The post-9/11 Global War on Terrorism won by keeping our homeland safe

Friday, a quarter-century since the 9/11 attacks, marks an important milestone in our nation’s history.It’s a fitting moment to take stock of the Global War on Terrorism, launched by President George W.Bush in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.First, the good news: There hasn’t been another major attack on the homeland since that terrible day.Full credit here to America’s intelligence agencies and homeland-security professionals — the systems that they put in place in 2001 are holding their own.And it’s a safe bet that, with the addition of artificial intelligence, those systems will only get stronger.More good news: America has hunted down and eliminated all the top terrorists that hatched the plot to harm our country.Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman Al-Zawahiri are long gone — and few, if any, are rushing to take their places.Credit relentless deterrence for the thinning ranks of these jihadist groups.We may not have known it at the time, but our willingness to wage long wars made it clear that the price of attacking America is not worth paying.True, the vestiges of groups like al Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Taliban still linger today — but these groups are weaker and less inclined to risk an attack on the American homeland. The risks haven’t disappeared, though.The Muslim Brotherhood — the ideological cornerstone of jihadism — is alive and well.This well-funded network, operating worldwide, continues to radicalize Muslim youth from Europe to the Middle East to the heart of America.President Donald Trump has named the Brotherhood as a threat, and his administration is taking meaningful steps to chip away at it, day by day.In November Trump issued an historic and unprecedented executive order directing the Treasury and State departments to identify and sanction the overseas branches of the Muslim Brotherhood.Several of those branches have already been hit with penalties that restrict their ability to fund-raise globally and do busines...