"Look for the helpers. You'll always find people who are helping."

Searching “Terrorism in the United States” on Wikipedia returns a list of over 100 incidents, dating back to 1837. These attacks are not generally known for inflicting large amounts of casualties. In fact, many of these events involved the killing of a single individual or just the destruction of property. The real goal of the terrorist is to instill fear in a population.

The notable exception to this rule is 9/11 and in many ways this is why the operation was a failure for al-Qaida. First, the attack was so large that our government had no choice but to respond in a big way. Afghanistan was invaded with the approval of 90% of Americans. The size of the operation also guaranteed that we would make sure that we did not even appear to be capitulating to the terrorist’s demands. If Bin Laden wanted us out of Saudi Arabia, we were staying, even if they are not exactly a shining example of our democratic ideals. Finally, it briefly united our increasingly divided country. Red or Blue states do not seem to matter when we have a common enemy.

There was the small problem that Americans were not exactly clear about who the common enemy was, especially as fear turned to paranoia. Four days after 9/11, Frank Roque announced that he was going to “kill Middle Eastern people” in retaliation for the attack and shot Balbir Singh Sodhi to death. He surrendered to the police, telling them that “I’m a patriot and an American. I’m American. I’m a damn American.” What Frank failed to realize was that Mr. Sodhi was living the American Dream. He had immigrated from India ten years earlier and was working in front of the gas station that he owned when he was killed.

To push their own agenda, the government played on the paranoia that the terrorists had created. In setting the stage for the invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration focused on Saddam Hussein’s alleged support of al-Qaida. Specifically, Vice President Cheney said that the Iraqi government “aids and protects terrorists, including members of al-Qaeda” and that the CIA believed reports that hijacker Mohamed Atta had met with Iraqi intelligence agents were credible. However, when intelligence reports were later unclassified, they showed that analysts had disputed both of these allegations prior to Cheney making them. However, the allegations proved to be more powerful than the truth. Ten years after the attacks, 38% of Americans still believed that the United States had found “clear evidence in Iraq that Saddam Hussein was working closely with the al-Qaeda terrorist organization.”

Unfortunately, some Americans allowed their fear to descend into paranoia as two bombs were detonated at the finish line of the Boston Marathon last week. Despite the fact that most instances of terrorism are domestic in nature, the immediate suspicion was cast on Middle Eastern perpetrators. Less than two hours after this attack, the New York Post, that has the same parent as FOX news, was reporting that a Saudi national was being guarded as a suspect. The Boston Police Commissioner declared that the report was “not true” and later reports confirmed that the Saudi student in question was actually a victim of the bombing. As of Saturday afternoon, the Post had still not corrected their online story.

The injured Saudi was not the only person victimized by a story in the Post. Salah Eddin Barhoum’s father says that the family came from “a small coastal town in Morocco, for a better life in America. Everyone has been very welcoming and my son is living his American dream.” This dream was tested on Thursday when The Post decided to point fingers elsewhere in Thursday's print edition. Under the headline “Bag Men” was a picture of Barhoum and his track coach. The Post denies calling him a suspect, so apparently being a 17 year old Moroccan immigrant carrying a backpack is interesting enough to get news coverage in the Post. Barhoum was smart enough to go straight to the state police to clear his name. He states that “They didn’t even take me into a private room. They made some calls, then said I was free to go.” Another Rupert Murdoch theory bites the dust.

While paranoia may cause Americans to act irrationally at times, we also realize that if we let our fear disrupt our daily lives, then the terrorists have accomplished their goals. In the case of 9/11 President Bush directed that we only “go down to Disneyworld in Florida...and enjoy life the way we want it to be enjoyed” to prove the terrorists had not won. I wish that he had used his bully pulpit to encourage something more substantial.

Right after the bombing of the Boston Marathon, Patton Oswald tweeted “‘Look for the helpers. You’ll always find people who are helping.’ -- Fred Rogers, on what to do when scary things are on the news.” When you looked at the people of Boston, you saw first responders and private citizens ignoring fear and rushing into help. As President Obama said during his address to the memorial service on Thursday you could see “Bostonians carry victims in their arm, deliver water and blankets, lineup to give blood, open their homes to total strangers, give them rides back to reunite with their families”

They also showed a resolve to return the city to normalcy. In a blog posted the night of the attack, Jon McGrath inspires his readers by telling his readers that his 11 year old son still plans to run the race one day. Others displayed this mindset in numerous interviews.

If there is any doubt that Boston will bounce back, consider the words of David Ortiz. When addressing the crowd before the first Red Sox home game since the bombings he said “This is our f----ing city and nobody gonna dictate our freedom. Stay strong.” It was so heartfelt, even the FCC was forced to approve, F-bomb and all.