Why no second attack?
Charles Krauthammer puts together some reasons why Al Qaeda has not attacked the US again after 9/11. He leaves out one. Maybe Al Qaeda expected the US to fall apart and appease them, as Clinton did after the first WTC attack, Khobar Towers and the USS Cole. When their attack led only to the toppling of the Taliban and Saddam, they may have said to themselves, "Hmm, guess we won't do that again! Not with that W guy in there!" Bin Laden probably has a better idea than most Americans of what can happen to him if he makes the US under George W. Bush any angrier than it already is. Better to go attack Australians in Bali and even Saudis than risk full extirpation. He'll bide his time until Kerry gets in and is thinking more of interns than protecting America.