Yep.
This is not correct. Terrorism has been a thing in the USA for my entire life. It is just that 9/11 was the largest single terrorist event on our soil, so it got the largest response. But each terrorist attack and shooting is a thing, and there are discussions, and resulting actions - Oklahoma City led to our putting materials in explosives so they can be traced, for example.
But, more about our consciousness: There was, back in 1983, a TV movie that scared the bejebuss out of a younger me. It was called "
". It was presented "War of the Worlds" style, as a series of fake news broadcasts. In the film, a bunch of terrorists bring a nuclear weapon into the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.
Oh, hey. You can find it, in its entirely, on Youtube: [url]https://youtu.be/NKY-2zkWJuo
So, anyway, terrorism has been a thing to us for a long time. If it wasn't our own, it was elsewhere, and we worried about it - Ireland, the Middle East, wherever.
All three. Human nature and response to fear combine poorly with how some segments of the media make money, and how politicians maintain themselves in power. If the populace actually used their heads, it wouldn't be an issue. If the media were not willing to use sensationalist techniques, the fear would die down. If fewer politicians weren't willing to play off our fears for their own personal power and benefit, the governmental reaction would remain sane.
There's more than enough blame to go around.