Posted 11:22 AM by Gene

A married couple from Connecticut, whose son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter were killed on a flight that hit the World Trade Center, wrote to The New York Times to oppose the project on the grounds that it “has the trappings of a victory mosque”. That expression captures a lot. People around the world will differ over the meaning of September 11 2001, but there can be no doubting that it is one of America’s most consequential military defeats. It led to a stalemate in Afghanistan and a war in Iraq that undermined the US’s standing in the world. By providing another reason for low interest rates and easy credit, it helped spur the present economic crisis. Whether or not this was inevitable, it happened. Osama bin Laden’s strategic calculus – that the US lacked either the resolve, the cohesion or the cultural self-confidence to stand up to a mighty blow – has in many ways been vindicated.

We would dispute that we've "lost" these two wars but given a few of our posts today it's hard to dispute that last sentence.

This introspection-provoking zinger comes via Marty Peretz -- and we'd have gotten it sooner if FT.com hadn't contorted itself into a pretzel trying to ward off the hoi-polloi.