Matthew Yglesias points to this Warren Strobel post evaluating the State Department’s annual Country Reports on Terrorism:
There were just 25 U.S. noncombatant fatalities from terrorism worldwide. (The US government definition of terrorism excludes attacks on U.S. military personnel). While we don’t have the figures at hand, undoubtedly more American citizens died overseas from traffic accidents or intestinal illnesses than from terrorism.
Yglesias writes that ” it’s safe to say you’re dramatically likelier to die abroad in a traffic accident than a terrorist attack… it’s important for public priorities to be brought into closer line with objective risks.” I’m not sure I agree that’s the takeaway–I think it’s clear that the numbers would be smaller if the administration was engaging in more warrantless spying, torturing, and summary executions and anything less is abject surrender to Islamism.
