January 11, 2010 8:13AM 

# Al Qaeda Wants You to Panic 

By [Christopher A. Preble](https://www.cato.org/people/christopher-preble) 

---

<a class="js-popover-trigger cursor-pointer popover-trigger" data-bs-placement="bottom" data-bs-trigger="click" id="popover-trigger"> 

SHARE 

</a> 

If you read just one thing on al Qaeda’s failed Christmas Day bombing, read [Fareed Zakaria’s column in today’s *Washington Post*](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/10/AR2010011002143.html?hpid%3Dopinionsbox1&sub=AR).

If you’re hungry for more, [Peter Beinart](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1952315,00.html) in *Time* and [this article](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704130904574644651587677752.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines) in the *Wall Street Journal* also get it right.

And if you’re convinced, or even modestly intrigued, by the suggestion that one of the key goals of terrorism is to *terrorize*, and the appropriate response is *to not be*, then [listen to or watch this event on Wednesday](https://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=6807).

##### Related Tags 

[Defense and Foreign Policy](https://www.cato.org/defense-foreign-policy) 

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).