Giving the Terrorists What They Want
Giving the Terrorists What They Want: "Bruce Schneier writes about how the U.S. is giving the terrorists what they want by reacting with fear.
I'd like everyone to take a deep breath and listen for a minute. 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.
I made a similar argument here when discussing the London attacks and proposed racial profiling programs as a response.
Why do we need terrorists to destroy the cornerstones of democracy with bombs when governments are willing to do it themselves out of fear? Isn't that a sign that the terrorists have w"
I'd like everyone to take a deep breath and listen for a minute. 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.
I made a similar argument here when discussing the London attacks and proposed racial profiling programs as a response.
Why do we need terrorists to destroy the cornerstones of democracy with bombs when governments are willing to do it themselves out of fear? Isn't that a sign that the terrorists have w"
posted by Garry at
9:18 AM
1 Comments:
Right after 9/11 the government was urging us to be vigilant, but to continue with our daily lives. Many on-the-street interviews showed citizens echoed that attitude.
It is difficult not to react to terror with fear. Do you think the terrorists would go away if we just ignore them?
Maybe we could ignore them while maintaining vigilance.
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