The longest war in the history of our country was triggered by an attack carried out by 19 men on airplanes using box cutters.

Over three thousand Americans died. Our financial system ground to a halt. The Department of Defense headquarters was in flames. 19 men with box cutters did something no foreign power has been able to accomplish since the British marched on Washington during the War of 1812; an attack on the mainland of the United States of America.

A month later, the ship I was on launched dozens of Tomahawk land attack missiles from the North Arabian Sea into Afghanistan at a million dollars a missile.

We went to war. And we’re still at war.

The most important response to the attack, the one that mattered most to ensure nothing like it would ever happen again though, was less dynamic. We put locks on the doors of…