Have terrorists succeeded?
It's still not clear who is responsible for the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, nor is it likely to ever be clear what motivations the terrorists might have had.
One can reasonably speculate, however, that one potential goal is disruption of North American life.
In that, the WTC terrorists have succeeded quite handily. As Bill C-36 hurries on it's way through the House of Commons, the US House and Senate have already passed the USAAct.
Both of these pieces of legislation serve to further limit the freedom of movement, freedom of association and freedom of expression of Canadians and Americans. Proposals in both countries for nation-wide identification cards have been brought up. A ``security perimeter'' around the US and Canada -- forcing Canadians to give up some of their sovereignty -- is still being discussed.
The media has made ``giving up freedom'' synonymous with ``increasing security''. Reports of attempted Antrax attacks are rampant, yet in 1999, the US was subject to 81 confirmed Antrax attacks; I don't remember a single report about these.
If the terrorists' goal really was to make life more difficult in North America, they have succeeded spectacularly helped along gleefully by the media.