Our approach to the Middle East was flawed, and had been flawed for decades. We took a wrong turn and had we behaved differently, I suspect that 9/11 could have been avoided.
Where we went wrong: Jimmy Carter failed to support the Shah of Iran, we allowed Khomenini to come to power in the Iranian Revolution, and we showed enormous weakness during the ensuing hostage crisis.
We lost our best friend in the region
We gained an implacable enemy
We showed that we were push-overs.
A similar mistake was made in Mogadishu under Clinton.
Had the US responded forcefully and refused to backdown, our enemies would not have gathered the strength to attack us on 9/11. Of course, if Reid and the Democrats can get us to surrender in Iraq, we can expect more of the same in the not so distant future.
You are correct and thanks.