Couldn't agree more. I've been tired of hearing the "9/11 was not predictable" mantra from day one. We've known since '93 that certain people in a certain part of the world were willing to goto long lengths to kill Americans. All the pieces of the puzzle were there, just the agencies involved (FBI, CIA, DoD, INS, etc.) didn't want to bother themselves putting them together.
It's the same with NASA, only in this case, I hold NASA only partially to blame - I blame the accountants, and those in Congress for turning a small, efficient vehicle that does two or three tasks very well into a large vehicle that tries to do everything and doesn't do it well.
From the early 1970s (around Nixon's presidency) when the Shuttle went from being something to move people and supplies into and out of orbit, into something that does a little bit of everything and makes NASA/the government money, it's been clear where things are going. All the accountants (both federal and congressional) were excited that by launching a commercial satellite or two everytime the Shuttle went up, the missions would pay for themselves. Aerospace companies back then were looking at getting in on the commercial satellite business, and if things had been more in the hands of engineers, they would have not integrated commercial/civilian, non-NASA/DoD launches into the scheme of things.
We need to get NASA out of the orbital trucking business to start with. There are plenty of American companies interested in launching satellites, and with the X Prize competition heating up, there should be even more reason to get NASA out of that. Have NASA concentrate on pure science and exploration. The program will pay for itself through spinoffs and the knowledge gained.
I would love to see a true "space plane" that can be turned around quickly, and that isn't nearly as complex as the Shuttle - that just carries people and supplies (food, water, instruments) into orbit. I like the idea of bringing back the Saturns and capsules and using them for heavy launches.
I know people that would mock using the Saturns and even capsules because it's 2004, but the technology is proven and reliable and efficient.