Wardish writes "Terrorism is using violence to instill fear with the desire of changing the victim's or victim's countries policy, way of life, etc.
What Terrorists NEED is publicity and fear. Deny them that and they have almost no power. In other words, no sensationalism by media or the government.
You could argue that our government and the media are deliberately aiding and comforting Terrorists and Terrorism. I don't believe the goal of either is to help our enemies but there is no doubt it is the result. The terrorists are getting all the fear, publicity, and degeneration of our rights they could dream of. The publicity, emphasis, and outright fear mongering for personal and organizational profit is the goal, but the results are absolutely the best the terrorists could have wished for.
I'm going to avoid any conspiracy theories, they aren't needed to account for what has and is happening.
Media is easy, fear and sensationalism drives up ratings. Once upon a time our news was about accurate news, today it's about how to present and spin the news in as sensationalistic a manner as possible. How often have you heard "news" stories that appear to be next but are delayed while you listen to others and of course a round or two of commercials or "Tune in at 11pm, and get all the details." Honor and integrity have for the most part been replaced with glitz and profit.
Governments, all governments, want things to go smoothly. The less power citizens have the simpler things go. Demanding citizens are inconvenient and resource intensive. But you can't just remove all of a citizens rights at once. Too intrusive might wake up the population. However, when the population is frightened it's much easier to remove or limit citizens rights especially with a series of "minor" changes, for the children, for your security, to catch the terrorists, and quietly because you can't be responsible for your own life...
I don't know where on the slippery slope we are, but I do know we are not at the top."