SENTINEL WATCH October 18, 2010 Issue

GOOD DEFENSE AGAINST TERRORISM

PAMELA FAATZ

IN ONE SENSE, the failed attempt last May by a Pakistani-American to detonate a car bomb in New York City's Times Square was a wonderful example of "grass roots protection." A neighborhood vendor noticed the smoking and unattended SUV and alerted police. No one was harmed. Similarly, the recent indictment in the United States of 14 people for providing support to al-Shabab, a militant Somali group with links to al-Qaeda, is an encouraging example of hard work and vigilance on the part of law enforcement.

Viewed another way, however, both incidents are unsettling reminders of the deeply misguided conviction among a small minority of individuals that violence and terror are effective and, indeed, justified in bringing about their own narrow interests.

The principal objective of terrorism is to create fear and panic, and in this sense it often succeeds with or without the loss of lives. My daily commute brings me within a few blocks of the site of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, and I understand the concern that many share over the ongoing threat of terrorism and how to avert an imminent attack. But we are not solely dependent on human systems of detection and defense for our protection.