Terrorism -- in Star Wars and in real life.

Terrorism and fear tactics have always played a part in both Star Wars and -- increasingly -- real life. In Star Wars, the Tarkin Doctrine has, from the beginning, defined and rationalized the actions of the evil Empire. They rule largely by fear of force, rather than by force itself. Death Stars and Super Star Destroyers aren't practical - they're just terrifying. Even the location of the unreasonably vulnerable Star Destroyer bridges and bright-white armor worn by Stormtroopers continue the theme of "fear styling." It says, "Just try and come get us. It's hopeless." The Empire maintains control by making the populace fear to rise up against them.

Like a mind trick, it works on the weak-minded. However, there are those who are willing to stand against it, who stand for what is right. They risk and sacrifice their lives, knowing the odds are against them and not even listening. They are confident that freedom and justice will prevail in the end. They are the Rebellion -- the heroes of Star Wars.

In our world, the heroes are everyone who doesn't cower in fear at the latest terrorist attack. They are the citizens of the US, Spain, and -- most recently -- Britain, as well as countless others around the world. They carry on with their lives, despite the efforts of terrorists to make us cower in fear.

As Franklin D. Roosevelt once famously said, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." The terrorist's only weapon is that they make us worry. Take the "rainbow of terror," for example -- the US' color-coded system of terror alerts. False alarms are constantly putting us on edge -- or are the warnings real, and did the heightened alert level scare off attackers? It's impossible to know. But these people are making us work overtime just worrying about what might happen. And yet, if we don't, they can strike, and governments will be blamed for ignoring the threat. It's somewhat of a lose-lose situation. All we can do is attempt to minimize the loss.

As we have tragically seen in recent days, natural disasters can routinely cause as much or more damage than the worst terrorist attacks. We, however, have given in to an extent. We now accept, if only somewhat, that these things will happen. We try to make progress in weather prediction, but how far have we really gotten, and how far can we go? Is this the direction in which terrorism is heading -- towards being an inevitable fact of life, as sure a thing as death and taxes?

These themes are all touched upon in Star Wars. In fact, two of the first three quotes on fear from Wikiquotes.org are taken from Episode I. The Sith embrace fear, and yet have none. They feed on it, and almost harvest it from those who try to serve the light. Fear is their ally. The Sith, in a way, are terrorists. They control others by their panic, alarm, fright, and eventual reluctance to fight back for fear of what may happen. The Jedi, meanwhile, don't let their fear control them. They know that, by giving in, they accomplish nothing. And so they fight back, and that is what we must -- and do -- do.

I've explained the reasoning, but what about the rhyme? Well, look at the dates of the three largest terrorist attacks of the past four years: 9/11, 3/11, and 7/7. They all rhyme. Scary coincidence, or some strange conspiracy? You decide.

I'll end with Wikiquote.org's Quote of the Day: "September 11 was, and remains, above all an immense human tragedy. But September 11 also posed a momentous and deliberate challenge not just to America but to the world at large. The target of the terrorists was not only New York and Washington but the very values of freedom, tolerance and decency which underpin our way of life." Tony Blair.