![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
From the BBC: Britain might have to modify its freedoms in the short term in order to prevent their "misuse and abuse" by terrorists, John Reid has said.
The whole point of terrorism is to frighten people. Terrorism is a very effective way of fighting a war because you don't need large amounts of resources; you make people frightened and they reduce their own quality of life for you. That is, if you want to make people miserable, you can either do it yourself - poison the water, bomb the cities - or you can get them to do it themselves. If you can persuade a whole population to limit freedom and civil rights, you have succeeded. You have won the "war on terror."
By its nature, the "war on terror" is won or lost by people's mental state. If a country is so terrified that you can't take photographs on holiday, as is increasingly the case in New York City, or so frightened of a shadowy threat that the citizens will happily see their civil liberties stripped away bit by bit, the "war on terror" is lost.
The whole point of terrorism is to frighten people. Terrorism is a very effective way of fighting a war because you don't need large amounts of resources; you make people frightened and they reduce their own quality of life for you. That is, if you want to make people miserable, you can either do it yourself - poison the water, bomb the cities - or you can get them to do it themselves. If you can persuade a whole population to limit freedom and civil rights, you have succeeded. You have won the "war on terror."
By its nature, the "war on terror" is won or lost by people's mental state. If a country is so terrified that you can't take photographs on holiday, as is increasingly the case in New York City, or so frightened of a shadowy threat that the citizens will happily see their civil liberties stripped away bit by bit, the "war on terror" is lost.
Tags: