HAVILAND SMITH: INDUCING TERRORIST PARANOIA

MAR. 26, 2017 | https://vtdigger.org/2017/03/26/haviland-smith-inducing-terrorist-paranoia/

Editor’s note: This commentary is by Haviland Smith, of Williston, who is a retired CIA station chief whose focus was the Soviet Union. He was also the CIA’s first chief of counterterrorism.

President Donald Trump has taken the position that Americans have a great deal to fear from terrorism. Fear is the backbone of all his statements. Every time there is a terrorist event anywhere in the world, we get tweets and other White House media coverage that constantly remind us how vulnerable we are to this so-called “terrorist threat,” even though the event in question may have had nothing to do with America. Additionally, the “terrorist threat” is the basis for incredible amounts of “alternative facts” being circulated out of the White House and its employees. Some “true facts” are in order here.

According to Life Insurance Quotes, a business that focuses on educating consumers on the various aspects of life insurance, the chances of being killed in a terrorist attack are about one in 20 million. A person is as likely to be killed by his or her own furniture, and more likely to die in a car accident, or in a building fire, or drown in a bathtub than from a terrorist attack.https://vtdigger.org/2017/03/26/haviland-smith-inducing-terrorist-paranoia/