ABSTRACT
Before delving into soft target hardening, we first need to ask, what is terrorism? Since the US definition alludes to a political or sociological bent, we have difficulty defining a terrorist and a terror attack and we are also in denial about legitimate terror attacks in our county. It is also important to explore who becomes a terrorist and their motivations and behaviors. Soft targets are vulnerable civilian-centric venues with little to no protection. Soft target violence is a black swan, no one could predict schools, churches, hospitals, and sporting and recreational events would be targets for terrorists. There are many reasons why terrorists choose soft targets, for instance, terrorism is an elaborate marketing campaign and the product is fear, and soft target attacks deliver. We are even more vulnerable due to our protection of civilian noncombatants on the battlefield and our emotional traps that lead us to believe “it won’t happen here” and “it won’t happen to me”’which increases our vulnerability.
