Most of the exchanges rested on the ideological debate over how much attention -- and corresponding funds -- should be paid to crises abroad while economic troubles at home remain paramount from voter polls to Capitol Hill.

Ten years after 9/11, Americans fear there will be another attack. They also believe America is safer due to the government's efforts and that the initial decision to send troops to Iraq was the right one.

Looking back over the decade, the first clear lesson is the critical importance of Mr. Bush's decision to consider the struggle with al Qaeda a war.

The Bush administration succeeded in preventing another al Qaeda attack, with any reduction in civil liberties far less than previous U.S. wars.

In the name of Muslim unity, many Muslim-American leaders and organizations have been less than coherent when it comes to violent extremism.

Protection from terrorist attacks requires lending new powers to the government.

Somali pirates have evolved from a small group of bandits into a sophisticated global organization with hijackers, investors, guards, professional negotiators and money laundering agents working in tandem. This efficiency has made it very difficult to counter the threat of piracy but targeting financers and negotiators is part of a more proactive strategy being adopted by the United States.

We can only hope the absence of an al Qaeda attack on American soil during the last two years will not lull us back into our pre-September 11 stupor.