The prevailing belief that Islamic terrorism represented an existential threat to national security comparable to a nuclear exchange during the Cold War was rationally ridiculous but, in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, emotionally compelling. Defense spending grew exponentially as a vast new Homeland Security and intelligence bureaucracy materialized almost overnight. All plans for reductions in the defense budget after the Cold War evaporated. The national debt soared past $12 trillion and kept climbing after the Great Recession of 2008.
