. Al Qaeda's goal was to kill as many Americans as possible. Nuclear means was not their method. Your assumption is contradicted by reality. And a nuclear deterrent for any large scale act of terrorism against the U.S. is a rather blunt weapon.
I also included some planes and subs patrolling our border if you didn't read closely enough, that should be all the weaponry neccessary to protect the physical United States.
You may, but the author didn't. That's who I was criticizing.
and your method of "deterrent" is not to actually sit and deter---it is to simply attack, in advance, anyone that some Washington brain wizards deem a threat.
It is? Please point to the post where I advocated that. You've used the classic tactic of the extremist -- accuse anyone who disagrees with you of harboring ridiculous views. I don't generally agree with the concept of preemptive attack. But I certainly do believe in bringing death to whomever attacks us first, and to those who gave them aid. So yup, I supported getting Al Qaeda and the Taliban. About all your military could do is wave at them from a few thousand miles away while they laughed at us and planned their next strike. No thanks.