This thread is soooooooo dumb. Japan in WW II could have avoided getting nuked as well. All they had to do was to surrender when asked. All we had to do to avoid getting fragged by the terrorists was to cave to their demands. Neither situation was likely to ever happen. Japan had no knowledge of the plans for Atomic bombing, and the United States had no idea of the plan to use Commercial Flights as missiles/bombs.
Once you know all the facts (usually post-facto), you can ALWAYS say it could be avoided. Hell! ANY great disaster could have been avoided. The Titanic sinking COULD have been avoided, Hitlers rise to power could have been avoided, the Vietnam war could have been avoided, and even Kennedys assassination could have been avoided. They weren't, and it was no shocker as to why. Nobody thought that it could happen.
This thread could have been avoided, and the time lost typing this reply could have been avoided.
Nuff said.
Mark