/2026 4:20:08 AM PDT by Chickensoup
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To: Rummyfan

There can be no doubt that those two pig fornicators loved the 9/11 attack...and are rooting for the Iranians today.


9 posted on 09/12/2026 4:21:56 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Import The Third World,Become The Third World)
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To: Rummyfan

Were these 2 Marxist, Socialist and Communist losers booed by the New Yorkers there wanting to honor those that died that day? Surprised they didn’t invite raghead Ilhan Omar to spit in the face of NYers and the US in general and repeat her “some people did something” remark.


10 posted on 09/12/2026 4:44:10 AM PDT by Blue Highway ( )
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To: Rummyfan

11 posted on 09/12/2026 4:50:48 AM PDT by DFG
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To: maddog55

“What are the multiple wars we lost?”

Where in the Wide World of Sports have you been for the last 25 years? Maybe put some effort into removing the media-induced mental fog that occupies your cranial cavity.


12 posted on 09/12/2026 5:22:13 AM PDT by castlebrew (Gun Control means hitting here you're aiming!))
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To: castlebrew

So you can’t answer it either.


13 posted on 09/12/2026 5:33:02 AM PDT by maddog55 (The only thing systemic in America is the left's hatred of it!)
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To: castlebrew

In the last 25 years, the United States has been involved in several significant conflicts, including the War in Afghanistan (2001-2014), the Iraq War (2003-2011), and ongoing operations related to the Global War on Terror.

I was heavily involved from 2000 - 2018 then I retired.

We never lost a war. What politicians did is not allow the American Military to finish the job. That’s not a loss. You kick the shxt out of your enemy and someone pulls you off and says enough and they make you leave is not a loss. You kicked ass. The fact that the enemy is still there is because you weren’t allowed to finish your job.

You tell all those service members they lost the fight. You’ll get a different reaction. The American Military is the best at what they do, when they are allowed to do it.


14 posted on 09/12/2026 5:49:15 AM PDT by maddog55 (The only thing systemic in America is the left's hatred of it!)
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To: maddog55

“ We never lost a war. What politicians did is not allow the American Military to finish the job. That’s not a loss. You kick the shxt out of your enemy and someone pulls you off and says enough and they make you leave is not a loss. You kicked ass. The fact that the enemy is still there is because you weren’t allowed to finish your job.”

This is exactly what has been done to Israel since 1948. They’ve never been allowed to “win”, only to survive to do it all over again.


15 posted on 09/12/2026 5:53:30 AM PDT by Rlsau1
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To: Rummyfan
MBS, the Crown Prince, called the Oval Office, twice,
to demand direct US military strikes on the Houthis.

MBS doesn't have to search far for sand to pound.

16 posted on 09/12/2026 6:07:24 AM PDT by chief lee runamok (Full-time flâneur, bullish on bikes)
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To: Chickensoup

“The fact that men and women in that crowd did not get up enmass and escort them out immediately tells American enemies exactly how cucked and weak headed we are...”

To some degree. Yes. That’s what’s depressing. However, those people did petition Mamdani to not attend. Many will see this clip from the feed camera, which was cut off very quickly, and react.

A big part I think is Bush leading us with all our attention on him to treat Islam as a religion of peace. As a religion at all. And a big part is we don’t think of defending our country. We expect the military to do all that

People know these two hate America and don’t care or are happy that Islam had a victory that day. A lot of people living in NYC agree. It’s like 40% foreign born. It’s not good.

Dallas and Houston are very bad in this regard

The people were watching the proceedings. This was a camera shot. In NYC, people are used to being near people who are well-known. They were not paying any attention.

Further, there is a clip of a lone firefighter in dress blues yelling at a guy wearing a Palestinian flag

Well, we’ll see how people react to the clip from here. I saw it live, more closely and candid than most people who were there looking elsewhere. I was horrified.

Fox showed a shot of those two standing somberly, acting, so it will get covered up


17 posted on 09/12/2026 6:23:30 AM PDT by stanne
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