I have to wonder to what lengths we might go in order to "keep it real" ...

One of the biggest challenges facing the United States in Asia is keeping the region’s leaders focused on the terrorist threat, a recently retired senior defense official told reporters here today.

That’s particularly important among nations that don’t see themselves as terrorist targets, said Richard Lawless, who retired last week after almost five years as deputy assistant secretary for Asian and Pacific affairs.

“If we don’t keep people’s attitudes and eyes focused on the threat, they tend to drift away to other subjects,” he said. “And keeping people focused on that issue has been very tough.”

Lawless acknowledged that some Asian-Pacific countries “are just simply not impacted by terrorism.” Others have gone so long since experiencing a terrorist attack within their borders that they have shifted their attention elsewhere ...

... to things like individual rights, economic development, global free trade, eliminating poverty, fighting AIDS and reducing the risk of global pandemics, and so on. How dare they!

Just what is it going to take to instill fear, and maintain that fear, when some people have nothing to be afraid of?

People say to me, "Whatever it takes." I tell them, It's going to take everything.

The headline here has been revised, but I've used the original one that was on the article as it went out for distribution.