Via Bruce Schneier’s excellent Crypto-Gram, is Downsize DC’s I am not afraid campaign.
“I am not afraid of terrorism, and I want you to stop being afraid on my behalf. Please start scaling back the official government war on terror. Please replace it with a smaller, more focused anti-terrorist police effort in keeping with the rule of law. Please stop overreacting. I understand that it will not be possible to stop all terrorist acts. I accept that. I am not afraid.”
Terrorism is a relatively minor issue. Even world wide terrorism kills fewer people than car accidents. The 9/11 terrorists were stopped before the fourth plane hit it’s target and that method of taking over a plane and using it as a weapon will never work again. It’s inexcusable for the government to waste money confiscating cigarette lighters, nail clippers, pocket knives and water bottles when that threat scenario will NEVER work again. But the much bigger problem is the terror-industrial complex that has grown up since 9/11. With constant threat levels, civil rights violations and the “everyone’s a suspect” mindset our own government is doing the terrorist’s work for them. The “War on Terror”, just like the “War on Drugs” will fail and we as a country will be worse off for it.
