Causing Terror On the Cheap

jhigh writes "Bruce Schneier posts on his blog today about the value of terror with respect to cost-benefit for the terrorists. If you look at terror attacks in terms of what they cost the terrorists to implement, compared with what they cost the economy of the nation that was hit, the reward for terrorists is astronomical. Add in the insane costs of the security measures implemented afterward, particularly in America, and it's easy to see why the terrorists do what they do. Even when they're unsuccessful, they cost us billions in security countermeasures."

Comments

Re:Schneier hates security theater...

[fredjh]

It's not the military industrial complex anymore, it's the politico-legal-media complex. Fear sells.

"State of Fear" was widely decried as an anti-global warming spiel by Michael Crichton, but it was more about how politicians and the media use fear to sell us their product. It had some lame dialog, but it was a good book.

Re:Simple solution

[Antisyzygy]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/28scotus.html

Re:Well, Duh!

[AdamThor]

http://min.us/iu4yM.jpeg

I'm just sayin...

Re:Attitudes have changed over the years

[mrcaseyj]

I can't say that Muslims in general want to use force to take over the world. Some Muslims surely do, particularly terrorists, but most Muslims might only advocate for a voluntary conversion of the world.