September 11, 2026 is four days away. It will be the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States — the attacks that killed 2,977 people, triggered the US invasion of Afghanistan, and launched the longest war in American history. ONYX covers the 25-year reckoning at the weight the anniversary requires.

THE AFGHANISTAN ACCOUNTING  

Twenty years of US military presence in Afghanistan: 2001-2021. Five years since withdrawal: August 2021. The Taliban’s current status: firmly in control of Afghanistan, according to CBS News’s sobering assessment.

The specific numbers of the Afghanistan war:

▸  US service members killed: 2,461

▸  US contractors killed: approximately 3,850

▸  Afghan security forces killed: approximately 66,000

▸  Afghan civilians killed: estimated 47,000+

▸  US financial cost: approximately $2.3 trillion over 20 years

▸  Taliban control today: the entirety of Afghanistan

THE GUANTANAMO TIMELINE  

The September 11 military commission trials at Guantanamo Bay have been scheduled for 2028 — nearly 27 years after the attacks. The specific timeline:

▸  September 11, 2001: the attacks

▸  2003: Guantanamo Bay detention facility opened

▸  2009: President Obama ordered Guantanamo closed (it remains open)

▸  2012: military commission proceedings begun against 9/11 defendants

▸  2026: trials scheduled for 2028

▸  2028: 27 years after the attacks

The families of the 2,977 people killed on September 11, 2001 have waited 25 years for trials. They will wait at least two more. The specific legal and procedural history of the Guantanamo military commissions — the classified evidence questions, the torture-derived evidence disputes, the constitutional framework challenges — has produced a 25-year delay that is itself a specific accountability failure.

THE SPECIFIC QUESTION  

The 25-year accounting of the United States’ response to September 11 requires asking a specific question: what did the response produce? The Taliban is in power. Al-Qaeda has reconstituted in some form. The Islamic State emerged from the power vacuum the Iraq war created. The Guantanamo trials have not happened. The surveillance state built after 9/11 remains. The wars cost $2.3 trillion in Afghanistan and more in Iraq. The question of whether the response achieved its stated objectives — denying terrorist safe havens, bringing the perpetrators to justice — is what the 25-year anniversary requires asking.

Twenty-five years ago, 2,977 people were killed. Twenty years of war followed. The Taliban is in control of Afghanistan. The trials are scheduled for 2028. That is the specific accounting September 11, 2026 requires.

THE 2,977  

The 2,977 people killed on September 11, 2001 are not statistics. They are the specific accountability from which everything that followed flows. Their families have waited 25 years for trials. Two more years have been announced. ONYX covers the anniversary with the 2,977 at its center, not at its periphery.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT  

▸  September 11, 2026 — the 25th anniversary; national memorial events

▸  2028 Guantanamo trials — whether the scheduled date holds; trials have been delayed repeatedly

▸  Afghanistan — Taliban government’s continued evolution; women’s rights; humanitarian situation

▸  Counterterrorism posture — the US’s current capability to prevent recurrence

CONFIDENCE: HIGH

Taliban firmly in control of Afghanistan five years after US withdrawal, Guantanamo 9/11 trials scheduled for 2028, CBS News 25th anniversary assessment are from confirmed reporting. Afghanistan war statistics from established DoD and Brown University Costs of War Project documentation.

⚖️  BIAS CHECK — WHO IS SAYING WHAT
CBS News	Covering the 25th anniversary from a reflective, accountability-focused perspective; their assessment aligns with the documented factual record
US political spectrum	Deeply divided on whether the Afghanistan withdrawal was correct; whether the war itself was justified; and what lessons apply; ONYX presents the documented outcomes without adjudicating those contested questions
Taliban	Is governing Afghanistan; their specific governance record — women banned from education, work, public life; international isolation — is its own accountability
Families of 9/11 victims	Have waited 25 years for trials; their specific advocacy for accountability is the human center of the Guantanamo story

SOURCES

▸  CBS News — 25th anniversary 9/11 Taliban Afghanistan Guantanamo trials 2028, September 7, 2026