"Even if he had gotten bin Laden, however, there's no gurantee that the kill would have stopped the attacks."
If Bin Laden was captured or killed (when Clinton was offere the opportunity), it would have been quite difficult for OBL to fund future attacks. Therefore, I believe capturing him would have been key to stopping many of the attacks.
How much did 9/11 cost? $50,000, $100,000? In the grand scheme of things, that's pocket change. bin Laden is an enemy of the United States, but he's not THE enemy of the United States. We're at war with a movement, and if it wasn't bin Laden it would have been Zarqawi or Zawahiri or any number of the millions of people of a similar mind as he. Could it have stopped it? Sure...but I think its dangerous to pretend we know exactly what would have happened had bin Laden would have been taken out. bin Laden was a symptom, Islamofascism is the disease.