Terrorists attacks cost more than lives. The direct costs of 9/11 were between $40 to $100 billion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_effects_arising_from_t...). The direct costs of another terrorist attack targeting something like nuclear power could cost $700 billion or more (http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/25/news/economy/nuclear_acciden...). None of these estimates take into account indirect costs, which are potentially even larger. Preventing terrorist attacks is about saving lives, but it's also about stopping events that could wipe out a quarter of our revenue for the year. Massive economic damage can cause a lot of pain and suffering.

When analyzing risk, it's important to estimate costs as accurately as you can. Unfortunately Sam missed the boat on this one.