Be rational, calm about terrorist threats

Can we please keep this latest attempted terrorist incident in perspective? You are still 20 times more likely to be struck by lightning than be on a plane when

a terrorist incident occurs.

Incidents like this will happen no matter what we do. The system will never be foolproof.

If we look at the many thousands of flights that occur every day without incident, I'd say we're doing well. The terrorists win when we overreact and diminish our quality of life in response to a lone crackpot's failed plot. It is also not helpful for the media to make a terrorist famous.

Why do we respond with such irrational fear and panic? That's exactly the response the terrorists want. Nothing about this actually threatens the “security” of America, but we all act as if it did.

Let's all be adults, and just look at these things as crimes, and refuse to let us change our day-to-day lives. American is the “home of the brave,” remember - or used to be. I'm not saying we should drop security, but we should drop the fear. We could all fly naked with no carry-on luggage and these things would still happen.

It is also a fact that President Barack Obama inherited whatever flaws exist in this security system. It is flooded with too much information with no systematic way to combine and truly analyze it. This administration has its work cut out for it.

Brad Gorton Jr.

Iowa City