If a catastrophic event such as the use of a nuclear weapon or poison gas occurred in the United States, I believe there would be a watershed moment that would turn “our past and future” into a “before and after.” I also believe that the American people would demand punishment not only from those responsible but also from the decision makers who failed to prevent it. As you said earlier about the Surface Navy, “we are pretty ruthless on our own.” I think this is the case for the average American. I believe that the American people perceive that their level of risk with respect to catastrophic events is minimal and that such an event would be a rude awakening to how vulnerable we really are.

However, it is difficult to convince people of such vulnerability until problems arise. There are some suitable trade-offs between risk and freedom. We all know that airplanes will fall from the sky and kill people in the future, but we would be very unhappy if the government told us that the risk is too high and that we cannot fly anymore. We would have to experience a marked increase in aircraft failures before adjusting our habits. The fact that we have prevented serious terrorist acts to date almost works against our gaining this kind of understanding from the public.

If we could not use telephones or cell phones, we would feel shipwrecked. We cannot see each other without email, the Internet, faxes, voicemail, or pager services. We couldn’t imagine thousands of people killed during the Macy’s Christmas Day parade. If these catastrophic events occurred due to a hurricane or earthquake, we would do it in the morning, but we cannot hold mother nature responsible. If these events are the result of a computer virus or poison gas, the American public would demand accountability. (By liability, I mean the decision makers that most believe should be aware of and take steps to protect the public from such intentions)