CC you put it much more eloquently that I ever could. So to sum up for those who couldn't be bothered reading through everything:
1. ASICs and fences are a waste of time
2. 911 was a failure by intelligence servcies
Something I do not agree with is that you believe we are safer now than ever before. JI the SE Asian arm of AQ are indeed active and do want to, and have, specifically targetted Australians. Previous to our current war Australian's were never specifically targetted. Now we are. So whilst worldwide there may only be an average of X amount per year of deaths from terrorist activity do not let these statistics warp you into a false sense of security. If it wasn't for JI in our region then I would agree, but becuase they exist then I disagree with your assessment on how safe we are.
Anyway I have said my piece in previous posts and other than disagreeing with how safe we are now I agree with the rest of your post.
Cheers
Mr B