Governments are inevitably only as good as their last failure. No matter how many attacks they prevent, no matter how many people are not killed daily by terrorists, what's remembered is the relatively small number of terrorist attacks that succeed. The war against terrorism appears to be in a transitional state. Al Qaeda's main challenge is to promote and ensure its durability as an ideology and concept. Unfortunately [for us], it's a lot easier to attack a single target than to defend an infinite number of potential targets. All this points to a long, long struggle ahead in the war against terrorism. This op-ed article, by RAND's Bruce Hoffman, appeared in the Sunday LA Times. In a battle of the Bruces, I would recommend Hoffman's article 100 times before I would recommend Schneier's latest op-ed even once. For one thing, this is actually Hoffman's area of expertise! He captures the essential challenges we face without resorting to silly analogies or taking pot-shots at "technology." In the Calculus of Fear, Terrorists Have an Edge | 
