Re:U.S. surveillance laws have proven ineffective at counter...
by nostrademons on Wednesday January 22, 2020 @04:03PM
(#22122009)
Interestingly, the point of terrorism is to wreak massive changes on societies. The total death toll of all terrorist attacks in the U.S since 1970 is 3781; that compares to 3836 killed in the Iraq War; 36,500 killed annually in car accidents; and 291,557 killed by WW2. In terms of risk to our physical persons, the terrorists suck at it.
When Sept 11 happened the popular meme for why we were attacked was "Because they hate our freedom." On a strategic level, they're doing a dramatically good job at winning: look at how much our freedom has been curtailed since then. And they can do it without touching an American; rather, the fear of what they might do provokes the U.S. government into destroying our freedom for them.
(A secondary goal for Osama bin Laden was to bankrupt America, something they are also winning at: since 2001 the U.S. national debt has grown from $6T to $23T.)
When Sept 11 happened the popular meme for why we were attacked was "Because they hate our freedom." On a strategic level, they're doing a dramatically good job at winning: look at how much our freedom has been curtailed since then. And they can do it without touching an American; rather, the fear of what they might do provokes the U.S. government into destroying our freedom for them.
(A secondary goal for Osama bin Laden was to bankrupt America, something they are also winning at: since 2001 the U.S. national debt has grown from $6T to $23T.)