Augustine and the fall of Rome

This piece in Christianity Today compares the attacks in the US five years' ago with the fall of Rome in AD 410 (H/T Craigs). However, I wonder whether the comparison might be just a little over the top. The fall of Rome could be compared to an invasion of the American mainland by, say, Afghanistan in which Washington D. C. is captured and largely destroyed.

Although the 2001 attacks were a shock and deep tragedy, the scale of the disaster can be overstated.