Yep, if the response had been smart they could have largely nipped Al Qeada in the bud there and then, the Jihadist movement was in it’s last throws, instead the Bush admin with there response have helped revive it from the dead, 9/11 was one last desperate throw off the dice and they won.

By the way, i wonder why we’re getting a ad for a website called “Gaydar” at the bottom of this page ? “detect gays near you” .

Here are an articlefrom The New Yorker and an editorial from the Economist that are adding to the point of the essay you link to. I believe that Islamic terrorism exists just like what was happening was happening in Ireland some years back could have been called Catholic terrorism and to pretend that it does not is dangerous because it may well cause you to miss the significance of this story. The solution to Islamic terrorism will not come from war, police work, or security measures. Anyone willing to die can kill other people. The solution has to come from within Islam itself and the important part of these stories is that the people attacking Al Qeada are all respected scholars When they attack Al Qeada they are in fact attacking the tactic of terror and when that becomes the accepted religious doctrine then and only then will Islamic terrorism largely cease to be a serious problem.