I remember sitting at a christmas party in Germany in 1986 and being called to duty because terrorists had planted bombs at my military base. It was quite a long and stressful evening. The Polizei captured them of course and the bombs were safely detonated with no injuries. However, that never made it into the news (as with so many successful preventions of terrorist activities). After reading hundreds of accounts of aborted terrorist activities while working for the govt I have never felt safe. You would think that knowing that the threat was prevented would give me a feeling of security, but it did just the opposite. I knew the law of averages was going to catch up eventually. I never dreamed of such an event as 911 though...

>>I see that now there is a report saying that various parties screwed up and didn't do more to prevent 9-11.
>>
>>We all need to look forward, what matters now is whether another 9-11-style incident is possible. I have complete confidence in the US authorities, also in the common sense of passengers, many of whom would attempt to subdue hijackers despite the personal risk because we know what to expect.
>>
>>America was attacked by people who "used" the freedoms and options you offer, relying on your assumption of community goodwill and "co-operation in the interests of all" to hurt you. Could you have "predicted" in advance and prevented 9-11? Not without changing who you are. IMHO, anyway.
>
>It worries me that I agree with you :-). I think there were probably some mistakes made, but I think most Americans didn't really think something like that could happen to us. I know there were some within the government who predicted something like it, but for most Americans like myself, watching 9/11 was like watching a movie.