Terrorists make common cause with established governments when they inspire fear in the governed. The design goal of terrorism it to provoke overreach on the p

Terrorists make common cause with established governments when they inspire fear in the governed. The design goal of terrorism it to provoke overreach on the part of the authority being targeted. But you can't get an allocation of funds for your open-ended anti-terror programme if you say this. After fiftyish years of television and 100 years of movies, people's willing suspension of disbelief impulse is ragged and raw. It's both hair-trigger and numbed. And since the mode of the terrorists is akin to blood sacrifice, it's even more profound.