SINCE 9/11 U.S. IS NO SAFER, BUT WEAKER

"... We aren't safer from terrorism than we were a decade ago. Safety, after all, is a product of our defensive capabilities and resiliency measured against an enemy's capacity to attack us. While al-Qaeda's capacity to attack us hasn't increased significantly, the United States has far weaker capabilities than it did 10 years ago: even if al Qaeda has experienced a decline in the past decade, then the U.S. has declined more steeply... (so) it is hard to say that we've grown safer since September 11. The only chance a relatively small and weak actor like al-Qaeda has to beat a strong actor like the U.S. is by turning its strength against it. The group has managed to put the U.S. in a position where many of its offensive and defensive measures -- armies deployed in far-away and hostile places, travel and commerce slowed by cumbersome security theater -- do in fact make the U.S. more vulnerable by exhausting it..."
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/09/al-qaeda-is-winning/244701/