Edit: just reread your comment and several orders is 200 buildings?
Realistically, as cold as this sounds, a terrorist attack which managed to level downtown would not even pose an existential threat to the US.
More terrorism might change the nature of US democracy, but it will still be the US.
This statement surprises me. Especially your talk of casualties. I think you miss something important about "terrorism". It is far more than raw casualty numbers. It is about the "fear and uncertainty" they generate in a populace. And that, to me, is a threat to any modern nation's existence, in a world whose economy depends a lot on things like "confidence" and "optimism".
Perhaps I misunderstand developed nations, but from my point of view, your statement seems alarmingly absurd.
Also keep in mind that people are already extraordinarily pessimistic and unconfident about the country.
As much as I'd hate to live in a police state, I don't think you can call that the "collapse of the USA." China is very much alive.
And doesn't anymore.
only allowed a minority of citizens to vote for most of its history
And now does.
These are both examples of how the US has improved over time. I would be very surprised to see a reversal on either of these. If there were, people would similarly question whether it was still the US in anything but name, even if this had been the situation in the past.
There are sizable portions of the US and Europe that believe muslims are terrorist sympathizers who want to enact Sharia law. To them terrorists, immigrants and muslims are existential threats: they want to blow them up, take their jobs and run their lives and government.
> There is no conceivable way that terrorists threaten our national existence/security.
I agree.
Sure, and there are millions of people who believe all sorts of nutty things. Millions of people believe that stars predict the future or that aliens regularly abduct people. That doesn't mean we should legitimize these beliefs.
It's actually not that hard to imagine: dirty bomb set off in midtown Manhattan, kills thousands and sickens tens of thousands. In its hasty reply, the US launches a massive counterstrike against somewhere based on shoddy intel. Putin says, oh hell no, and red buttons are pushed. That's game over folks.
Give me a break. I've never heard a more hyperbolic statement even from diehard warmongers.
There is no conceivable way that terrorists threaten our national existence/security. Even several orders of magnitude more attacks a year would be barely a blip in terms of actual casualties.