The idea of slamming fully loaded planes into buildings was not nearly as credible before September 11 as it is now, and that has to be taken into account. It's easy to point fingers now, but few people realize the amount of looney threats the FBI has to filter through every day.

The Nuclear Emergency Search Team, a quiet organization which is currently tasked with protecting us from nuclear terrorism, has gotten 110 nuclear threats to date, and responded to 30. All false alarms. And this is just nuclear threats.

The FBI and CIA were effectively stripped of most power to investigate due to both legitimate and not-so-legitimate concerns about civil liberties. The "frustrated FBI agents" you mentioned were working under such restrictions.

Now we are attempting to find some rational compromise between complete freedom and a police state. There are no easy answers. Attempts to tighten security are being met with objections from all quarters.

The hard truth is if we live in a free country, it is going to be a more dangerous country. Total safety requires a police state...then who protects us from the police?