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Clear Thinking on Terrorism, Not Myths, Needed After Paris Attacks

Clear Thinking on Terrorism, Not Myths, Needed After Paris Attacks
President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference, Antalya, Turkey, Nov. 16, 2015 (AP photo by Susan Walsh).

Like most people, watching the reports coming out of Paris on Friday night filled me with an ever-escalating set of emotions: shock, horror, revulsion and finally anger.

It seems, however, that among the pundit class, one emotion above all is dominating: panic. And it’s creating a set of myths about what actually happened in Paris, and what the attacks mean, that could keep us from learning the necessary lessons from Friday’s horrors.

Myth No. 1: America Is Next

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