Weren't these the Al Quada and Taliban people from Afghanistan? Even before 9/11, that theocracy was one of the most oppressive, backwards, corrupt, murderous governments on earth.

These are the people that we helped drive the Soviets away. We should have let the Russians have Afghanistan - instead, our religious-minded leaders armed bin laden and his ilk for resistance. That's water under the bridge, and there was no reason on earth for them to attack us - especially since we were showering them with millions of dollars each year in foreign aid, not to mention the lucrative opium trade that they had (and still have).