The Aspen Institute

Mayor Bill White of Houston, one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country, began the roundtable by calling for a public dialogue about what the term, “homeland security,” really means. In White’s view, what we are struggling against is really nothing more than “organized crime with an international political dimension.” Using the term, “terrorism,” to describe what we are fighting against romanticizes the problem and unduly magnifies it. We should not panic over terrorism; we should put and keep the problem in perspective. White emphasized also that countering terrorism is not a job just for government; every American has a role to play.