The damage al Qaeda’s attack caused when it destroyed the World Trade Center was about $10 billion (not including the substantial cost in terms of human life). Meanwhile, the TSA’s annual budget is $6.3 billion, so we’re spending more than half the cost of the destruction of the World Trade Center every year to protect ourselves from another attack. Clearly, the bulk of the cost of the September 11, 2001 attack has come in terms of the costs we have incurred since that day, not the cost of the actual destruction from the attack. That is bin Laden’s revenge.
Depressing Paragraph of the Day (Bin Laden’s Revenge Edition)
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6 responses to “Depressing Paragraph of the Day (Bin Laden’s Revenge Edition)”
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Well….what was the TSA’s operating budget pre-911?
I mean, I think the TSA is a joke and $6.3 billion is more than they deserve, but they don’t exist just to prevent another terrorist attack. They served a vital function before 9-11 and that function is no less vital now.
Attributing the TSA’s cost solely to the 9-11 attacks and then calling it “Bin Laden’s Revenge” just seems too cute by half.
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I may be parsing words, Steven, or was it his “intent?” This is the MO of terrorists. And I happen to believe it was the genesis of GWB’s lament, and then policy – ” “I’m tired of swatting at flies.” But I’ll be damned if I know what to do about it.
Your colleague, and my beloved, but frequent, sparing partner, Alex Knapp, has posited that we should just endure the rare and episodic attack and ditch the prophylactic measures, as they are an encroachment on freedom. I disagree. That presupposes that our efforts have had no effect, and that abandoning them will result in no greater frequency of catastrophic terrorist events. Isreal does not take such a stance, and with obvious results.
IMHO the death of bin Ladin is a symbolic thing, and perhaps will be a severe blow to morale of terrorists. But “revenge?” I don’t think so. And I think we have 20 years of vigilance ahead of us.
