Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management

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February 2005                                                                            Volume 8 - Number 1

Perspectives...

My Perception of Terrorism Risk

By Anhdai Tran

I live in the Nation’s Capital, not too far from the U.S. Capitol. While I know that these are primary terrorist targets, I don’t feel any more threatened or at risk than I did living in rural Michigan, suburban Virginia, or cosmopolitan New York City; or, for that matter, in war-torn Vietnam or post-civil war El Salvador. Prior to 11 September 2001, my biggest security concerns related to the drug dealers living in the pubic housing units on the street behind me and the petty thieves who break into homes, steal cars, and occasionally assault people in the neighborhood. Today, these remain my primary concerns.

Yet, America has a lot of formidable enemies, our leaders say. These enemies—mostly foreigners—include the Axis of Evil countries, Osama Bin Laden, Islamic fundamentalists, and Al Qaeda. Our leaders claim that the risk of a terrorist attack on American soil is higher nowadays than at most other times in American history. Our leaders state that they will protect us. They will protect us by prohibiting us from taking photos of government buildings; checking our identification before we enter a government building; installing bollards and barriers around our workplaces; setting up check points throughout our cities; forcing us to take off our shoes before boarding airplanes; monitoring our movement and those of our foreign national friends; and detaining those of us who are suspicious-looking while denying us our civil rights. Our leaders advise us to pay attention to strangers on the train, to report all suspicious items, and to seal ourselves off in our homes with plastic and duct tape. And, when the alert level is Orange, we need to be REALLY CAREFUL!

While these security measures may make people feel safe or that they are being protected, I have to ask: are we really any safer now or is it just a state of mind? The fact is we are more at risk of being killed by someone we know. We are more at risk of being injured within three miles of our home. We are more at risk of being injured in a car accident than a plane accident, which is much more likely to occur than a terrorist attack. What then, is the big noise about terrorism risk?

I think the attacks on 11 September caused the general public to be more aware of terrorism (even though the risk has always been there). I think some of our leaders and media outlets are using tactics to make us feel more vulnerable than we are (although we have always been vulnerable in some ways). As a result of the awareness and “manipulation,” some of us have come to live in fear. Because of our fears, we are more likely to support policies and measures that supposedly protect us, our families, and our way of life, while denying others their rights and freedom. However, I feel that the things that the government is doing to make us feel safer are just masking the U.S. foreign policy that is actually putting us more at risk by fueling resentment against the U.S.

So, perhaps I am a little naive, a little cynical, or a little careless, but I propose we stop the hype and living in fear of terrorism. We must accept the fact that we will never be 100 percent safe, that we will always be at risk, and that we are not truly free if we must curtail our human and civil rights in order to be safe. With this awareness, we can go about our lives—and I can just go on worrying about those drugs dealers and thieves in my neighborhood.