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Policemen and firemen run away from the huge dust cloud caused as the World Trade Center's Tower One collapses after terrorists crashed two hijacked planes into the twin towers on September 11, 2001 in New York City.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, challenged Americans with the fact that we’re not invulnerable. With the vision of two collapsing World Trade Center towers seared into the national consciousness, our government took strong and swift security measures, launching counterattacks against al-Qaida that have grown more extensive in scope and cost billions since that date. Some argue we are safer now and it’s all been worth it, but others ask if we still need the continuing massive output of resources to combat what is arguably a diminished enemy. What do you think… did the U.S. overreact to 9/11?

Guest:

James Risen, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, who since 1998, has covered national security and intelligence in the Washington bureau for the New York Times; author of the book State of War: The Secret History of the C.I.A. and the Bush Administration