In an interview, it quoted “a leading authority on terrorism,” Walter Laquer, as saying:

“Today’s terrorists differ from their counterparts of the past in one very important respect. . . . The terrorists of the 19th century were selective. . . . Today’s terrorism has become indiscriminate​—far more brutal than in the past. Terrorists leave a bomb in a supermarket and couldn’t care less who gets killed. You see, the period up to the first World War was, on the whole, more humane. I’m sorry to say that human life has become cheaper in our time​—partly as a result of the experience of mass killing of the first and second World Wars. Also, we now have these philosophers of violence who did not exist in the 19th century​—people who argue that violence is wonderful, that it does things for you psychologically, that we really need violence.”

Mr. Laquer also warned of the possibility of terrorists getting hold of weapons of “superviolence,” whereby they might destroy a whole country, including families, friends and enemies​—everyone!