Who Can Really Say?

I am unmoved to dry eyes. On today's Op-Ed page of the NY Times, Daniel Benjamin says the planned Freedom Tower, to be built at the WTC site, is a bad idea because we'll simply be inviting another attack:

The total amount of energy released by the two 767's that struck the Twin Towers equaled that of a tactical nuclear weapon ? almost a quarter of a kiloton. In 2006, two years before Freedom Tower is scheduled to open, a new generation of aircraft, led by the Airbus A380, will begin entering service in the world's airlines. The A380 will carry almost 82,000 gallons of fuel, more than three times as much as a 767. One hardly needs to do the math.

Although there have been great strides in improving security in commercial aviation, perfect safety is unattainable. Intelligence gathering has also improved, but no one can promise that all future conspiracies will be discovered and disrupted. Will Air Force fighters constantly patrol, at astronomical cost, the approaches to the Freedom Tower? If they do, are we certain that the government will be prepared to shoot down a suspicious plane on a second's notice?

Did this guy get a vote in Madrid last week?