But there is another point that Americans need to ponder. That point is that the U.S. government’s assassination program in Pakistan, Yemen, and elsewhere and its sanctions program against Iran might well lead to “blowback” in the form of another major terrorist attack on American soil.

While it’s still undetermined as to who committed the Boston Marathon bombings and why, at the top of the list of suspects has got to be people who are retaliating for what the U.S. national-security state has been doing and continues to do to people in foreign countries, including the drone assassinations, the 12-year occupation of Afghanistan, the sanctions against Iran, and the support of brutal Middle East dictatorships.

Is it all worth it? That’s what Americans need to be asking themselves.