Over the last decade, virtually every Terrorist plot aimed at the U.S.
-- whether successful or failed -- has provoked greater security and
surveillance measures. Within a matter of mere weeks, the 9/11 attacks
infamously spawned a vast new surveillance statute (the Patriot Act), a
secretly implemented warrantless eavesdropping program in violation of
the law, an explosion of domestic surveillance contracts, a
vastly fortified secrecy regime,
and endless wars in multiple countries. As it turned out, that massive
over-reaction was not a crisis-driven anomaly but rather the template
for future actions.