What if 9/11 never happened?

That is the title of this piece in New York Magazine. It is interesting, even if it is a little shallow at times. In the spirit of the article, I'm going to contribute a few thoughts to the theme.

If 9/11 never happened...
*Hundreds, maybe thousands of Americans would still die from continuing terrorist attacks of our interests over seas.
*George Bush would have had his record low poll numbers by the middle of his first term.
*All of the major terror attacks since still would have happened.
*8/16/06 likely would have likely happened.
*With Al Qaeda safely ensconsed behind the Taliban in Afghanistan, and without having to dedicate resources to Iraq, more major attacks would have occurred
*The U.S., if not hit by a major attack by the present, would have a major attack on its horizon.
*Russia and France would have gotten sanctions lifted against Iraq in 2003 or 2004.
*We'd be worried about nuclear proliferation in North Korea, Iran, and Iraq right now.
*George Bush would have lost his re-election in 2004 as conservatives began to grow as unsatisfied with him in 2003 as they did in 2005/2006.