The country will take a moment of silence at 8:46 this morning. And rightly so. It was awful day. But as we mourn the thousands of lives tragically lost when passenger jets crashed into the twin towers in NYC, we should also remember the disastrous response that followed with all of its intended and unintended consequences. It’s wasn’t the country’s first foreign policy disaster, but it ranks up their as one of the worst. We — and the world — are still feeling its baneful effects. I’m reminded that in a moment of crisis, one has to be mindful of which political bloc is positioned to exploit that crisis for good or ill.