The leverage they speak of is the fact that they can spend a tiny amount of money on a tactic that makes us spend millions chasing our tails. The point now seems to be not killing infidels, but making infidels look silly while they waste money on pointless "preventive measures."
This I think is what Osama bin Laden referred to when he explained, not long after the 9-11 event, how Al Qaeda had exceeded beyond expectations with their attack.
That point has been lost on Government officials in the US since, I think, around 9-12-01.
The only upside I have seen to all of this is that the
U.S. Coast Guard moved out from under D.o.T. and ended up with an improved funding stream to perform their mission ... which had been sadly underfunded for ages. Sadly, this meant creating DHS, which is a core wrong response to what happened on 9-11.
Oh well, what can one expect from a government? Self licking ice cream cones, mostly.
When can I go back to being able to clip my nails whilst airborne? The belt that I wear around my waist is a far deadlier weapon, in my hands, than nail clippers.