Steven G. Nutt

The actual threat that terrorism poses to the U.S. in any given year, or on any given day, usually fluctuates less than the irregular pattern that terrorist incidents may suggest. More to the point, the threat fluctuates much less during any given time period than does the oscillating public concern about the threat of terrorism. A good example of how this skewed perception of threat has impacted the public's psyche is highlighted by an examination of the periods directly leading up to, and following, the coordinated attacks of 9/11.

Repetitious day-to-day routines can do more to make you a terrorist target than any other activity. Terrorists rarely attack people who do not have rigid daily habits, simply because they cannot accurately predict the person's movements in order to prepare their trap.