Sully's Magic Line between Tragedy and Farce

The latter supplied by the supreme imbecility of this rationalization which he wholeheartedly approved:

As The Economist went to press, the toll in the four London bombs was not clear, but the estimate of at least 33 deaths was thankfully far smaller than in Madrid. By the terrible calculus of terrorism, the attacks should thus be counted as a failure - sign of weakness, not strength.

Where is the "magic" line between failure and success, is it 100? Do you have to have 100 dead to be a tragic terrorist strike, as opposed to the jolly victory of only 33 corpses? The death toll is up to 53 now and will undoubtedly climb. Are we supposed to cheer or clap louder or something as long as the toll ends at 99?

What a putz.