For fairly obvious reasons such as geography and history, the U.S. hasn't had anywhere near as much terrorism as most European countries. Just a guess, but I'll bet if we had had as much of it as they have had, we'd be just as blase about it. When it happens here, it's a Big Deal because it's so rare, and it's only natural that we react to it with alarm.
And if terrorism in Europe were as rare as it is here, I would imagine Europeans would freak out at it just as much as we do. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: > > I spent two rather formative years -- between the ages > of 14 and 16 -- in Morocco. Living there on Air Force > bases, but spending as much of my time as was feasible > in Marrakech or Casablanca because...well...they were > just more interesting, I encountered terrorism long > before most of you had ever heard the word. > > There was little of it in Morocco itself, because *as > a result of terrorism* it had gained its independence > from France some time earlier, but it was a rare cafe > or bar in which I didn't meet people who had seen it > and felt its effects. > > Then I ventured with a friend to Algeria over a long > school holiday, naively telling our parents we were > going elsewhere, but instead (even more naively) head- > ing into a certifiable War Zone. Algeria was still > fighting for its independence, in a three-sided war > (the French, the Arab Algerians, and the "Pied Noirs" > or "black feet" -- third- and fourth-generation > Europeans who knew that they would be thrown out of > the country if it gained its independence) that was > bloody and awful. > > My friend and I were sitting at an outdoor cafe in > Algieria one day when a truck rolled by. It was one > of those trucks with a sheet of canvas covering the > back of it, and as it passed our cafe, the canvas > was thrown back to reveal a tripod-mounted machine > gun, with two guys manning it. It opened fire on > the cafe we were sitting in, and we dived for cover > behind quickly-overturned marble tables, as did the > other patrons. > > As it turns out, no one was hit by the flying bullets, > and after the truck passed, my friend and I got up, > righted our table, and looked around. What I saw made > a BIG impression on me. > > The French and Arab patrons sharing the cafe with us > had not even spilled their drinks. They "took them > down with them" when hiding beneath the tables, and > then emerged with them still full after the incident > was over. > > THAT made an impression. > > These people lived with a level of everyday terrorism > that makes the things JohnR and other fearful Americans > worry about pale by comparison. But they *didn't let it > fuck up their day, or change their lifestyles*. > > I have seen the same thing in many other European > countries I've lived in since. I've been in Paris after > bombs exploded, and watched the city in the days after- > wards. Nothing changed. No one altered their schedules > or adjusted their lifestyles in any way. I've been in > Spain after the train bombing there. Not only did no > one succumb to fear and paranoia, several *million* > people marched in protest, and brought down the govern- > ment that stupidly first tried to blame the attack on > Basque separatists. > > What makes terrorism WORK is becoming TERRORIZED. > > The goal of terrorism is not to kill people. It's to > instill fear in those who survive, and make them so > fearful that they no longer feel capable of living > their everyday, fulfilling lives in the ways they > want to live them. > > Smart people do not fall for this. Dumb people do. >
