We were already well far down that path. OBL and Al Qaeda were just the excuse the statists in our own midst were looking for. The Islamic terrorists are not our real enemy, our real enemy is us. As a nation, we have done this to ourselves. When our response to an act of violence/terrorism/war is to attack ourselves and the liberties that define our country and her people the way we did with the Patriot Act, the problem isn't them, it is us. When an attempted incident is thwarted and we start making people submit to sexual assaults to board a plane, the problem is us. Finally, when we have an attack with all of three fatalities and people call for the surviving suspect to be stripped of his rights as a citizen, put an entire city on "lockdown" and treat the citizens like they were inmates in a prison (where the term originated) there is no denying the problem is us.
The majority of the people in this country have given up their rights and accompanying responsibilities as citizens in exchange for EBT cards and the assurance of a safety that can be never guaranteed. Welcome to the USSA.