The terror alerts were elevated from yellow to orange in New York, Washington and Newark last week. Some complained that they were inconvenienced by the resulting traffic snarls. I wonder how inconvenienced they would have been if a truck bomb had blown up their workplace instead?

Americans have short attention spans, but has it been that long since September 11, 2001? While many, including some on the 9/11 Commission, complained that there wasn't enough done to prevent the attacks of September 11, others are now complaining that they can't get to work on time.

We can never know what might have been prevented each time the alert level is raised and some people are annoyed. Terrorists aren't going to send an email to say that they are going to park a white truck, license number BR-549, loaded with explosives in front of the Prudential Building at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

The information about attacks will likely always be sketchy, will likely always be questioned and will likely never be definitive. In the absence of absolute, irrefutable proof that an attack will occur, people may be inconvenienced from time to time. When no bomb explodes, there is no way to know if the intelligence was wrong or an attack was prevented.

The bottom line is that no bomb exploded. As the President has stated, if there is a question, he will err on the side of caution. It would be foolhardy to act in any other way.

September 11 changed our way of life. If you make the claim that if we change our lives as a result of those attacks, then terrorists have won, then yes, they have won. We must either prevent attacks or endure attacks. Make no mistake, those that masterminded the attacks three years ago are not satisfied. They will attack again, sooner or later. We can no longer bury our heads in the sand and wish that we lived in the carefree world we knew in 2000.

In terms of the terror alerts themselves are concerned, the five-level color-coded scheme is simple enough for a five-year old to understand, but yet some decry it as being too confusing or too frightening. These are the same people too afraid eat a banana for fear of slipping on the peel.

The purpose of the terror alert system is not to needlessly alarm the banana-eating public. It is used to not only alert law enforcement agencies but also to remind Americans that we are not living in a pre-September 11 world anymore, no matter how much we wish we were.

Terrorists are likely living among us and we must all be vigilant, to borrow a phrase from the Department of Homeland Security. That call to vigilance involves not only the necessity to be aware of suspicious activities that may occur around us, but also the possibility of our normal activities being disrupted from time to time. A few minutes recalling just what happened on September 11 should be enough to put any inconveniences into perspective.

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Jan A. Larson publishes a weekly commentary, "What is the Deal?" at the Pie of Knowledge (http://www.pieofknowledge.com). His work also appears from time to time on NewsBull (http://www.newsbull.com), OpinionEditorials (http://www.opinioneditorials.com), the Washington Dispatch (http://www.washingtondispatch.com) and American Daily (http://www.americandaily.com).