by Robin Wright, Ronald J. Ostrow, and Marlene Cimons

About the authors: Robin Wright, Ronald J. Ostrow, and Marlene Cimons are staff writers for the Los Angeles Times.

Editor’s note: The following viewpoint was published the day after the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

The World Trade Center. And now Oklahoma City.

Grim reality has been crowding steadily closer.

The age of innocence is ending as Americans realize that terrorism is no longer something threatening other people in other countries.

The End of Innocence

In fact, say federal officials and independent experts, it was an illusion from the beginning. A combination of luck, good intelligence work and efficient law enforcement have prevented scores of attempts at terrorist acts over the last 25 years, according to the Federal Bureau of...