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Jun. 11th, 2007 12:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
krazykitkatGood, thoughtful article.
The Terror Factory
The threat of diabolical attack is less about real action than overreaction, and politicians and the media are fanning the flames. Tom Allard reports.
When asked about the chances of a terrorist attack in Australia, ASIO's boss, Paul O'Sullivan, has a routine answer. An attack, at any time, is feasible, he says. It can't be ruled out. There is no room for complacency.
The assessment is accurate. But what if the spy chief added this, similarly accurate, comment: a terrorist bombing in Australia is feasible but, even if one does occur this year, you are still far more likely to die in a car accident, or from food poisoning.
As the war on terrorism enters its sixth year, some security experts are taking a closer look at the threat posed by terrorists and asking if political leaders, the media and the security agencies have exaggerated it.
Perhaps even more telling is the common observation that, by overreacting to the threat and by employing over-the-top rhetoric, the West has made the danger posed by terrorism worse since September 11, 2001, despite the enormous treasure and blood expended to counter Islamic extremism.
There is no shortage of critics who say governments and the media are dangerously stoking fear out of naked self-interest.
But security experts such as Bruce Schneier say there is also something deep in the human psyche that leads people to respond irrationally to threats such as terrorism. ...
The Terror Factory
The threat of diabolical attack is less about real action than overreaction, and politicians and the media are fanning the flames. Tom Allard reports.
When asked about the chances of a terrorist attack in Australia, ASIO's boss, Paul O'Sullivan, has a routine answer. An attack, at any time, is feasible, he says. It can't be ruled out. There is no room for complacency.
The assessment is accurate. But what if the spy chief added this, similarly accurate, comment: a terrorist bombing in Australia is feasible but, even if one does occur this year, you are still far more likely to die in a car accident, or from food poisoning.
As the war on terrorism enters its sixth year, some security experts are taking a closer look at the threat posed by terrorists and asking if political leaders, the media and the security agencies have exaggerated it.
Perhaps even more telling is the common observation that, by overreacting to the threat and by employing over-the-top rhetoric, the West has made the danger posed by terrorism worse since September 11, 2001, despite the enormous treasure and blood expended to counter Islamic extremism.
There is no shortage of critics who say governments and the media are dangerously stoking fear out of naked self-interest.
But security experts such as Bruce Schneier say there is also something deep in the human psyche that leads people to respond irrationally to threats such as terrorism. ...
