The anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington, DC has renewed discussion among academics and commentators on the nature and development of US-Arab relations, especially over the past eight years. Many observers are critical of the US government’s response directly following the attacks, and in the years since.

Some writers have restated their belief that warmongering politicians in the West have unfairly portrayed Islam—even fundamentalist Islam—as violent and one-dimensional.

“The scale of the attacks and the sense of disbelief created an atmosphere that made it almost impossible for US officials to distinguish between terrorism and Islamism,” writes Damascus University lecturer Marwan Al-Kabalan for Gulf News. He goes on to note that the “violent groups” responsible for the attacks “represent only the fringes of political Islam.”

Ron Smith’s assessment for the Baltimore Sun, is not only that the US has failed to accomplish anything positive through its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also “the stated goals of Osama bin Laden seem a lot closer to being met than those of our own leaders.” Smith claims that Al-Qaeda succeeded in their intention to “[force] America into bankruptcy” and wreak havoc on the American psyche.

Johns Hopkins professor Fouad Ajami notes in the Wall Street Journal that although the war in Afghanistan is often touted as more morally justifiable than the invasion of Iraq, in reality that distinction is “intellectually muddled.” He argues that while the Afghan war frequently held up as a multilateral operation, spurred by NATO, in fact European involvement in the conflict has been nominal at best.

“[Saddam Hussein] was a favored son of [Iraq]. The decapitation of his regime was a cautionary tale for his Arab brethren. Grant George W. Bush his due,” Ajami writes. He goes on to say that the inevitable comparisons of Iraq to Vietnam are exaggerated. “This is not Mr. Obama’s Vietnam. It is what it is--his Afghanistan.”

Other commentators highlight the continuing ramifications of the US government’s response to the attacks-- namely, the US detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Andy Worthington writes in The Guardian that the detention center is a blight on the American judicial system; “a result of the Bush administration’s cavalier approach to the law, and its senseless and illegal approach to the use of torture.”

In an article for the Australian, Leah Farrell observes that the illegal detentions in Guantanamo, along with the alleged torture of detainees, have given the Taliban and Al-Qaeda renewed justification for their anti-Americanism.

“Many people remain angry at America’s treatment of detainees. Some would celebrate an evening of the score and perhaps even sanction it. The ends justifies the means is about to blowback on to the Afghan conflict,” Farrell notes.

The Washington Post highlights the already apparent difficulty of keeping the memory of the 9/11 attacks alive for a new generation of Americans. Students currently in high school may have been too young to be aware of the significance of the attacks eight years ago.

A teacher remarks in the Post article that he was one of the first asked to pilot a new curriculum, devised by a 9/11 survivor along with two New York based professors and an education company. The curriculum is intended to serve as a “tribute to the victims,” taking several weeks for student activities such as “building their own September 11 memorials,” constructing maps of terrorist activity, and “debating the cleanup of Ground Zero.”

The Indiana Teacher of the Year profiled in the Post article showed his class the video included in the curriculum, but then decided that a more powerful assignment might be for each student to interview someone who remembered September 11 more clearly.

One writer for the Daily Star writes that there could be a silver lining in the legacy of the attacks. Rebecca Cataldi, also a program manager at the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy, says that one positive effect of 9/11 is the immense surge in interest and information about Islam and the Arab world. She says there was a huge escalation in the numbers of Americans in Arabic and Middle Eastern studies, and Muslims and non-Muslims alike have reached out to each other.

“In the United States, 9/11 reminded many of us of what’s really important...community, compassion toward one’s neighbor and service to one’s society,” Cataldi writes. “September 11 was a horrific tragedy, but its legacy need not be...We can still choose how to respond to 9/11—by lashing out against each other in violence...or by coming together in peace. The choice is ours.”