December 26, 2009 10:28AM # An “Attempted Act of Terrorism” By [Jim Harper](https://www.cato.org/people/jim-harper) --- SHARE Along with learning the factual details, it remains to be seen whether the effort by a Nigerian traveler to ignite some type of explosive on a U.S.-bound flight was an “attempted act of terrorism”—as it has been [characterized by the White House](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/us/27plane.html)—or a *successful* act of terrorism. Though it certainly helps, terrorism doesn’t require explosions and fatalities to work its will. If public fear produced by this incident drives the U.S. toward self-injurious overreactions—abandonment of plane travel, overwrought and poorly directed security measures, and so on—then it will be a *successful* act of terrorism. The behavior of the Obama administration, political leaders in Congress, and the media will determine whether this is a successful act of terrorism. One early commentator has framed this event as a “[desperate bid for relevance](http://attackerman.firedoglake.com/2009/12/26/al-qaedas-desperate-bid-for-relevance-the-failed-plane-attack-afghanistan/)” on the part of al Qaeda, chastising the “permanently hysterical” Rep. Peter King (R‑NY) for promoting overreaction. We will be reviewing the first year of the Obama administration’s counterterrorism policies at a [Cato Institute policy forum](https://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=6807) on Wednesday, January 13, 2010—a follow-on to our hugely successful [counterterrorism conference](https://www.cato.org/events/counterterrorism/index.html) in January 2009, the week before President Obama’s inauguration. Along with an impressive line-up of commentators, the event will feature a keynote address by Daniel Benjamin, Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the State Department. This most recent event will surely be a focus as we review the Obama administration’s first year in counterterrorism. [Register here](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/).