Why cower in fear, especially in the face of real threats?

Why not work to prevent the threats from occurring?

When threats and harm are allowed to continue without checks, then greater threats and harm will happen.  

Then the people under threat become continuous hostages to greater harm and greater threats.

Piling on the bandwagon of corruption and crimes against humanity only makes the cowards culpable for the corruption and the crimes being committed against humanity.

The coward is still a coward (regardless of whether the system works or fails) for letting harm come to the innocent lives lost and humanity;

Especially when it is the job and duty of said coward to prevent the harm from happening in the first place.