It may have been less successful on their part than they had anticipated, just as was 9/11, but, the ramifications are quite significant just as were those of 9/11.
This happened in a safe haven for our protectors and defenders of freedom, at their home on our own soil.
The handling of it can be potentially more harmful than the event. The people who fought the previous administration on every decision, after 9/11, are now in almost complete control of how this will be handled.
Some of our worst enemies are within, whether through ignorance or by design.
I certainly agree with that. But I don't think this was an Al Qaeda-directed attack. Looks like it was definitely Al Qaeda-inspired, in that Hasan viewed himself as participating in the great anti-Anerican jihad that Al Qaeda promotes. But as for his connections to Al Qaeda, I think he was a wannabe, and that they may even have been trying to rebuff him, because they could tell he was a loose cannon that couldn't be counted on to follow orders.