9/11: the docuserie which analyzes before and after the attack which celebrates its 20 years

The great British historian Eric Hobsbawm He pointed out that the 20th century began in 1917 and ended in 1989. He called the period “the short 20th century”. We could perhaps think of the beginning of the 21st century in 2001. More precisely, September 11, 2001, when the attacks on hijacked planes piloted by members of the Al-Qaeda network would collide with the Twin Towers of New York, some symbols of the city because of its great height, and that it would take more than three thousand lives, thousands of injured and total destruction. If the 20th century had been the scene of the Cold War between the Soviet Union, the new millennium would begin to take shape in the sockets of terror.

Tipping point: September 11 and the war on terror is a Netflix documentary miniseries that takes an exhaustive journey through the twenty years since the United States and the world shook in the attacks on the Towers, the Pentagon and the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 preventing a plane from crash into the White House. Fear ran the backbone of nations in the face of action never seen before. And that it would change geopolitics, war tactics, American nationalism and anti-imperialism as they were known before.

The five-part mini-series is a journalistic and documentary work that leaves no space untouched. The first chapter focuses on the images and witnesses of a first plane colliding with tower 1 and the amazement and uncertainty. Then the other plane in tower 2: there was no doubt America was under attack. Then another plane collided with the Pentagon. And one more fell in the middle of the field. Production doesn’t stop at the facts, but dates back to 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and the stubborn resistance of the Muslim mujahedin, who had US funds, weapons and training. These extremist Muslims came to meet at the White House with George Bush Sr.. The members of the government of the day, opponents of the empowerment of the Taliban, testify to these uncertain years.

The second episode collects the testimonies of the victims of the attacks and also of their relatives. And it shows how the occupation of Afghanistan would begin at the initiative of George Bush Jr.. In other words, military intervention in a nation that had not only defeated the Soviets, but a century earlier had driven out the British colonizers.

The third episode shows how the invasion of Iraq spreads and tens of thousands of American soldiers leave for this region of the Middle East, at the same time as a system of surveillance is put in place on the citizenship of the states. – United in general that would become a crime. political and unconstitutional. He also becomes aware of abuse and torture by US troops, while revealing the little-known fact of recruiting children to perform day and night duties to serve as sex slaves for US forces.

The fourth part shows the rise of the Taliban’s power, the installation of the shaira – Islamic law – the reduction of women to household chores, the executions of those who have violated this law.

The fifth chapter, the most current, sets out the decision of Donald trump to withdraw from Afghanistan, while the decision is endorsed by the current president Biden. Within days, 85% of the country was dominated by the Taliban. At the end of last August, the Taliban took Kabul. It was a defeat for the United States similar to that which occurred in Vietnam.

The production questions the defenders of the policy in Afghanistan and those who criticize it within the government itself. Interview with corrupt Afghan leaders as consistent activists for the causes of their homeland. It shows the abuses of the foreign army in a new colonial raid. He also interviews the Taliban who applaud the defeat of the first nation on earth. In short, it is a large production which acquires a capital importance on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan, but especially weeks after the Taliban regained control of the nation. With the risks that this implies.

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