I just heard an interview on one of the news programs with James Baker. He said that the US severely cutback the Human Intellegence years ago, and has relied on our Technological Intellegence. I think he is correct. We secrewed up--this was done by a group or groups with or without the aid of a government, and we didn't have the intel to prevent it.
Now is the time for our friends and allies to help us find out exactly who did this. Some people bash Israel, but they do have an excellent intellegence service. Now is the time for them to repay our help in the past. Even Russia still has some ties with some of these groups, they should help.
I sincerely hope it gets very bloody for the people who did this.
Yes, we have to be sure of who it is, but once we are sure, we need to show them exactly what it means to F**k with a superpower. I can pretty much guarantee that we are going to violate international boundaries, but as a few of the members of our government have said already it is an act of WAR, and any country that helps shelter the people who did this are subject to the rules of war.
My bets are on Bin Laden, but it could have easily been someone else. However, it took a great deal of planning and money to get hold of 4 planes at the same time to do this. There WILL be a trail somewhere which can be followed.
I remember reading about the old Soviet Union and they didn't have a problem with terrorists with their people abroad. I understand that once a Soviet was kidnapped, the KGB killed everyone involved (possibly their families also). I think it is time for the US to take the same tack now.