The Root of the Problem

Twelve years after 9/11, we still have no idea how to fight terrorism.

The Afghanistan war has cost $657.5 billion so far, we spend $17.2 billion in classified funds a year fighting terrorism through the intelligence community, and the Department of Homeland Security spent another $47.4 billion last year. And we have very little idea whether any of it is preventing terrorist attacks.
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The studies find that, on average, adding metal detectors and security screenings at airports leads to about 6.3 fewer airplane hijackings in the years examined. But they also find that those policies lead to significant increases in “miscellaneous bombings, armed attacks, hostage taking, and events which included death or wounded individuals (as opposed to non-casualty incidents) in both the short and long run.” In fact, metal detectors and security screenings at airports lead to about 6.9 more of these substitute events. “When calculating the overall weighted mean effect size for all of the findings examining the effectiveness of metal detectors, the positive and harmful effects cancel each other out,” the review’s authors conclude.

 650 billion dollars would buy every person in Afghanistan a lifetime of Dental Care.