Define 'threat'.
As far as the theatre tensions are concerned I imagine that the military threat was assessed as low. The Comair threat negligible. A higher military posture unnecessarily expensive.
As far as the tax payer is concerned, if there are tax payers, tucked up in bed, the State apparatus is protecting them. They are probably unaware of how that is done.
Take UK, how many people know what air defence reactive forces we have and at what readiness? Do they know where they are? Do they know what the RoE are?
I imagine the answer is either a lemon or largely wrong. I am still not too far out but cannot pretend to know what our systems are.