September 10, 2010 10:50AM 

# Ted Koppel on Terrorizing Ourselves 

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

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Today’s *Washington Post* contains [a smart piece by Ted Koppel](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/09/AR2010090904735.html?referrer=emailarticle) on how U.S. actions since 9/11 have handed Osama bin Laden a great victory. I think that goes too far. Bin Laden and his tiny band are still on the defensive. His grandiose goals are ridiculous, and we should stop pretending that they are plausible. But Koppel makes a good point about how a society’s reaction to terrorism does most of the work of terrorism. The solution? Stop terrorizing ourselves.

Read Koppel’s op-ed; and if you like what he has to say, [read our book](http://www.amazon.com/Terrorizing-Ourselves-Counterterrorism-Policy-Failing/dp/1935308300), which includes contributions from a number of leading counterterrorism experts.

##### Related Tags 

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

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