What "real response" would we have seen?
Besides half hearted threats and hand wringing, what was the response from the Clinton's after the USS Cole?
Was the military put on full alert? I think Bush would do that.
Was there a demand to friends and foes alike, for intel on the terrorists? I think Bush would do that.
Was there an immediate realization that the military downsizing of the 1990s was a critical error? I think Bush would have grasped that immediately.
And if we had identified the terrorist location and put the first bomb into an aspirin factory by mistake, was there an order to keep going and get the bastards? I truly believe that Bush would have done that.
Try as you might, you can't erase the facts or the images of the 1990's inaction by the prior administration. They were busy with other things, don't you know?