Was Retaliation the Motive for 9/11?

It is needless to say that we all remember the day when the planes hit the twin towers and the Pentagon. It is also needless to say that what we were feeling that day was a mix of outrage, fear, denial, sadness, and above all, the general feeling that something needs to be done.

Very quickly the blame was assigned and the words Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaeda, Taliban, were thrown around until we had no idea who to blame. The only thing we were told is that it was the work of terrorists, and their goal was to put the United States in a state of fear.

I remember on that very day that I was unable and still am unable to buy a story like that. If we honestly believe that terrorists are willing to sacrifice themselves, destroy buildings, and kill innocents just so that we will be afraid, then they should have been willing to go all out.

This is not, of course, an invitation to terrorist to do so, but the fact remains that if someone is willing to blow themselves up and take others with them, then they not only act with reckless abandonment, but they are most certainly doing it for a reason that surpasses the need for their enemy to be afraid.

I personally don't think that the end goal was to make us afraid, or they would have done a better job. After all, there are various biological weapons and nuclear weapons that could have been smuggled in, unless we are willing to believe that our espionage networks are that good at blockading all smuggled weapons of mass destruction. In other words, why crash airplanes when you can detonate bombs that can do a better job?

If we believe that the primary purpose of the 9/11 attacks was to make us afraid, then we have a very weak understanding of terrorism at best. How many times have we seen a movie in which a villain is evil just for evil's sake, and do bad things just to make people afraid? The villain always has a "master plan", even if it is a supposedly greater good to justify his or her actions. In some cases, we can sympathize with the villain, but we know that innocent people must not suffer. This is why film gives us a hero who can prevent the villain's master plan.

In our case, the master plan was not prevented. Personally, I think we should take a note that although the 9/11 attacks were severe, they could have easily been more severe. Not only that, we should also take note that whoever planned them (I wonder if it was Bin Laden) did not just say: "okay, they're afraid, mission accomplished".

I can't believe that someone who is capable of organizing the 9/11 attacks is not smart enough to realize that the United States would retaliate. This is, I believe, the goal of the 9/11 attacks. Someone wanted the United States to retaliate, and strike territory that they wanted to see wounded. What I am not certain is if they wanted the United States to strike Afghanistan. Although most people are critical of Bush to attack Iraq, I am not certain if the attackers wanted us to do that either. I suppose that is a "get rid of Saddam" campaign, and very little coverage has been given on Afghanistan now.

Is it possible that whoever planned 9/11 is quite at large, no one that we would suspect, and laughing as the United States does everything that he or she is planning? If so, then we have legitimate cause to be afraid.