Justified Fear
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The Pearl Harbor dread declined with the end of the Cold War -- until Sept. 11, 2001. In order to understand 9/11's impact, a clear memory of our own fears must be recalled. As individuals, Americans were stunned by 9/11 not only because of its size and daring but also because it was unexpected. Terrorist attacks were not uncommon, but this one raised another question: What comes next? Unlike Timothy McVeigh, it appeared that al Qaeda was capable of other, perhaps greater acts of terrorism. Fear gripped the land. It was a justified fear, and while it resonated across the world, it struck the United States particularly hard.
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(Quelle; via eines Kommentars beim Sprengsatz)
„Keeping the NSA in Perspective”, lautet die Überschrift des verlinkten Essays oben. Tatsächlich wird nach dessen Lektüre deutlich, daß das Projekt „Prism” nicht das Resultat obskurer Herrschaftsansprüche (aka Orwell 2.0) ist, sondern rational nachvollziehbare Gründe hat.