Sorry for all the flak you caught, Seriphyn. As a United States citizen, I feel can safely say that it is far overdue that we stop treating 9/11 with such delicacy. There is no place for white gloves in history...unless you are dealing with decayed paper artifacts. That said, I don't think the comparison is very apt for a couple of reasons:
1. Many to most Americans had never heard of al-Qaeda before 9/11, whereas the Gallente population was aware that a big ole Caldari state existed out there that--while not in open conflict--was definitely not cuddly.
2. A professional military invasion followed by ongoing occupancy is quite a bit different than single-shot suicide bombing.
If I had to pick an event in Western history to sit next to the Luminaire Invasion for comparison--and this is still a bit of a stretch--I'd pick Pearl Harbor. Nobody was expecting an attack, but the stage was set for it as relations were going sour. It thrust both countries into a huge, prolonged conflict. Granted, the Japanese did not occupy Oahu...but they did go on to occupy some other territories (Guam, the Philippines, Wake...). Also, I can imagine Foritain's response being something like
this.