Fear Mongering about Terrorist Attacks

     Question:  How many American deaths  have occurred since 2001 as a result of terrorist  attacks?

 

      Answer:     About 50

 

      Question:  What are your chances of being killed in a terrorrist  attack if we include 9/11?

 

      Answer:     1 in 4 million

    

      Question:  What are odds if 9/11 is taken out of the equation?

 

      Answer:     About 1 in 100 million

   

      I do not minimize the horrors of terrorist attacks.  But they have to be taken in perspective.  After 9/11, all security experts said that future attacks in the United States are inevitable.  I think our security agencies have done an excellent  job of keeping terrorist attacks to a very low level.   It is extremely difficult to prevent terrorist attacks before they happen.   Small groups of terrorists have multiple soft targets where large numbers of people congregate.   Yet the above statistics show the relatively small risk of attack.

     The Republican and right wing media rhetoric, not only this year, but for the past 7 years has done  nothing but fearmonger.   They have been pretty successful in instilling fear  throughout our country.  It is ironic that these tough talking warmongers  are in reality cowards, panicking with every attack both here and abroad.  I have not heard Bernie's reaction to the Paris attacks, but I have heard Hillary's and President Obama's.  They  correctly describe the complexity of the fight against terrorism.  President Obama referred to killing the beating heart of terrorism which will be done.  But its cancerous cells are more difficult to eradicate.  It will take time, sophistication and intelligence.  Hillary correctly stated that  Republican call for militarism will be counter productive. 

        I think a good way to put the threat of terrorism in perspective is to compare it with gun violence.  Since 9/11 there have been about 430,000 gun related deaths in the United States.

       As this election cycle continues, the importance of a Democratic victory becomes more clear by the day.  The Republicans will not solve the problem they will exacerbate  it.   From global warming, to the Supreme Court, to the war on terrorism, the election will be the most consequential of our lifetime.  I hope everyone will be fully engaged  in this  election whether it is Hillary or Bernie.  We must win.

        As always, thanks for listening.

 

Richard