If this is the case, then why the wait? How come they haven't set off a nuke yet? Why open the engagement with the airliner attacks?
I think that the "Islamic entente," as Fusion calls it, actually thought we might be thinking about withdrawing from Saudi Arabia already by now. They didn't think they'd need to go nuclear to achieve that.
My vote would be for a new "Dark Ages" given the choices, because every time the U.S. is hit, we will do the exact opposite of what ObL expects, i.e., bombing will intensify and spread to more countries.
We are on the verge of spiralling downward. We may look back on 2001 as the apex of human civilization.