To just equal what the rest of the world has combined?

And start a space program again?

Don't you know how effective aircraft carriers are against guys with box cutters. And space, pshhh, final frontier my ass. Screw scientific research and exploration. Science is only useful if its going toward building the next gen fighter which will cost as much as Australia's GDP: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/03/the-f-35-a-weapon-that-costs-more-than-australia/72454/

Reasonable due diligence would have caught that attack, shrub ignored warning after warning and it still took perfect storm scenario for them to pull it off, which in turn forces me to at least consider the possibility that the situation was purposefully not prevented or even a part of an inside job.

Bush didn't lift a pinky. Someone who gives about a third of a fuck in charge of national security automatically minimizes the possibility of such a thing.

I think shrubCo had to do something...anything to get out of instant lame duck mode and went with a Pearl Harbor type thing whether they participated in or just allowed the attack.

It was either ineptitude, willful ineptitude, or treason none are acceptable.

And thought the mention of the "Arab Spring" an interesting, pertinent facet to the picture.

It's refreshing to see something other than "ooga booga, terrorists will kill us!" from government officials.

But seriously though. 9/11 was about as low tech as it gets. It required precise planning and coordination, but ultimately it was 19 guys that were seriously fucked up in the head with some box cutters that just needed to fly planes into buildings.

So if the threat is lower, can we scale back or eliminate TSA and start employing smarter screening and security tactics? Do we need to continue patting down 8 year olds or 80 year olds with braces and wheelchairs? Do we have to live in a permanent security state?

Unfortunately I doubt we'll see any changes. Too much money to be made with those rape-a-scan machines.

Bad Al Qaeda disappeared with the coming of (Arab) Spring. How cute.

So, the Al Qaeda hardline and violent brand of Islam are susceptible to change their ways and minds due to... protests and rebellions in Islamic countries...

So, we'll be ok, because, now we can have as a guarantee the goodwill of hardline and violent brand of Islam.

Yep. Definetely someone is taking us for complete idiots.

The al Qaeda hardliners haven't changed their extremist views - they've lost some recruitment possibilities due to the overall tone of the various youth movements. Broadly anti-authoritarian rule, some holding a largely secular point of view. Many of the protesters wouldn't be likely candidates for jihad, imo.

And the article doesn't claim that al Qaeda has "disappeared". It does note that they have fragmented into various spin-offs.