Don't Understand Fear

I'm not an idiot.
But I can't get my head around how fear works.
Paris. Terrorists. Murderers.
Weaponized Fear?
Oh, I get it, in part-it's a control thing. Scare someone, make them fear you...you control them.
For a moment. And then the blowback.
We are three weeks away from the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. It scared us, for a moment.
Then...blowback.
Our resolve was heightened, we entered the War and in a few horrifying years we won surrender from those who would re-make the maps, remake the world in their own image.
Paris. As President Obama is too much of a coward to state the obvious, the attacks in Paris are the work of Islamic religionists who are following the tenets of their faith. You won't find Southern Baptists tossing explosives into crowds of innocents while shouting "Allahu akbar.".
Here's why fear is a mystery to me. Long term, it doesn't work. No one stays scared. Fear is for a moment, then other emotions take over and bad things happen to the fear mongers.
Also, without putting too fine a point on it...I don't fear anyone. I love my life, but when I die I will have a better, fuller life in Heaven.
Hard to scare someone who isn't afraid to die.