Learning to live with it

摘要

"Our lucky day" was the judgment of one British newspaper on the second attempt in as many weeks to murder users of London's transport system. Unlike the four men who blew themselves up on July 7th, killing 52 others, the plotters who struck a fortnight later failed to take lives. But the second bombing hinted, un-nervingly, at a long-term campaign. Before July 21st, London was recovering from a past atrocity. Since then, it has been coping with an enduring menace. Two terrorist bombings, it turns out, are more than twice as bad as one. If spreading fear was the terrorists' objective, they have succeeded. A poll for The Economist shows that 90% of Britons (and almost the same share of Londoners) believe the city will be targeted again within a year. Fully 59% reckon that travelling in the capital has become more dangerous, while only 1% believe the opposite. But what will be the lasting effect of the bombings? There is a simple rule of thumb. If it is difficult to imagine something ever returning to normal, it is likely to do so quickly. The sources of long-term disruption and damage are more subtle. Much of the harm will come only indirectly from the attacks, and will be caused by the responses to terror rather than the terror itself.