> It makes a good propaganda bit for both sides, but doesn't actually impede function.
The 9/11 attacks impeded function. The functioning of airlines, for example, have been impeded. Efficiency of flight for every individual traveler is reduced by needing to arrive at an airport an extra hour early. If we agree that making things proceed through big bureaucratic processes is effective sabotage, then consider that the TSA is an entire bureaucracy that would not exist if not for high profile suicide terror.
The functioning of government has been impeded. Enormous amounts of political capital and willpower have been wasted dealing with the war on terror, allowing domestic priorities to languish. The USA, goaded into a decade of counter-productive flailing, is now highly challenged to enact foreign policy strategies.
Those are two things, I think there are many, many others.
> ...a good thing that prospective jihadis aren't motivated by charts showing decreased output.
Why should we assume this? We might just not be looking for it.