The biggest way that 9/11 changed everything was in one of the least desirable ways: amid the shift toward counterterrorism, the emerging focus on China and the anti-access and area denial threats it was creating faded into the background. The Bush administration said that the two priorities were not mutually exclusive—but that is what they became, especially as the mistake of invading Iraq proved costlier with each passing year. In retrospect, the response to the September 11 attacks marked a strategic detour deeper into the Middle East that consumed much of the attention and imagination of
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