My starting point can be summarized in a syllogism: War is politics by other means. Terrorism is the warfare of the weak. Therefore, terrorism is politics. The first section of this chapter draws out some of the implications of this syllogism, and the second section examines several aspects of the U.S. response to terrorism in light of these implications. The third section offers conclusions and recommendations for evaluating U.S. antiterrorist policies, and for research needed to understand terrorism better.