It's been said "the only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history." True or false?

We'll leave the philosophizing to the philosophers, but here's what we take from the piece below:

1. The turf wars between our security agencies continue. And if there's one thing we learned from 9/11, it's that the ultimate victim of those wars is the general public. In this regard, suffice it to say to all who are tasked with keeping us safe, first and foremost the U.S. Government: We, the people, don't need to know why y'all can't get along, or who's in charge of what, where and whom. But the federal government's #1 responsibility is to keep its citizens safe, and if it can't get that right, then who needs a federal government?!

2. Our inability to clearly identify and name the enemy is hindering any and all progress on the (mislabeled) war on terror. "Anonymous officials 'briefed on the case' told the New York Times that Mr. Pimentel was poor, unemployed and 'unable to pay his cell phone bill,'" says the piece below. Yeah, so? Mr. Pimentel may not have had enough money to pay his cell phone bill (heaven forbid), but he obviously had enough money to buy bomb components (to keep him warm in the coming winter months?). And btw - with what did (Mr.) Pimentel drill holes in those elbow joints he bought? With one of those must-have drills he purchased in order to survive?

Radical Islam has a tendency of attracting losers of every kind (which would explain why our prisoner population seems to have a special affinity to it). Are we going to eradicate every real or perceived problem on earth in order to prevent Islamists from getting their paws on susceptible-types? Will operating under the influence of Islam be the new defense (justification) for murdering scores of innocent people? Perhaps we should focus on eradicating human frailty/susceptibility? Or maybe we should just have zero tolerance for deadly movements and those who follow them? In any case, before we figure out how to fight it, we need to first name it, i.e., name the enemy.

Just some things to ponder for those who want to learn something from history...