BJ BODNAR
Opinions Writer

When we think of the cost to society that is inflicted through terrorism, what typically comes to mind is loss of life, damage to property and emotional distress.

In the last decade however, the means through which terrorists are able to bear influence within society has changed greatly. Without letting fly a single piece of shrapnel or spilling a drop of blood, terrorist organizations are able to create a financial drain on governments and individuals that few of us can even conceptualize.

The basic principle that terrorist attacks cost us money is a fairly simple one — even us arts and science students can grasp it without the assistance of our commerce comrades down the hall. If you blow something up, it has to be rebuilt.

The costs of terrorism that are more difficult to define and understand are the ongoing costs in the form of security measures, intelligence gathering programs or husky men wearing rubber gloves in airports. The economic impact of terrorism in western nations has become so pervasive and multidimensional that it is nearly impossible to calculate.

As of 2001, the estimated annual cost of airline security in the United States was about $700 million. That same budget has since ballooned to over $5 billion, almost eight times what it was just a decade ago. There are also hundreds of millions of dollars allocated annually to increasing the number of Federal Air Marshals, and investments in Transportation Security Support and Intelligence. Similarly, the FBI now spends approximately $2.7 billion annually on anti-terrorist intelligence programs, equivalent to one third of their total annual budget.

Closer to home, many Canadians will probably recall the fuss that was created over our country hosting the G8 and G20 meetings, which came with a security price tag exceeding $1 billion. On an even larger scale, Canada’s total contribution to the war in Afghanistan is fast approaching $18 billion, equivalent to about $1,500 per household.

Even foiled terrorist attacks can leave a huge economic impact in their aftermath. On Christmas day of last year, there was a failed attempt to bomb Northwest Airlines flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit using explosives hidden in a man’s underwear. In reaction, airports all over the world instituted new body scanning technologies, as well as a long list of other security restrictions targeting passengers. The net cost of these travel restrictions once again approached the $1 billion mark.

Those of you who may have been planning a fashion pilgrimage or techno binge to Europe in the coming weeks are probably aware of the recent terrorist alerts released by the American and Canadian governments discouraging travel to specific areas of the continent, particularly Britain, France, and Germany. Presumably, this too will result in massive financial consequences for these countries.

The point that all of this relates to is the idea that terrorism no longer relies on substantive, “successful” actions or attacks to achieve influence. Simply by putting out a poor quality YouTube video shot in a cave, groups such as al-Qaeda or the Harkat ul Mujahideen can elicit a reaction from western nations costing bilions of dollars and causing mass panic and personal inconvenience.

It is important to remember that every measure to protect against terrorism requires us to take resources away from other deserving areas. Every dollar that is spent beefing up security and gathering intelligence is a dollar that could be spent providing better health care, giving aid to a developing country or subsidizing tuition for university students.

I’m not qualified to assess whether our anti-terrorism security spending is necessary or justified. All I can suggest is that we are currently stuck in a spiral of rising security costs during a time of economic instability and financial insecurity. There are bound to be consequences.

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image: TSA