Here’s what might you might call the nut graf of Dick Cheney’s forthcoming speech, which was released a little earlier:
So we’re left to draw one of two conclusions - and here is the great dividing line in our current debate over national security. You can look at the facts and conclude that the comprehensive strategy has worked, and therefore needs to be continued as vigilantly as ever. Or you can look at the same set of facts and conclude that 9/11 was a one-off event - coordinated, devastating, but also unique and not sufficient to justify a sustained wartime effort. Whichever conclusion you arrive at, it will shape your entire view of the last seven years, and of the policies necessary to protect America for years to come.
In other words, if you oppose Dick Cheney’s approach to the war on terror, you’re not taking 9/11 seriously.
You can see why Cheney would want to frame the debate this way.