To the Editor:

“The Politics of Fear” (editorial, July 18) exposes the way the Bush administration has used fear of terrorism to justify its continued war in Iraq. But the administration has been using the politics of fear since 9/11 to justify all manner of actions that have eroded our freedoms and rights.

The attacks of 9/11 were dramatic and tragic, but they were not part of a war that the perpetrators can actually win. The Bush administration has used the fear that somehow the terrorists will defeat our nation and way of life to justify its own actions that may indeed threaten our democracy.

It is safe to say that the American nation will survive a few thousand fanatics with primitive ideologies and methods, and we should scale our responses to a level appropriate to the real threat and stop doing more damage to ourselves than is being done to us.

Donald Zeigler
Pleasanton, Calif., July 18, 2007

Note from KBJ: There are two possible mistakes, not just one. The first is not fearing what one has reason to fear. The second is fearing what one has no reason to fear. To paraphrase David Hume (1711-1776), a wise person proportions his or her fear to the evidence. President Bush, who has privileged access to information, believes that the terrorist threat is real, and that Americans have reason to be afraid. He would be derelict in his presidential duties if he did not induce the proper degree of fear in us. The letter writer obviously believes that President Bush has overdone it. Isn’t it better to be safe than sorry? In other words, isn’t the first mistake worse than the second? (Compare criminal justice. The two possible mistakes are punishing the innocent and not punishing the guilty. The first mistake is worse than the second.)