Is Terrorism a Threat?
This is the dumbest thing I've read in a long time. Essentially, it says that statistically terrorism is not as big a threat as driving a car, so we shouldn't be that worried about it and the government should not be so worked up about trying to defeat it.

Yes, more people die in cars than die from terrorism. But cars are a product of our freedom and economic liberty, not a threat to them. The threat of terrorism isn't just how many people it kills. Terrorist organizations like al Qaeda are seeking to destabilize our society and and our way of life. They determine their success more by the level of fear they instill in us than by the numbers they kill, though the do use mass murder on occasion to instill such fear.

I would argue the Beltway sniper has been far more successful as a terrorist than the hijackers of September 11, even though he has killed only 9 people, and they killed 3,000.

The hijackers struck at symbols of America's global economic and military power. But most Americans do not work in such emblematic buildings as the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. And Al Qaeda is not likely to try to hijack another jet and fly it into an office building in your local nondescript suburban office park.

September 11 rocked our world, but few of us fear it will happen to us - and because we learned from the heroes of Flight 93 how to defend against that kind of attack, we have less fear that another flight will be hijacked and crashed.

The Beltway sniper is another matter. Only nine are dead. Only two are wounded. But millions are terrorized. And billions of dollars in economic activity is being canceled as people simply stay home. Another September 11 won't happen in every city in America, and most Americans know that. But sniper attacks could. If the Beltway sniper isn't Al Qaeda, chances are Al Qaeda is watching. And learning.