As you stand in line at the airport with our shoes off, waiting to be patted down or body scanned, do you ever get the feelidfpng that Bin Laden has won?

This is a discussion. Major: Social Science. Terrorism, as the name suggests, is directed at causing a psychological reaction (even over reaction) in its targets. Al Qaida attacked United States targets and interests (including a 1993 attack on the World Trade Center) throughout the 1990’s. Nonetheless, U.S. public opinion seemed mostly unmoved. While policy makers improved intelligence gathering and military preparedness, none of the policy initiatives of the era called for major revisions of foreign or domestic aims. The attacks of September 11, 2001 changed all that. In the wake of the New York, Washington and Pennsylvania attacks Congress granted the Executive branch sweeping powers of surveillance under the “Patriot Act”. They reorganized the cabinet, including an expansive Department of Homeland Security. Finally, they authorized military deployments to two separate wars. The cost to Americans includes loss of lives, privacy, many of the comforts of living and trillions of tax dollars. Only in the past few years have begun to question some of these. As you stand in line at the airport with our shoes off, waiting to be patted down or body scanned, do you ever get the feelidfpng that Bin Laden has won?