Oft quoted security maven and author Bruce Schneier has a nice essay entitled "Do Terror Alerts Work?" While most of the points are obvious, at least to people who have open minds, they need to be stated and discussed. Otherwise, the echo chamber that is the Internet will ring with lies.
A few examples:
When Attorney General John Ashcroft came to Minnesota recently, he said the fact that there had been no terrorist attacks in America in the three years since September 11th was proof that the Bush administration's anti-terrorist policies were working. I thought: There were no terrorist attacks in America in the three years before September 11th, and we didn't have any terror alerts. What does that prove?
Terror threat warnings are a publicity tool. They're a method of keeping terrorism in people's minds. Terrorist attacks on American soil are rare, and unless the topic stays in the news, people will move on to other concerns. There is, of course, a hierarchy to these things. Threats against U.S. soil are most important, threats against Americans abroad are next, and terrorist threats--even actual terrorist attacks--against foreigners in foreign countries are largely ignored.
Since the September 11th attacks, Republicans have made "tough on terror" the centerpiece of their re-election strategies. Study after study has shown that Americans who are worried about terrorism are more likely to vote Republican. In 2002, Karl Rove specifically told Republican legislators to run on that platform, and strength in the face of the terrorist threat is the basis of Bush's re-election campaign. For that strategy to work, people need to be reminded constantly about the terrorist threat and how the current government is keeping them safe.
I know that those who will not see will not believe the obvious truths presented by Mr. Schneier, but for those who can think critically, it's way past time to start the discussion on how to change things.
