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The new war is more dependent on information and being in the right place at the right time to act on that information.
Next, put wire taps on non-American citizens, a provision given by the Patriot Act. These are preventative measures, but what if it isn't enough and the dirty bomb goes off after all?
Again it's up to Homeland Security to track down and capture those responsible. First responders need equipment to detect nuclear, biological, and chemical agents so they know how treat and evacuate the population. Investigators need to get to ground zero immediately to find evidence in of the van that carried the bomb, but they need to be equiped with fallout gear. So the local police need all that stuff before the attack. When the initial panic has been subdued then the federal investigation can begin, and the FBI will do what they do to best. They'll be able to compare their findings against CIA, NSA, and INS records to see who was there when it happened and where they came from, thanks also to the Patriot Act. Things have to happen quickly because the culprits will be trying to leave the country as soon as possible.
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You're not talking about a 'war on terrorism' at all, and I think you know that. You're talking about ex post facto reaction and retribution for acts of terrorism--which is all well and good, until we start pretending that anything which we can possibly do is a
deterrent to terrorism, and most especially when we start pretending that our foriegn policies aren't equivalent to terrorist recruitment campaigns.
Putting wire taps on non-American citizens wouldn't have stopped McVeigh, and apprehending him and executing him won't stop his next emulator. It's not a meaningless coincidence that
surprise is implicit in terrorist tactics, and it doesn't matter how smart or perceptive you are, unless you're a god, there's always room to be surprised.
Control by fear is the oldest trick in the book, but sadly we still fall for it in droves. It's an aspect of power which has and will always be with us, but when that fear is used to exacerbate the very conditions which it pretends to address, it's just ignorance to support it.