9/11 was trivial

[Blind groper]

I hasten to confess that my title above is a lie. What I am really saying is that, on the larger scale of things, terrorism is a very minor threat to the free world. 9/11 was a terrible tragedy, but the death of nearly 3000 people was minor compared to the larger scale problems the world faces now. In fact, as far as the USA is concerned, the death toll from 9/11 is equal to the number of Americans who drown in bath tubs every decade.

Not counting 9/11, the total number of deaths due to terrorism in the USA between 1970 and 2007 was 340, and that includes the Oklahoma City bombing.

Yet this 'minor' cause for concern has spawned a massive bureaucracy in the Department of Homeland Security, and resulted in a substantial threat to civil liberties such as privacy, not only to American citizens, but to people around the world. The government organisations dedicated to fighting terrorism are the ultimate elephant repellent, with their efficacy proved by the lack of elephants.

Think about it. Is it worth paying all that extra tax money and losing all those civil liberties for a threat that does not make the top 100 causes of death to the people of the developed world?

[pErvinalia]

Basically, the terrorists won, as far as I am concerned.

[Tyrannical]

It wasn't the number of lives as much as it was the World Trade Center, a very important center of business.

[JimC]

Some parts of the response may well have been over the top, and the license it has appeared to give to massive, secret and illegal surveillance of world communication is a major problem. However, there has probably been enough intelligence gathering activity to make it very difficult for Al Quaeda and others to mount further major attacks, which they surely would have wanted to. The anti-terrorist activity needs to be focused to that purpose, with no more unnecessary boots on the ground in muslim countries...

[Tero]

>> Is it worth paying all that extra tax money and losing all those civil liberties for a threat that does not make the top 100 causes of death to the people of the developed world?<<

Yes and no. I want the NSA to spy on me and you. I don't want airport security to probe me.

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

Some time ago, I did the maths and found that (on average) 3 times as many people die in police custody in the UK than they do from terrorist activities...That goes up to 4 times as many if you also count shootings by police, police road traffic accidents and those killed while being persued.
I included the stats for the IRA mainland bombing campaign of the 70's in those figures to try to ensure fairness.

Terrorism is simply an excuse for heavy-handed control of the general population, it seems to me.

[Audley Strange]

Yep 9/11 was trivial. Terrorism happens in foreign countries all the time. Still America is good at Hollywooding their news.

[MiM]

People are generally very bad at understanding where the real risks are. Reactions to radiation and terrorism are the best proofs of that statement.

[Rum]

The people that plan acts like 9/11 do so exactly because they know the impact will be disproportionate to the actuality of the damage. Surely that is their whole point? The reaction of Bush's administration and the ratcheting up of the conflict was what they sought. They want a 'war' between their version of Islam and the satanic west. The fact that Bush did exactly what they wanted him to shows how dumb he really and truly was. There was not a shred of finesse or subtly in his strategy as far as I can see. Indeed he seems to have chosen a target (Saddam) more or less at random in order to show he was 'doing something' with consequences that made the whole picture much murkier and complicated.

[Blind groper]

http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9012.html

An interesting added point to any discussion of terrorism is the simple fact that it ends. Audrey Cronon wrote a book (reference above) in which she discusses how terrorism ends. It turns out that only about 5% of all terrorist groups achieve any of their goals at all. In the end, their organisations disintegrate.

Terrorism is ultimately futile, although it can create enormous damage in the mean time. They key thing is not to over-react and permit the terrorists to achieve a reduction in the freedom and civil liberties of a developed nation.

[cronus]

9/11 was symbolically significant. A direct attack on the psyche of the entire human race. Could not, no matter how it appears to the simples, have come from within the species. It was obviously a attempt at spiralling into a destructive degradation of culture and new dark age. It took the very best, out of view, human minds ie Promethean level IQ types to prevent this and things are still fragile. It was not trivial at all if you value your own survival.

[Rum]

http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9012.html

An interesting added point to any discussion of terrorism is the simple fact that it ends. Audrey Cronon wrote a book (reference above) in which she discusses how terrorism ends. It turns out that only about 5% of all terrorist groups achieve any of their goals at all. In the end, their organisations disintegrate.

Terrorism is ultimately futile, although it can create enormous damage in the mean time. They key thing is not to over-react and permit the terrorists to achieve a reduction in the freedom and civil liberties of a developed nation.

While I think it is right that the majority of terrorist activity achieves nothing that is by no means the whole picture. Israel was in large part founded because of the activities of the Stern Gang and related Zionist 'terrorist' groups. The 'peace process' in Northern Ireland would not have come about without the IRA's terrorist acclivities to name but two examples.

Perhaps terrorist activity declines when their objectives are in sight. It would certainly seem to apply to NI.

[Warren Dew]

http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9012.html

An interesting added point to any discussion of terrorism is the simple fact that it ends. Audrey Cronon wrote a book (reference above) in which she discusses how terrorism ends. It turns out that only about 5% of all terrorist groups achieve any of their goals at all. In the end, their organisations disintegrate.

Terrorism is ultimately futile, although it can create enormous damage in the mean time. They key thing is not to over-react and permit the terrorists to achieve a reduction in the freedom and civil liberties of a developed nation.

While I think it is right that the majority of terrorist activity achieves nothing that is by no means the whole picture. Israel was in large part founded because of the activities of the Stern Gang and related Zionist 'terrorist' groups. The 'peace process' in Northern Ireland would not have come about without the IRA's terrorist acclivities to name but two examples.

Perhaps terrorist activity declines when their objectives are in sight. It would certainly seem to apply to NI.

Given Al Qaeda's objective is a worldwide Islamic caliphate, not much chance of their terrorism ending soon, then?

Regarding the original post, you can argue that the number of casualties was limited, but the same would not be the case had Al Qaeda managed to get their hands on a nuclear weapon. I remember being quite relieved that the 9/11 attack was not nuclear.

[Blind groper]

It is interesting, though, according to Pinker, that Al Qaeda's efforts at terror attacks are diminishing since 9/11. This is partly due to active efforts on the part of various governments to fight back, including the killing of bin Laden himself, and also partly due to an erosion of the popular support. This comes from the fact that Al Qaeda has been killing large numbers of Muslims and otherwise committing atrocities, and the ordinary Muslim eventually gets repulsed by that.

If Al Qaeda is like many other, earlier terrorist groups, its days are numbered.

[pErvinalia]

http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9012.html

An interesting added point to any discussion of terrorism is the simple fact that it ends. Audrey Cronon wrote a book (reference above) in which she discusses how terrorism ends. It turns out that only about 5% of all terrorist groups achieve any of their goals at all. In the end, their organisations disintegrate.

Terrorism is ultimately futile, although it can create enormous damage in the mean time. They key thing is not to over-react and permit the terrorists to achieve a reduction in the freedom and civil liberties of a developed nation.

Depends what you define as "terrorism". Remember the ANC were "terrorists".