Think about the Great War, that is World War One. It was for a while a war of attrition with Britain and France trying to bleed Germany white. It was truly terr

Think about the Great War, that is World War One. It was for a while a war of attrition with Britain and France trying to bleed Germany white. It was truly terrible in a way that modern terrorism can never hope to be. So terrorists try to terrify even though they fall far short of being truly terrible. They are attempting a mindfuck, one that is mostly smoke and mirrors, with only 0.01% of the blood and gore of WWI. The bathos of becoming unfunny practical jokers would destroy a terrorist movement. The terrorist must conduct himself so that, in the eyes of his victims, he is a fierce warrior who, when captured, has claims to the status of prisoner of war or political prisoner. If his victims are not frightened but are very annoyed then they will turn on him, sedate him heavily and lock him in the ward for the mentally retarded who are violent. Bruce Schneier finds fault with the authorities saying that they defend us against 'movie plot' threats. I don't accept this criticism. Terrorist are constrained to operate within a socially constructed mythos that is mostly owned by their victims. Terrorists have to conduct attacks that have Hollywood's stamp of approval as 'terrorism'. Hollywood has no latitude on where it places its stamp of approval; it goes on visceral, primal dread, not left luggage.