I have a different take.
Much of what happened that day was not the achievement of the Saudi terrorists (let be honest about who they were) but the result of the incompetence or malfeasance of GW Bush and his Rasputin, Dick Cheney.
By Steve Schwartz, theaveeditor, 5/13/19
Bush and Cheney cannot be exonerated because of the 911 terrorists any more then the evil intent of the 19 Saudis justifies what the US did in response.
I honestly do not know whether Bush and Cheney, were inept or malevolent. We could have, with better leaders, used 911 to build NATO. We could have used this to enroll our allies in a real effort to counter Islamic extremism and, perhaps, even counter Saudi control over the world energy supply. Hell, we could even have created an alliance with Iran, India, Russia, and Pakistan to counter the Islamic terrorists in Afghanistan.
Look at this from the viewpoint of a future historian. The actual damage to the US was as small or smaller as the damage done in England by the IRA. Indeed the 3000 lives lost was a smaller number, relative to our size, then similar events in Israel or Egypt. The difference was how 911 was used to fan up nationalism. The psychological damage to the US was immense.
The over response led by Bush and Cheney cost the US TRILLIONS of dollars in cash and much more in terms of global respect. The “war on Terror” magnified GW Bush into a figure who led to the debacle of the Iraq war, likely America’s greatest defeat since 1812.