You really should read the article (it's not on the NYT web site) and get a really good look at one of the reasons the CIA had such crappy intelligence before 9-11.
So it turns out that, while Larry Johnson is telling us that terrorism is a figment of our imaginations, he has a career helping multinational corporations and financial institutions counter threats posed by terrorism! What a hypocrite!
http://www.berg-associates.com/larryc.htm