Nuisance / Nuance, What's the Difference?

This is an exerpt from Kerry's interview with The New York Times Magazine:

When I asked Kerry what it would take for Americans to feel safe again, he
displayed a much less apocalyptic worldview. ''We have to get back to the place
we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they're a
nuisance,'' Kerry said. ''As a former law-enforcement person, I know we're never
going to end prostitution. We're never going to end illegal gambling. But we're
going to reduce it, organized crime, to a level where it isn't on the rise. It
isn't threatening people's lives every day, and fundamentally, it's something
that you continue to fight, but it's not threatening the fabric of your life.''

He wants us to return to thinking of terrorists as a nuisance!?! Interesting that that word has French roots. I think the the French are a nuisance. Stumping your toe is a nuisance. Your neighbor's barking dog is a nuisance. I don't equate airliners full of people blowing up to a nuisance.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that how terrorism was treated during the nineties, which emboldened them even more? We didn't respond with force, so after each attack they would just plan another one and their targets kept getting bigger. (Somalia, WTC '93, Khobar Towers, two embassy bombings, USS Cole, 9/11...yeah, those were all such nuisances, huh?)

Note to John Kerry: WE ARE AT WAR!!!