Pearl Harbor and 9/11 were horrific surprise attacks – How can we prevent new ones?

“This month is the 78th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It was a devastating surprise attack on an American naval base that brought the United States into World War II.

But would it surprise you to learn that military planners had anticipated that it was inevitable that the Japanese would attack us, and that Pearl Harbor was a likely target? In fact, newspaper records in the weeks before the attack showed that it was a common assumption that America would soon be at war in the Pacific.

A similar pattern holds true with the other most famous surprise attack against America: the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. We had long known that the twin towers were an attractive target for terrorists. Blue ribbon panels warned about the growing threat of organized terrorism, and specifically Al Qaeda.

Yet, in both cases, the United States couldn’t help being caught flat-footed. Why?”