The times they are a-changin’.
This post seems to be older than 16 years—a long time on the internet. It might be outdated.
Merriam-Webster defines “Terrorism” as:
ter·ror·ism, noun
the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion
The point of terrorism is to cause terror, sometimes to further a political goal and sometimes out of sheer hatred. The people terrorists kill are not the targets; they are collateral damage. And blowing up planes, trains, markets or buses is not the goal; those are just tactics. The real targets of terrorism are the rest of us: the billions of us who are not killed but are terrorized because of the killing. The real point of terrorism is not the act itself, but our reaction to the act.
And we’re doing exactly what the terrorists want.
Terror, it’s in the word Terrorist and Terrorism. Their goal is terror.
Merriam-Webster defins “Terror” as:
ter·ror, noun
state of intense fear
(Okay, there actually is another definition, but it’s not applicable because no demands have been made…at least none that I’m aware of)
The implausible plots and false alarms actually hurt us in two ways. Not only do they increase the level of fear, but they also waste time and resources that could be better spent fighting the real threats and increasing actual security. I’ll bet the terrorists are laughing at us.
Another thought experiment: Imagine for a moment that the British government arrested the 23 suspects without fanfare. Imagine that the TSA and its European counterparts didn’t engage in pointless airline-security measures like banning liquids. And imagine that the press didn’t write about it endlessly, and that the politicians didn’t use the event to remind us all how scared we should be. If we’d reacted that way, then the terrorists would have truly failed.
via 2020 Hindsight.
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