We never had an event of that level of devastation BEFORE 9/11 either. They used the tragedy to push a surveillance and war agenda. In the end, most of the people in the countries we bombed to hell and back as a result didn't even know 9/11 had occurred.

first source on google - https://www.stripes.com/news/among-many-afghans-9-11-remains...

Nothing justifies torture.

> We never had an event of that level of devastation BEFORE 9/11 either.

I understand there's some nuance to what you're saying, so I'm not necessarily disagreeing with it, but I will bring up the attack on Pearl Harbor as an example of a surprise event with a similar loss of life.

Somewhat further afield are civil war battles where the losses were even higher.

I don't mean to minimize the gravity or impact of the 9/11 attacks, and I fully agree everything else you said.

You are correct, however, you're referencing conflicts between nations with nation-level resources to bring to bear for said conflict. 9/11 was particularly devastating because it was executed by so few, with so little resources, and harmed so many.

All true.