The object of terrorists is to terrorize – to make enemies which they can’t possibly defeat by ordinary means fear them, normally by attacking civilian populations, in order to achieve their goals. By spreading fear throughout those populations, they seek to magnify their perceived ability to do harm far in excess of their actual capabilities. For instance by killing 14 people and wounding 21 at Christmas party, the terrorists in San Bernardino hoped to terrorize hundreds of millions of people throughout the United States. How can we win the war on terror? By refusing to be terrorized and then by working with all of our potential partner countries to root out the source of the threats at their source.

We have to think with our brains instead of our emotions and to put the actual terror threat in perspective. How do we do that – try this on for size – in the United States you were far more likely to be struck by lightening in 2015 than you were of becoming a casualty in a terrorist attack. If you have trouble believing this statistic, here is the proof:

“The chance of an average person living in the US being struck by lightning in a given year is estimated at 1 in 960,000,…..   Lightening Strikes (from Wikipedia)]

List of US terrorist attack in US:   Terrorist attacks by violent jihadis in the US since 9/11 ]

14 people and wounded 21 others in San Bernardino Christmas party – 14 killed, 21 wounded  >  35 causalities

Firing on two military installations in Chattanooga, Tennessee – 5 killed one wounded  >  6 causalities

Muhammad art exhibit event in Garland, Texas – 1 injured  >  1 causality

Total causalities from terrorist attacks in the US in 2015: 42

Total population of the United States: 322,583,006 as of July 1 2015.

Therefore the calculated odds of being a casualty of a terrorist attack in the United States during 2015 are: 1 in 7,867,878

So in 2015 you were 8 times more likely to be struck by lightening than you were of becoming a causality in a terrorist attack in the US.

In 2015, police officers killed 1186 people, so for every one person killed by terrorists in the U.S this year, 62 were killed by the police.

As of December 23 there were 12,942 Americans killed by gun violence in 2015, so the average American was 681 times more likely to be killed by a gun totting American than by a terrorist.

According to the statistics available as of 12/23, in 2015 36,571 people have killed in traffic accidents in our country and 322,797 people have been injured. Yet we drive with our love ones in our cars without letting fear interfere with our lives.

So why do we Americans fear terrorists? There is an easy answer is that we let ourselves be frightened by the media over emphasizing sensational stories to build their ratings, by disingenuous politicians seeking political power, and the primarily by the terrorists themselves seeking to magnify their importance on the international stage. But none of these groups can succeed unless we let them, unless we Americans are cowards. Let’s show these bastards that Americans have backbones and that they can’t succeed in terrorizing us. If Frenchmen could show their courage after the horrible attacks in Paris, so can we.

Cajun   1/2/2016