The World and Everything in It: September 11, 2023

PREROLL: The World and Everything in It is made possible by listeners like you. I'm Katie Tish, a substitute teacher at Western Christian School in Salem, Oregon. Sometimes I have the privilege to share WORLD Watch in the classes I teach. Here's to a new school year. I hope you enjoy today's program.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning! Lawyers are servants. But that message often gets lost in law school.

AUDIO: Students come to law school with a strong commitment to public service and to some extent it gets beaten out of them, or it erodes.

NICK EICHER, HOST: That’s ahead on Legal Docket.

Also today the Monday Moneybeat. The Biden administration canceled all oil and gas leases in Alaska’s ANWR. How does that foster energy independence?

And the WORLD History Book: the rise and fall of a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

AUDIO: Today we bear witness to an extraordinary act in one of history's defining dramas.

REICHARD: It’s Monday, September 11th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Good morning!

REICHARD: Time now for news. Here’s Kent Covington.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Biden in Vietnam » President Biden on Sunday announced what the White House calls a historic new trade agreement with Vietnam.

He spoke to reporters from Hanoi.

BIDEN: This is a new elevated status that will be a force for prosperity and security in one of the most consequential regions in the world.

Vietnam is elevating the United States to its highest diplomatic status alongside Russia and China.

The trade agreement emphasizes working together on things like rare earth minerals and semiconductors.

Biden flew to Vietnam after several days in India for the G20 Summit.

Biden - Haley on China » His administration is working hard to counter Chinese influence in the Asia-Pacific region. But the president also told reporters ...

BIDEN: I don’t want to contain China. I just want to make sure we have a relationship with China that is on the up and up, squared away, everybody knows what it’s all about.

He said he only wants the best for China.

Republican White House hopeful Nikki Haley on Sunday accused Biden of being too soft on the communist rival.

She said Beijing views Washington as an enemy and has been gearing up for war with the United States for years.

HALEY: You don’t send Cabinet members over to Chinas to appease them. You start getting serious with China and say we’re not going to put up with it.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo visited Beijing last month right after her email was hacked from China.

U.S. long range missiles to Ukraine » The United States is reportedly close to sending long-range missiles to Ukraine.

That’s according to ABC News, which cited an official with knowledge of the plans.

The missiles could strike targets much farther away, soaring nearly nearly four times the distance of the American-made rockets Ukraine is currently firing.

But publicly, top U.S. officials say they’ve no final decision on sending the missiles.

Secretary of State Tony Blinken:

BLINKEN: It’s not only the weapons system itself. It’s - are Ukrainians trained on it? Are they able to maintain it? Can they use it effectively as part of their strategy?

Previously, the White House and Pentagon have said sending long-range missiles to Ukraine was off the table. They said if Ukraine used the missiles to strike targets on Russian soil, it could lead to a direct conflict between Moscow and the West.

Morocco aftershock » In Morocco, rescuers frantically dug through mountains of rubble on Sunday, hoping to find more survivors … after a devastating earthquake and aftershock.

More than 2,000 people are confirmed dead after a 6.8 magnitude quake rocked the country on Friday and a 3.9 magnitude aftershock struck yesterday.

Many Moroccans are pitching in, helping however they can.

GUERINA: We saw on the news that they need donation for blood, and I don't even think twice we just run to here, because it's one of the main things that, as a citizen is to help each other, especially like on conditions where there's people who are dying are at this moment we speak and they are needing help.

Trucks and helicopters carrying soldiers and aid workers have been rushing into the hardest-hit remote mountain towns.

Thousands of Moroccans whose homes are still standing have been sleeping on the streets since Friday for fear that the walls could cave in around them.

Drone attack in Sudan’s capital » Meantime, near Sudan’s capital city of Khartoum, a drone attack has killed dozens and wounded many more. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more on that story.

JOSH SCHUMACHER: Black smoke poured into the sky above a market just south of the city on Sunday.

The drone attack wounded more than a hundred people, at least 40 or them fatally.

It’s unclear who’s to blame, but the Sudanese military and the paramilitary group known as The Rapid Support Forces have been warring for months in a bloody power struggle.

Global watchdog groups say both sides have indiscriminately shelled and attacked civilian areas.

The United Nations reports that the roughly 5-month conflict has already killed thousands.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Youngkin on trans school policies » Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin is speaking out about feuds in school districts over whether schools must notify parents if a child wants to identify as the opposite gender.

YOUNGKIN: A child can’t go on a field trip without parental consent. A child in school can’t get an aspirin or a Tylenol without parental consent. How in the world is it appropriate for a child to be guided and counseled by folks that are outside of their family.

California’s Democratic attorney general recently sued a school district in Southern California over its policy requiring schools to notify parents if their child wants to use an alternative name or pronouns.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Leveling up professionalism at law school. Plus, The Monday Moneybeat. 

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Monday morning, September 11th and you’re listening to The World and Everything in It from WORLD Radio. Good morning! I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

First, some pretty cool news if you’re a longtime listener you may know we do tout this program as among the Top 100 News programs in the Apple Podcasts platform, which is no small accomplishment when you consider there are well over 2-million podcasts on Apple, with an estimated 6-thousand added each day.

The news is we’re starting to crack the Top 50!

But speaking of how many podcasts there are, it’s important to be able to rise above the noise.

So two requests: Would you take a moment and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, if that’s where you listen? That’s one. Two, if you find this program valuable, would you share it with a friend? Maybe someone you work with, a neighbor, a friend at church, your pastor? We used to do this all the time, encourage actually setting it up on someone’s phone. Of course, that was when podcasts were a little mysterious. But encourage a friend to listen for a week and that’s usually what it takes to make the habit stick.

REICHARD: I’m glad you mentioned that. I’d kind of gotten out of the habit of sharing The World and Everything in It with people I meet, and then invite them to rate and review.

Apple doesn’t share exactly how the ratings work, but we do know that ratings and reviews do indicate depth of passion among the listener base, and that’s got to matter.

But more than that, I think it’s just a nice thing to do to share The World and Everything in It with a friend. It’s totally free. And when you find something you like that gives you a daily dose of news and features from a Christian worldview, you’re doing a kindness to share it with others. So, yes, I hope you’ll make it a project to introduce this program to a friend.

EICHER: Well, let’s get to it. It’s time for Legal Docket.

Classes are underway in law schools across the nation. Professors are busy training and educating future lawyers.

REICHARD: In the United States, approximately 200 law schools have national accreditation. And the American Bar Association is the organization that sets the standards for national accreditation.

Recently, the ABA put a new standard in place: Law schools must provide substantial opportunities for students to develop a professional identity.

EICHER: This seems like it could be a great opportunity for Christian law schools, in particular, to emphasize the role of lawyer as servant.

REICHARD: It does. Technically, the rule took effect last academic year, but only for planning purposes. This academic year, law schools must implement it.

Today, legal correspondent Jenny Rough joins us to talk about forming a professional identity and what it means.

Good morning, Jenny!

JENNY ROUGH: Good morning!

Well, law school takes three years when enrolled full-time. And the education happens almost exclusively in the classroom. Unlike medical school where students do clinical work and residency. In other words, hands-on experience before obtaining their medical license.

This new rule encourages law schools to give students more exposure to training outside the classroom. And although there’s no specific curriculum, some law schools have already been doing this.

JERRY ORGAN: When we were founded, we were founded with the idea of helping students integrate faith and reason, right?

Jerry Organ is a law professor and the co-director of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions at the University of St. Thomas School of Law.

ORGAN: So we weren't using the phrase professional identity, professional identity formation, but we were certainly adjacent to that space when we got started. And then as educating lawyers.

REICHARD: Organ summarizes the ABA requirement this way:

ORGAN: That there should be multiple opportunities over the course of three years of law school for students to reflect on, to experience and reflect on, kind of what it means to be a lawyer, the values of the profession, wellbeing practices.

And we will note here that a second rule also requires schools to provide opportunities for students to learn about bias, cross-cultural competence, and racism.

But today, we want to emphasize professional identity. Organ says forming that is especially suited to graduate-school programs. More so than college which has a different purpose, more about discovery.

ORGAN: Discovery in terms of areas of knowledge I'm exploring, and discovery in terms of developing independence, developing initiative, ownership over one's learning and one's life, right?

EICHER: But that changes with graduate school.

ORGAN: Law school and medical school and nursing school, for that matter they’re about serving others. They're about developing a specialized knowledge base and a specialized set of skills that are directed toward serving others. So part of professional school really is a shift from a kind of a self-focus to now acquiring knowledge, acquiring skills. I'm going to shift from being a student absorbing information to a lawyer who's now serving others.

Lawyers have a profound responsibility to clients, the system of justice, and the rule of law. And professional identity formation is the process of how that all develops.

ORGAN: Other-focused, because I'm now going to be serving the client and the client's interest. And my obligation to the client overrides my self-interest. That's the nature of the professional bargain we make as lawyers.

ROUGH: This takes me back to my first-year, Civil Pleading and Procedure class. It was like it was yesterday!

Now this is a course that centers on pretty much nothing else but a big, fat rule book. Lots of memorization about dry procedural rules. How to file a lawsuit, how to respond to one … that kind of stuff.

But my professor, Professor Perrin, drilled it into our heads that the number one complaint of clients is that their lawyers don’t call them back. He told us repeatedly: Return your clients’ phone calls!

ORGAN: That's a great example. That's an example where while that professor was teaching you the rules, that professor was also trying to imbue for you an important aspect of what it means to be a lawyer.

St. Thomas offers a one-week intensive called Serving Clients Well that drills home the same point.

ORGAN: Everybody has to interview a client and send in some information and response. And then we gather the data. So it's shockingly consistent that if you want to be a successful lawyer with happy clients, just communicate with them. And if you want to be an unsuccessful lawyer with dissatisfied clients, ignore them.

REICHARD: Organ says law schools can find opportunities like that all over the place.

ORGAN: It can happen in a lawyering skills course where you get to do your oral argument, which is a time when you're in role.

As in, in the role of a lawyer. Being “in role” are those rare instances in school that can be so critical.

ORGAN: Medical education is a good 15 years ahead of us. And what they have identified is that the richest opportunities for reflecting on learning about professional identity arise in what are called authentic professional experiences, right? When you're a law student making that oral argument, or when you're clerking at the law firm in the summer with the legal aid office, or at the county attorney's office, those externship experiences tend to be in role.

Law schools can take those situations and purposefully support professional identity formation.

ORGAN: Students go away for their summer work experience or volunteer experience, and they come back to school.

For most students, it’s right back into the classroom. They put their summer experience behind them. But St. Thomas has implemented a faculty-student mentoring program. One-on-one meetings where students can reflect and talk through their summer work experience. What they learned. Was it a good fit?

ORGAN: Maybe you thought you wanted to do criminal law, but you were in the prosecutor's office and it wasn't what you thought it was, and now you need to kind of shift focus. Well, let's talk about what that would look like. So to me, that's a rich opportunity to harvest low hanging fruit. All you need to do is create a space where you can help them reflect on that and talk through that a little bit.

EICHER: In another one of his classes called Moral Reasoning for Lawyers, Organ teaches the 1927 Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell, considered one of the Court’s worst decisions of all time. It allowed state-enforced sterilization.

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote the opinion.

ORGAN: And there's a whole bunch of significantly offensive language. He's writing about this woman who's in the—it's the state home for the epileptic and feeble-minded.

He based his decision on the premise that the women there were unintelligent.

ORGAN: And the opinion is written from a very economic, you know, the state needs to be able to save money. If we have profligate women in these homes who are going to have children, then they're going to be a drain on the state resources. And so we have to allow sterilization.

Organ opens the class with a straight-forward approach. Typical of most law schools.

ORGAN: Let's break down this case. Let's understand the facts. Let's look at the issue. Let's look at the court's analysis. But I don't talk about the language at all, right? I just talk about the case.

Then, he stops. And pivots the discussion.

ORGAN: What would you want to talk about that we haven't talked about?

This gives students chance to see the clients as real people, human beings who need to be treated with dignity.

ORGAN: If you emphasize all the thinking stuff, and you don't talk about the human side of it at all, some people who have a stronger orientation toward empathy or humanity are going to feel like this is not a good fit for them.

ROUGH: Here’s another part of forming a professional identity: helping students recognize what new skills they need to develop in response to what’s happening in the world.

Like alternative dispute resolution. Learning negotiation, mediation, and arbitration skills educates students that there are other ways to solve problems besides litigation.

ORGAN: That's a form of formation. When I was in law school all of the cases were A sues B, A sues B. You solve problems by suing people. And they don't have names, they just have letters.

Or how about this skill: artificial intelligence.

ORGAN: Two years ago, people didn't have to think about AI and what they needed to learn about AI to be of service to their clients. Now, I think lawyers have to be thinking about AI. They can't put their heads in the sand and say, well, that's not, I'm not gonna worry about that. It's a new technology that's going to shape a lot of different aspects of how we serve clients.

Whether law schools are aware of it or not, they’ve been communicating messages to students about professional identity all along. And because law school is so competitive, that message can default to the importance of top grades and landing a job at a big firm with high pay.

ORGAN: Students come to law school with a strong commitment to public service and to some extent it gets beaten out of them, or it erodes. And they get drawn toward these other things.

Big prestigious firms can be a valuable experience. But Organ recalled a recent conversation with two women who had both graduated number one in their law school class. They were both married, had children, and didn’t necessarily want to follow the wide, beaten path their law schools pushed.

ORGAN: And so you had this tension between some people institutionally suggesting, normatively you can pursue this. And so you should. And these two women believing that God had a different plan for them.

Overall, Organ sees the new rule as a way to keep students focused on their purpose and values.

ORGAN: We're always shaping people. We just have tended not to be very thoughtful about it. And what this new movement is really talking about is trying to help us as law professors and people involved in legal education be more intentional about what it is we want to be communicating to our students about what it means to be a lawyer.

That’s this week’s Legal Docket. I’m Jenny Rough.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: the Monday Moneybeat.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Alright, time now to talk business markets and the economy with financial analyst and advisor David Bahnsen. David is head of the wealth management firm, the Bahnsen Group and he is here now. David, good morning.

DAVID BAHNSEN: Good morning, Nick. Good to be with you.

EICHER: David, I'd like to begin by talking about a story that just did not get as much attention as it probably should have. The Biden administration last week decided to cancel all of the remaining leases for oil and gas in the ANWR. That's the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. And interestingly, around the same time, the Biden for President reelect team purchased a flight of ads for the new NFL season, and touted the President's economic record, specifically mentioning energy independence, let's listen.

JOE BIDEN: They said millions would lose their jobs. But this president refused to let that happen. Instead, he got to work fixing supply chains, fighting corporate greed, passing laws to make us more energy independent. I'm Joe Biden.

So David, how does canceling the ANWR leases make us more energy independent?

DAVID BAHNSEN: It doesn't, obviously. It is a purely cosmetic move, because it also doesn't take away a lot of energy production either. It's one of these political games where it enables him, in this case, to attempt to have his cake and eat it too.

Energy production is reasonably high in America right now. It's just nowhere near high enough. He can tout, “Oh, we are really doing a lot for production,” and then, at the exact same time, say to the far-left and the environmental extremists, “Oh, look, we canceled permits in places like ANWR”.

It's an attempt—which politicians are hardly immune to—of trying to have your cake and eat it too: Playing both sides of the fence. Ultimately, energy independence means you're not sometimes forced to rely on your geopolitical enemies for your energy needs. It would be hard with a straight face for the Biden administration to claim that, since they have gone hand-in-hand to countries like Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, begging them to turn on the production spigots.

The facts of the matter are thus when you depoliticize it, and a person who's the president or running for president can't depoliticize it. A lot of people on the right oppose much of what the President is doing (which includes people like me), but a lot of people can't depoliticize it either.

But I am depoliticizing it. These are just very objective facts. They took 180 million barrels out of strategic petroleum reserve and brought us down to the lowest level we've been at since the early 80s. They have not refilled them at all, even when oil spent about nine months somewhere between $65 and $75. They have begged countries like Saudi Arabia and Venezuela to produce, these are far less green-friendly countries in terms of production than we are; they have a rig count that is now down 40% on the year, as they have approved virtually no new federal permits throughout the year.

Then of course, there is all the jaw-boning that has taken place among financial firms to avoid providing capital to energy producers. So they cannot claim with a straight face that they have generated energy independence: We've gone backwards in this, because demand is higher and supply is not higher. And that is why prices are higher. And this is very basic stuff when one strips the politics out of it.

EICHER: So I brought up ANWR, but I guess my question on that just to try to be fair to the Biden administration on this, is ANWR a big part of the energy independence equation, or is it just a piece?

BAHNSEN: It's a very, very small piece if we're being totally objective about it, since ANWR was a much bigger issue 15 to 20 years ago in the middle of the first decade of the 2000s, post fracking; the fracking revolution in America really made Oklahoma, Texas, Pennsylvania, and North Dakota far more significant players in energy production needs in our country.

EICHER: David, the G20 Summit took place over the weekend in India. I wonder if you have anything, any thoughts at all about the G20? Is there anything significant to talk about there?

BAHNSEN: I think that President Biden is probably happy that both Putin and Premier Xi of China are not there, in the sense that that enables him to be able to speak with other G20 leaders without our two largest adversaries present to try to build up more alliances. I think those alliances are important.

I think that there is probably a lot of work going on behind the scenes to try to maximize Western opposition to a Russia-China Alliance. We're not privy to all of those things, and no real meat on the bone has come out of what's taken place of the G20. That would be my hope: That the opportunity is there for some intelligent advancement of the cause of Western and G20 opposition to a Russia-China Alliance.

EICHER: We're starting to see a rise here in this country of COVID cases. David, based on the responses so far that we've seen, do you think we're doing a little better than we were last time COVID started spiking? Or do you think we're kind of making some of the same mistakes?

BAHNSEN: I'm not seeing any closers; I'm not seeing anybody shutting down. People on the right will be able to call out some extremist on the left suggesting that we do so, but we're not doing it. I think that this is all entirely about the public.

I have no doubt that there are people out there that would love to see more requirements and masks and mandates and other restrictions, but the public is just so far beyond having any tolerance for that, so it's not going to happen. To the extent that there are people now that—individually, on their own, apart from mandates and pressure—choose to say, “I'm going to stay in my house” or, “I'm going to wear a mask”, I really couldn't care less. I think people doing their own thing is what they do.

I have my own opinions about it medically and intellectually, but it's a free country. That's the point, right? Let people freely do whatever they want with regards to their own health. There's absolutely no public appetite to even consider reliving the atrocities we went through a couple of years ago, however.

EICHER: David, any big news on economic data? Or should we shift over to the markets? What are the other big stories this week?

BAHNSEN: I don't think that the macroeconomic data this week was super newsworthy. The initial jobless claims on Thursday were the lowest they had been since February. As I pointed out in my daily market communique, however, you had Labor Day last Monday and so you could have potentially had some reporting that didn't get into the data. I don't know that that's the case, but whenever you see a one week blip, it's always worth waiting for a running average.

The initial jobless claims have stayed very low, potentially the lowest they've been all year. I think that the high of some services had picked up. The new orders had definitely picked up. So it was modestly good news. But at the same time to switch to markets. The bond yields being a little bit higher over the last month has produced a little tension in markets, particularly those markets that were most overvalued and technology is at the top of that list.

EICHER: Alright, David Bahnsen, founder, Managing Partner, Chief Investment Officer at the Bahnsen Group, you can keep up with what's going on with David at his personal website. That's bahnsen.com. You can also sign up for his free weekly dividend cafe at dividendcafe.com David, thanks so much.

BAHNSEN: Thanks so much, Nick.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Monday, September 11th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Up next, the WORLD History Book. Today: the 22nd anniversary of 9-11. But first, 340 years ago, a defeat that sets the stage for centuries of bitterness and conflict.

Here’s WORLD Radio executive producer Paul Butler.

PAUL BUTLER: We begin today on September 11th, 1683, in the city of Vienna. For nearly two months the city has been under siege. A large Ottoman army of more than 150,000 soldiers surround the city. Their commander is Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa.

The Ottoman Empire had attempted to conquer the city 150 years earlier, and failed. Kara Mustafa is back at the gateway to the Holy Roman Empire to try again.

In the months leading up to Kara Mustafa’s attack, the city had done what it could to quickly improve its fortifications. It also sent delegates to surrounding states appealing for armed assistance. As the Ottoman Empire forces drew near, many of Vienna’s citizens fled…. leaving only about 11,000 trained soldiers and 5,000 volunteers behind to defend the city and wait for reinforcements.

Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa loses many men in the 2-month siege, but by September 10th, his diminished—yet still substantial army—is just hours away from breaching the wall and gaining access to the city. Relief forces have begun arriving and take up positions on the high ground less than 10 miles away…they are awaiting the arrival of Polish King John III Sobieski and his 3,000 member cavalry known as the “Winged Hussars.” Their delay means there’s a large gap in the line.

Kara Mustafa makes a strategic error that not only loses the battle, but marks the beginning of the end of the Ottoman Empire’s dominance in Europe. Historian Matthias Pfaffenblicher spoke with the Discovery Channel in 2016.

MATTHIAS PFAFFENBLICHER: He didn’t concentrate all his troops in defending his camp against the attacking relief army but continued the assault of the city because it was so close for the fall. So he divided his force.

When Sobieski and his mercenary cavalry do show up, they rout the Ottoman detachment. The Winged Hussars along with 15,000 other horse mounted forces throw themselves upon the rest of Mustafa’s army. It is the largest known cavalry charge in Europe’s history. Kara Mustafa and his army flee the field. Vienna is saved.

The battle marks the first time a largely united Christian Europe cooperates militarily against the Ottomans. Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa chooses not to counter attack. He returns home in shame where he is executed and beheaded.

In 2001, Journalist Christopher Hitchens suggested that this defeat of the Ottoman army in 1683 may have inspired al-Qaeda to choose the date it did to attack the Twin Towers on September 11th…

Next, 30 years ago this week, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, and U.S. President Bill Clinton gather for a signing ceremony at the White House.

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: Today we bear witness to an extraordinary act...

On September 13th, 1993, President Clinton announces a peace initiative between Israel and the Palestinians commonly referred to as the “Oslo Accords.”

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: Ever since Harry Truman first recognized Israel, every American President, Democrat and Republican, has worked for peace between Israel and her neighbors.

That includes President Jimmy Carter, who hosted Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1978 at Camp David. The Carter administration helped broker a roadmap for peace between the two nations. Now 15 years later, President Bill Clinton seems poised to build on that in the Oslo Accords.

In this agreement, Israel accepts the PLO as the representative of the Palestinians. The PLO renounces terrorism and recognizes Israel’s right to exist in peace.

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: The children of Abraham…have embarked together on a bold journey. Together today, with all our hearts and all our souls, we bid them shalom, salaam, peace. (APPLAUSE)

The goals of the Oslo Accords are never fully realized. In fact, by the time President Clinton leaves office, the peace process falls apart. Nearly every administration since has tried to pick up where he left off.

The Arab world’s reaction to both the Camp David Accords and the Oslo Accords set the stage for our last entry today.

NEWSCAST: We're joined by the entire network just to show you some pictures at the foot of New York City…

September 11th, 2001, 19 Islamic extremists hijack four different planes. Two of them fly into New York’s Twin Towers. One crashes into the Pentagon. Another goes down in a Pennsylvania field. By 11am, nearly 3000 people are dead.

AUDIO: [OSAMA BIN LADEN]

A year later, al-Qaeda’s Osama bin Laden publishes his “Letter to America.” In it he blames US interference in the Middle East, America’s policy toward Israel, and the Iraq war as partial justification for the attack.

While bin Laden approved the plot and helped fund it, the mastermind is actually Khalid Sheikh Mohammed—a high-ran king member of al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden insider.

NEWSCAST: He's one of the biggest catches in the war on terror…

The CIA—working with Pakistan's intelligence agency—capture Mohammed on March 1st, 2003 while he sleeps.

He’s brought to Guantanamo Bay. U.S. led investigations use “persuasive interrogation techniques” to extract information. He confesses to planning the 9/11 attacks and more than 30 other plots. Waterboarding and other aggressive interrogation techniques come under fire—US officials argue that the ends justify the means if it prevents further attacks.

NEWSCAST: The man who boasted of planning the 9 11 attacks on America has finally appeared…

In 2008, a U.S. military commission charges Khalid Sheikh Mohammed with war crimes and the murder of almost 3000 people. The prosecution seeks the death penalty.

NEWSCAST: Pentagon officials are considering plea agreements for several defendants suspected of plotting the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Last month, the Pentagon and FBI advised many 9/11 families that the government was considering plea deals to bring an end to the more than decade-long prosecution. But the Biden Administration announced Friday that it has rejected the plan.

That’s this week’s WORLD History Book. I’m Paul Butler.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: Mexico’s Supreme Court has decriminalized abortion. Do we have Roe v. Wade: south of the border edition or something else?

And, two families making a joyful noise. Myrna Brown will have a music review.

That and more tomorrow.

I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. 

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio. WORLD’s mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

The Bible says: Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray. Proverbs 12, verses 25 and 26.

Go now in grace and peace.

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