>But it was still terror. And in ceding to it, I cede to my mortal opponent.
Yes, I've been thinking a lot about terrorism and its effects. The world is well chosen. The point of terrorism is not only the dreadful act itself, it is the terror that it creates in all who witness it and all who feel that they could be a victim. Anyone who travels or goes to work, anyone who has a family member working in a vulnerable place or has to travel away from home, anyone who has had a child or has been a child ...
Margaret Thatcher in the immediate aftermath of one of the UK-IRA bombs talked about the "oxygen of publicity". As we all know the oxygen itself adds to the explosive. With modern communications we have no hope of throwing a blanket over the fire. The media circus adds fuel to the fire, it is inevitable, it is part of the way we live. We can see a pin drop by satellite, we can feel the suffering of someone starving in a drought in a distant land or made homeless from freak weather conditions in our own continent.
The fight or flight instinct is very strong in us and terror manipulates our behaviour.
