I mostly agree. In that case instead of competence, use "ability", which comes from a mixture of competence, funding, and power. The US has great (but not always supreme) ability.
Someone was able to do 9/11---because it happened. IMHO you can't exclude those with some of the greatest ability and the largest motive. In my case, I refused to truly consider it for a long time until I realized it was an emotional (rather than intellectual) hangup.
I mostly agree. In that case instead of competence, use "ability", which comes from a mixture of competence, funding, and power. The US has great (but not always supreme) ability.
Someone was able to do 9/11---because it happened. IMHO you can't exclude those with some of the greatest ability and the largest motive. In my case, I refused to truly consider it for a long time until I realized it was an emotional (rather than intellectual) hangup.