Did We Learn Nothing From 9/11?

Here is some background presented by Bryan on the Hamdan decision:

It stripped part of President Bush’s wartime powers to deal with captured enemy combatants and put much of that power in Congress’ hands. He can’t try them via military tribunals, as captured enemy operatives were tried in World War II and previous conflicts. One could argue that that’s because there has been no official declaration of war, but one could also argue that given the nature of the threat the executive might need even more power than previous wartime presidents. Nevertheless, after Hamdan Bush has to get Congressional approval to do anything other than just hold enemy combatants until the war ends, which could be decades from now. Bush responds to Hamdan by handing the issue to Congress as SCOTUS instructed, which is nominally controlled by his fellow Republicans, in a way that makes the issue an obvious election-year gimme as well as a good policy. The Republicans in both houses can approve military tribunals, deal with the wiretapping issues and work out the specifics of interrogation techniques all while putting the Democrats on the spot about their desires to give terrorists full constitutional rights, no surveillance of suspected terrorists and no tough tactics at all used to find out what captured terrorists know. It’s a no-brainer. But apparently several GOPers in the House and Senate approach it with no brain.

Now according to this CNN article, the plan isn’t working out because several Republicans in both Houses are raking Bush over the coals on all three issues. :

President Bush dispatched the vice president and top aides to the Capitol on Tuesday to try to break an election-season deadlock with Republicans over the surveillance and prosecution of terrorism suspects.
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Bush’s surveillance plan faces a difficult fight in Congress, especially in the House, where GOP leaders favor a different approach.
That measure, sponsored by Rep. Heather Wilson, R-New Mexico, and endorsed by the GOP chairmen of the Judiciary and Intelligence committees, would require the administration to wait until a terrorist attack to open an electronic surveillance program (emphasis added).

Were we not attacked on 9/11? Do they seriously think that it is okay not to do the job of protecting the citizens?

Here is what Wilson has to say about her own bill H.R. 5825

What are your thoughts?