Lazarus writes:
I am utterly terrified by the current obsession with
terrorists in the US.

I agree. In our worst year, most Americans were more likely to be struck by
lightning.
What you may or may not see is that here in the US, a combination of the mass
media and our own elected officials have fanned the paranoia to this level for
their own selfish purposes(ie: monetary gain, and staying in office). Although
fortunate not to have encountered such surroundings, I have spoken, fished and
spent time with quite a few who grew up in the Middle East and Northern
Ireland. I look at my own nation and realize we are weak, soft people at times.
Tom