The terroritsts have won.

And your government is helping. This article provides a PDF link that you should download and read. The threat of terrorism is no more real than Reagan's Evil Empire, and lightning and peanuts kill more Americans than terrorists (yes, even including 9/11).

Even with the September 11 attacks included in the count, the number of Americans killed by international terrorism since the late 1960s (which is when the State Department began counting) is about the same as the number of Americans killed over the same period by lightning, accident-causing deer, or severe allergic reaction to peanuts.

The worst case terrorist scenarios constantly touted by fear mongers, such as biowar agents or shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles or nuclear weapons, haven't happened and it is extremely unlikely that they ever will. Paralyzing our society with "protections" against terrorism is letting the terrorists win. They win when they scare us, not when they kill people.

And people tend to be more alarmed by dramatic fatalities — which the September 11 crashes certainly provided — than by ones that cumulate statistically. Thus, the 3,000 deaths of September 11 inspire far more grief and fear than the 100,000 deaths from auto accidents that have taken place since then.

My favorite target, the SUV, kills more people than terrorists do. This "war" on terrorism that creates the fear of terrorism is costing us freedom and security and liberty, things that are among the most important.