Did the US overestimate Al-Qaeda's capabilities on 9/11?

HorryForThree · Feb 9, 2012

Recent article in the Air Force Times:

With the benefit of more than a decade of hindsight, America may have misjudged the true threat posed by al-Qaeda in the immediate aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks, a top Pentagon official said Tuesday.

“Al-Qaida wasn’t as good as we thought they were on 9/11,” said Michael A. Sheehan, the assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low intensity conflict.

“Quite frankly, we, the American people, were asleep at the switch, the U.S. government, prior to 9/11. So an organization that wasn’t that good looked really great on 9/11,” Sheehan told a room full of special operators in Washington who were attending an annual Special Operations, Low Intensity Conflict Planning Conference.

“Everyone looked to the skies every day after 9/11 and said, ‘When is the next attack?’ And it didn’t come, partly because al-Qaida wasn’t that capable. They didn’t have other units here in the U.S. … Really, they didn’t have the capability to conduct a second attack.”

The true limitations of al-Qaida are one of two key reasons that America has not suffered a major terrorist attack since 2001.

“The other reason is that we actually responded … and crushed al-Qaida immediately after 9/11, and continually for the last 10 years,” Sheehan said. “We are better than we often give ourselves credit for. We have a very polarized political system and it’s very difficult for anybody to actually give credit or receive credit for how good we are.”
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Somewhat related article in the NY Times: Radical U.S. Muslims Little Threat, Study Says

A feared wave of homegrown terrorism by radicalized Muslim Americans has not materialized, with plots and arrests dropping sharply over the two years since an unusual peak in 2009, according to a new study by a North Carolina research group.

The study, to be released on Wednesday, found that 20 Muslim Americans were charged in violent plots or attacks in 2011, down from 26 in 2010 and a spike of 47 in 2009.

Charles Kurzman, the author of the report for the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security, called terrorism by Muslim Americans "a minuscule threat to public safety." Of about 14,000 murders in the United States last year, not a single one resulted from Islamic extremism, said Mr. Kurzman, a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina.
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Kurzman's entire report can be read here (not too long of a read)

pgabriel · Feb 9, 2012

i remember i was working at a bank in the heights when it happened. the office manager was like, no one leave the office. i was like are you freakin kidding

Joshfast · Feb 9, 2012

vaids_13 - your not going to get much response in D&D with a link that's not a blog, for trying to start a conversation instead of using said blog link to attack/politicize/be racist, and for the love of good, how have you not blamed Obama for Al Qaeda in the thread title???

To answer your question: Yeah probably. Our military was built to take out the USSR not handle asymmetric warfare and decades long occupation.

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Did the US overestimate Al-Qaeda's capabilities on 9/11?

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Did the US overestimate Al-Qaeda's capabilities on 9/11?

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pgabriel Educated Negro

Joshfast "We're all gonna die" - Billy Sole Supporting Member

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Joshfast "We're all gonna die" - Billy Sole
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