A group of terrorists lucked into taking down two big buildings and so we have to debate whether we can afford civil liberties? The premise should be self-evide

A group of terrorists lucked into taking down two big buildings and so we have to debate whether we can afford civil liberties? The premise should be self-evidently absurd. If we'll kill thousands of Arabs to protect freedom, we shouldn't be so eager to walk away from it for the death of a few thousand Americans. I would also suggest that abandoning principle for expediency can be hobbling in itself. Wars aren't entirely fought by robots just yet. "Power" isn't a column in an Excel spreadsheet.