As in … not giving in to Terror (and, in so doing, not giving in to the Terrorists)
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.
FDR famously said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” Which, perhaps is an overstatement, but contains a key truth (fear can do us as much damage as those who instill fear in us, if not more), and is rhetoric diametrically opposed by what our current leadership and politicians tell us.
Imagine for a moment what would have happened if they had blown up 10 planes. There would be canceled flights, chaos at airports, bans on carry-on luggage, world leaders talking tough new security measures, political posturing and all sorts of false alarms as jittery people panicked. To a lesser degree, that’s basically what’s happening right now.
Our politicians help the terrorists every time they use fear as a campaign tactic. The press helps every time it writes scare stories about the plot and the threat. And if we’re terrified, and we share that fear, we help. All of these actions intensify and repeat the terrorists’ actions, and increase the effects of their terror.
The problem is that fear serves both the terrorists and (if they choose to exploit it) those in power. A fearful populace can be dangerous, in that it demands action. But it also can be more easily rallied/herded in a given direction.
There are things we can do, must do, to stop terrorists. Becoming a nation (or world) of paranoids, demanding our leaders provide us with security at all costs, is not one of them.