[Loughla]

That sort of feels like trying to justify poor choices via a belief in magical predetermination to me, though.

Al Qaeda being caused by whatever they were caused by has absolutely no bearing on the actual decisions made after their attacks on 9/11.

9/11 happening doesn't determine what the outcome of 9/11 will be in terms of policy response.

The response of the Bush administration was important, and led to many (I suspect intentional) negative outcomes for the American public in general.

To just wave it away and say - it comes from earlier in history - strikes me as a bad idea at best, and a way to avoid responsibility for your actions at worst.