"It's also true that the first terrorist attack that we know of in the modern understanding of the term was in 1993 - the first attack on the World Trade Centre."

Presumably the "modern understanding" is the one that vindicates Howard and Bush, while the old-fashioned one doesn't. This way, people opposed to the invasion of Iraq (or just the prosecution of the War on Terror in general) are clearly living in the past and unable to face the reality of the modern world.