If Only It Were So Simple

clipped from finance.yahoo.com 6. The direct impacts of terrorist attacks are not huge. This isn't meant to diminish the suffering of those directly affected by 9/11 or any other such attack; His point is that terrorism can only succeed by sowing fear and overreaction, not by destroying things and killing people. He posits that terrorists strike democratic countries more than autocratic regimes because public reaction matters more in open societies. "What Makes a Terrorist" includes a wonderful chart showing the relative risk of dying from assorted causes. The lifetime risk of dying in a motor vehicle accident for the U.S. population is 1 in 88. The lifetime risk for dying of suicide is 1 in 120. The lifetime risk for dying in a terrorist attack is 1 in 69,000, which is significantly less than the risk of dying from a lightning strike. (To be fair, the average American is far more likely to die at the hands of a terrorist than from a shark attack; that lifetime risk is 1 in 3,700,000.)

This is certainly worth the read -- but things are not quite as neat as this would lead you to believe. The statistics on Hitler were rather benign also until the Blitzkrieg started.

When the Islamofascists have WMD -- and it grows increasing less likely that they won't watching the turmoil in Pakistan and the latest Iranian announcement of a 3,000 centrifuge cascade -- all bets are off.

The Soviets had the means but not (quite) sufficient intent. The Islamofascists have the intent -- the means are only a matter of time...