Disaster & Terror

This morning during my walk I started to think about the episodes of terror attacks globally. My mind began to wonder, what is the difference between a terror attack and an industrial disaster? I decided to visit my favorite source for information online Wikipedia. The results were very interesting, to see some of the same incidents I was thinking about. The Chernobyl radiation leak in the erstwhile USSR (1986), the Bhopal gas tragedy in India (1984), mercury leak in to the Minamata bay in Japan(1968). There were many others I had forgotten about, the dioxin release from a chemical plant in Sevoso Italy (1976), fire at the Triangle factory in New York (1911) and the Chicago fires (1871).

There were other sites on the web that listed more comprehensive chronologies, more recent data, and death tool from these is Industrial disasters is huge. The Bhopal gas tragedy itself left more than 7000 people dead and more than 50,000 people partially or completely disabled. So what caused these so called industrial accidents, these mass disasters? Research points to accident, negligence or incompetence. Obviously there is no malicious intent although the result is death and injury? Could this be eliminated? Probably not, that is why these are accidents, but they could certainly be reduced through proper controls, testing and investment.

The big issue is investment! Corporations with tight budgets look for opportunities to save every nickel and dime and decisions are often statistically driven. Lower the probability, lower the risk of failure and hence lower the justification for active investment, not withstanding the risk to human life. So how are these decision makers starkly different from those on the dark side? And we have not yet included the undocumented disasters like GMO, processed sugar, fat and so on.

The number of human deaths and human injuries from industrial disasters to date has been far greater than all the terror attacks put together. So why are terrorists the bad guys? Is it just the malicious intent, the SCARE, or media coverage?