9/11 took terrorism to an international level for the United States and revolutionized counterterrorism activities. The attack was blamed on Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda -- though more cynics and skeptics emerged, who gathered evidence indicating that the Israeli Mossad as well as neo-conservatives in the Pentagon were involved in the attack (Dawson, 2013)
Counterterrorism prior to the Oklahoma City bombing was best exemplified by the ATF at Waco, which focused on the Branch Davidian compound as a group of extremists/terrorists who were hoarding weapons. The ATF then proceeded to "terrorize" the Davidians into submission by blasting loud music at them day and night with loud speakers and assaulting the compound on various raids that ultimately ended in the compound being burned to the ground (Gazecki, 1997)
S. to international terrorism: the nation was not prepared to meet the machinations of terrorist organizations, whether Arab or Israeli, within its borders -- perhaps because individuals from those very same organizations were embedded within the power structure of the nation's security and intelligence communities (Rose, 2005; Dawson, 2013)