From the Cato Institute’s article: Fighting Terror Five Years Later:
Americans need to realize that we, Americans, determine the success of failure of future terrorists attacks and attempted attacks. If the goal of terrorists, by definition, is to induce panic, fear, and to disrupt our way of life, the best way to defuse them is to refuse to panic, to resist irrational fears, and to retain the open society and civil liberties that make us who we are.
Unfortunately, we aren’t doing that.
Amen, I couldn’t say it better myself. The article later states:
Ohio State University’s John Mueller has been arguing for some time that the terrorist threat is wildly exaggerated. Sept. 11 was a horrible anomaly, he argues, but the government perpetuates the damage done that day by constructing phantom demons for the public to fear.
Then later.
As the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11 approaches, Schneier offers sound advice as to where we should go from here. He writes, “It’s time we calm down and fight terror with antiterror . . . The surest defense against terrorism is to refuse to be terrorized. Our job is to recognize that terrorism is just one of the risks we face, and not a particularly common one at that.”
Once again, Amen.
About the only point in the article I have a question about is the assertion that Timothy McVeigh is a homegrown terrorist. This may be the case, but there is enough evidence of the third suspect that we may have to wonder if he would have been able to pull it off without their help.
