BRUCE SCHNEIER WRITES ON WHAT THE TERRORISTS WANT: He’s right that we don’t want to overreact, and that some of the aviation scares seem like overreactions. It’s like an immune system: Overreact and you get allergies and autoimmune problems; underreact and you die of overwheming sepsis or something. But getting the balance right is harder than saying that we need to get the balance right.

But we need to beware of what one of Schneier’s commenters notes: “What’s to stop terriorists now just getting on flights and acting suspiciously on purpose. If no crime was committed (I was just checking my watch, saying my prayers, going to the bathroom etc.) they can cause disruption, create paranoia and terror at will and get off scott free.” That’s what I would do if I were a terrorist.

Schneier’s blog, by the way, is a must-read on this stuff, and I recommend it, as I have in the past.