Editor's letter: Terrorism and the zero standard
Since 9/11, the presumption has been that Americans will tolerate no successful acts of terrorism, and no deaths.
How much terrorism can we tolerate? It’s a question that’s not often asked in such frank terms, though the answer has profound consequences. Since 9/11, the presumption has been that Americans will tolerate no successful acts of terrorism, and no deaths. The zero standard was understandable when terrorism took the form of hijacked airplanes, bombings, and other attacks designed to cause mass casualties. But the pursuit of zero had a steep cost: two, decade-long foreign wars in which more than 100,000 people died; the official use of torture for the first time in U.S. history; and our collective acceptance of airport crotch probing and heightened surveillance in everyday life. But after 12 years of war, al Qaida is a fragmented bunch of amateurs serving mostly as a tool of inspiration rather than grand plots, and terrorism has taken the form of crazed individuals wielding pressure cookers and meat cleavers (see Best columns: Europe). So how do we get back to zero?
Last year, more than 30,000 Americans died in car crashes, and roughly another 30,000 were killed with firearms. That’s the equivalent of twenty 9/11s every year. As grim as all that carnage may be, our society tolerates a fair amount of death as the price of freedom. We may seek ways to reduce the death totals, but no one presumes any law can bring them to zero. “You people will never be safe,” self-proclaimed terrorist Michael Adebolajo said last week, after hacking to death a British soldier on a London street. If the standard is zero, the barbarian is right—no matter how much power terrorized people grant their governments. The sooner we accept our ultimate vulnerability, the more realistic—and less terrorized—we’ll be.
William Falk
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'The House under GOP rule has become a hostile workplace'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal is about more than bad bets
In The Spotlight The firestorm surrounding one of baseball's biggest stars threatens to upend a generational legacy and professional sports at large
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Feds raid Diddy homes in alleged sex trafficking case
Speed Read Homeland Security raided the properties of hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Editor's letter: Putin's perilous grab
feature The Russian president will be beating historical odds if his Crimean exploits end the way he plans.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Editor's letter: The return of terrorism
feature Why did nearly 12 years pass without a bioattack, a plane hitting a building, or a bomb going off?
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Editor's letter: Our dysfunctional romance with violence
feature Every year, more than 30,000 people—the equivalent of ten 9/11s—die of gunshot wounds.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Editor's Letter: "Sealing the borders"
feature In 1986, the House of Representatives demanded that the Pentagon “seal the borders” within 45 days against illegal drugs.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Editor's Letter: New Yorkers pull a NIMBY
feature Until recently, many New Yorkers were relishing the opportunity to bring 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-defendants to justice near the scene of their monstrous crime.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Editor's Letter
feature I work in a big city, where the screams of a passing siren barely dent one’s consciousness and only the most sensational crimes make the local papers. Then there is The Gazette, the weekly newspaper that covers the small community in which I live. The vil
By The Week Staff Last updated