4 ms·

Sadly, his real achievement was simply the idea that a small aggrieved group of people are capable of achieving something with the terror impact of 9/11. Before

Sadly, his real achievement was simply the idea that a small aggrieved group of people are capable of achieving something with the terror impact of 9/11. Before, it was always only in the realm of distant possibility, a far-fetched story told in books or movies. That can never be erased. Hopefully the emphasis on terror will be reduced, though. Bad driving, bad diet and many other causes have definitely killed more people each than 9/11 since it happened, but it's a lot easier to focus on an external enemy you can see, especially when it has a shark-attack-like amplification on our perception of danger.

mattmanser 16y ago
Dude, go learn some history. Just two recent examples are the 'troubles' in Northern Ireland and Jewish terrorism in Palestine before the British withdrew. They are both examples of effective terrorism campaigns done by small groups. Just because it happened in America for the first time doesn't mean it's not happened in the rest of the world many times.
- JoachimSchipper 16y ago
  9/11 does seem to be an outlier in (public terror)/#attackers, though.
  - simpleTruth 16y ago
    I have no idea how you can measure such things, but several serial killers have terrorized large areas for fairly long periods of time. 9/11 may have been dramatic, but it was over fairly quickly so the terror was short lived, and it also took several people which hurts on the / attackers side. PS: I watched it live on TV missed the first attack, but saw the other two get reported and personally I was never really that strongly impacted. More WTF? than run for the hills.
    - TillE 16y ago
      My favorite cheap method of terrorism is the DC sniper times ten. It requires no real coordination and very little money, yet causes a huge sustained impact. Fortunately, it seems that the number of motivated crazy people in the world is fairly low. > personally I was never really that strongly impacted I'm guessing you don't live in the New York area. Events can seem a bit unreal if you have no personal stake in them. It may seem trivial next to the loss of life, but looking at that hole in the Manhattan skyline where the towers used to be is still a bit tragic.
      - simpleTruth 16y ago
        Yea, I was thinking of the whole DC sniper thing. There was a similar indecent at an army base (fort hood), but the random nature of the targets and the length of time between attacks was far more threatening to people. I could see a changed "Manhattan skyline" as a significant impact for many people. For a while I could see the section of the pentagon hit by the airplane outside my window, but there is little lasting visible impact on the structure. Internally, they did a fair amount of renovation for example added some glow strips on the floor pointing to the exits which seems like a good idea, and gas makes which seems less useful (and more creepy). You can even go on tours of the pentagon which seems risky, but I suspect the benefits outweighs the risks. However, that's all fairly long term effects. As to being up close and personal, a coworker of mine was in a conference room when 1/2 the people at the table where taken yet he had no problem going back to work at the pentagon. Sure, it's a target, but numbers suggest being a truck driver to be a far more dangerous profession. When it comes down to it terrorism is simply not that effective. Several paces have had sustained terrorist attacks for long periods of time and people don't react that much.
  - aslamnd 16y ago
    9/11 is an inside jobs. Watch these documentaries produced by Americans. http://www.sprword.com/9_11.html http://www.sprword.com/9_11.html
- richardw 16y ago
  Come, this isn't Digg. Dump the 'dude', the assumption that I don't know any history, and the assumption I'm overly concerned with America's being the target of 9/11. I don't live there. The key word in my statement was 'impact'. Look around you and tell me which of the events you've mentioned had a comparable impact on world events and the feeling of vulnerability of hundreds of millions of people.
stevoski 16y ago
"Before, it was always only in the realm of distant possibility, a far-fetched story told in books or movies. That can never be erased." Some other recent historical examples: - Red Army Faction in Germany in the 70's and 80's - Brigate Rosse in Italy in the 70's and 80's - Numerous aircraft hijacking in the early and mid 70's. This introduced the first wave of improved airport security - Chechnyan separatists in Russia in the 1990's and 2000's
- nikcub 16y ago
  A great point. For some reason a lot of people have it ingrained that terrorism is a recent phenomenon, not realizing that the 60s 70s and 80s were a complete mess and a very tense time. All the major cities in Europe experienced hijackings, bombings, kidnappings and hostage drama. Most people today don't even know who Ilich Ramirez Sanchez is, or the PLFP, or as you mention the Red Army Faction On that note, both the mini-series 'Carlos' and the German film 'Baader Meinhof Complex' are fantastic.
- tcarnell 16y ago
  - ETA, Spain: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ETA_attacks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ETA_attacks
cabalamat 16y ago
> Sadly, his real achievement was simply the idea that a small aggrieved group of people are capable of achieving something with the terror impact of 9/11. Before, it was always only in the realm of distant possibility, a far-fetched story told in books or movies. Not true. Counterexamples that spring to mind are Gavrilo Princip and John Brown.

mattmanser 16y ago

Dude, go learn some history. Just two recent examples are the 'troubles' in Northern Ireland and Jewish terrorism in Palestine before the British withdrew. They are both examples of effective terrorism campaigns done by small groups. Just because it happened in America for the first time doesn't mean it's not happened in the rest of the world many times.

JoachimSchipper 16y ago
9/11 does seem to be an outlier in (public terror)/#attackers, though.
- simpleTruth 16y ago
  I have no idea how you can measure such things, but several serial killers have terrorized large areas for fairly long periods of time. 9/11 may have been dramatic, but it was over fairly quickly so the terror was short lived, and it also took several people which hurts on the / attackers side. PS: I watched it live on TV missed the first attack, but saw the other two get reported and personally I was never really that strongly impacted. More WTF? than run for the hills.
  - TillE 16y ago
    My favorite cheap method of terrorism is the DC sniper times ten. It requires no real coordination and very little money, yet causes a huge sustained impact. Fortunately, it seems that the number of motivated crazy people in the world is fairly low. > personally I was never really that strongly impacted I'm guessing you don't live in the New York area. Events can seem a bit unreal if you have no personal stake in them. It may seem trivial next to the loss of life, but looking at that hole in the Manhattan skyline where the towers used to be is still a bit tragic.
    - simpleTruth 16y ago
      Yea, I was thinking of the whole DC sniper thing. There was a similar indecent at an army base (fort hood), but the random nature of the targets and the length of time between attacks was far more threatening to people. I could see a changed "Manhattan skyline" as a significant impact for many people. For a while I could see the section of the pentagon hit by the airplane outside my window, but there is little lasting visible impact on the structure. Internally, they did a fair amount of renovation for example added some glow strips on the floor pointing to the exits which seems like a good idea, and gas makes which seems less useful (and more creepy). You can even go on tours of the pentagon which seems risky, but I suspect the benefits outweighs the risks. However, that's all fairly long term effects. As to being up close and personal, a coworker of mine was in a conference room when 1/2 the people at the table where taken yet he had no problem going back to work at the pentagon. Sure, it's a target, but numbers suggest being a truck driver to be a far more dangerous profession. When it comes down to it terrorism is simply not that effective. Several paces have had sustained terrorist attacks for long periods of time and people don't react that much.
- aslamnd 16y ago
  9/11 is an inside jobs. Watch these documentaries produced by Americans. http://www.sprword.com/9_11.html http://www.sprword.com/9_11.html
richardw 16y ago
Come, this isn't Digg. Dump the 'dude', the assumption that I don't know any history, and the assumption I'm overly concerned with America's being the target of 9/11. I don't live there. The key word in my statement was 'impact'. Look around you and tell me which of the events you've mentioned had a comparable impact on world events and the feeling of vulnerability of hundreds of millions of people.

stevoski 16y ago

"Before, it was always only in the realm of distant possibility, a far-fetched story told in books or movies. That can never be erased." Some other recent historical examples: - Red Army Faction in Germany in the 70's and 80's - Brigate Rosse in Italy in the 70's and 80's - Numerous aircraft hijacking in the early and mid 70's. This introduced the first wave of improved airport security - Chechnyan separatists in Russia in the 1990's and 2000's

nikcub 16y ago
A great point. For some reason a lot of people have it ingrained that terrorism is a recent phenomenon, not realizing that the 60s 70s and 80s were a complete mess and a very tense time. All the major cities in Europe experienced hijackings, bombings, kidnappings and hostage drama. Most people today don't even know who Ilich Ramirez Sanchez is, or the PLFP, or as you mention the Red Army Faction On that note, both the mini-series 'Carlos' and the German film 'Baader Meinhof Complex' are fantastic.
tcarnell 16y ago
- ETA, Spain: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ETA_attacks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ETA_attacks

cabalamat 16y ago

> Sadly, his real achievement was simply the idea that a small aggrieved group of people are capable of achieving something with the terror impact of 9/11. Before, it was always only in the realm of distant possibility, a far-fetched story told in books or movies. Not true. Counterexamples that spring to mind are Gavrilo Princip and John Brown.