Normal structures (in the US) were not required by code to resist the effects of the loss of even a single column before 9/11. Alot of designers went ahead and used some crude methods to make sure there wouldn't be a collapse if there was a loss of a single column, but this doesn't mean they designed it right or looked at every single column. WTC1&2 were obviously designed to resist the loss of a single column, but they didn't design it that way because of terrorism or blast concerns, but more likely redundancy based on how little knowledge of engineering they had at the time.
For example, compare the 13th edition of the AISC Manual of Steel Construction to the 7th edition (published in the sixties). It's barbaric what was in the 7th edition. Likewise compare the reinforced concrete codes, ACI 318-05 to one from the 60's. The 60's had little tiny pamphlet compared to the book that the 05 version is.
This doesn't mean they were BAD engineers, many of them are probably better engineers than I currently am right now, however they are no were close to as knowledgeable as the senior engineers I work with. They simply didn't have the same tools and expierence that we have today.