The September 11th commemorative edition of Newsweek is, sadly, another cheap attempt by an increasingly irrelevant publication to shock its way back to prominence. The cover story, by “conservative” Andrew Sullivan, asks the question, “did Osama win?” Since his terrorist network is now in shambles, he rests at the bottom of the Indian Ocean, and the Middle East is currently experiencing a dramatic wave of democratization, the answer would seem to be obvious: Not a chance.

But any publication as desperate at Newsweek hardly can afford the truth, and any so liberal has no qualms about arguing that, in fact, yes, “Bin Laden hoped to provoke a civilizational war between Islam and the West. And we took the bait.”

Sullivan never advances a convincing argument (which, however offensive, may be made) that Islamism has made gains since 9/11, whether thanks to al-Qaeda or others, and instead resorts to bland platitudes, such as, “nothing is as frightening as violence waged by those who do so in the name of God,” as if it were quite obvious that Islamic terrorism is more frightening than Communist aggression ever was.

The tenth anniversary of 9/11 is a time for solemn remembrance, not political commentary and revisionism. But if one has to offer the latter, at least it could be more thoughtful than Sullivan’s pablum.