As the article implies, programs like PROMIS (at least the way the US government uses it), Main Core, etc. can be used to track and detain terrorists, potential terrorists, etc., but it's debatable whether its main target is terrorists, especially since it had its beginnings in the 1980s, before the degree of terrorism we see today existed. To anticipate today's degree of terrorism doesn't seem to be something that these program's initiators were somehow psychic enough to foretell. So, it's likely the target all along has really been anybody that whoever is "in power" doesn't like. The degree of terrorism we see today, has probably been instigated by the people who created these programs, as a cover for pouring funding into these programs, because normal people would never have allowed such things to evolve as they have.

The people who started these programs, have a paranoid mindset more towards the country going in a "liberal" direction, than in terrorism. It's a mindset that can't get off its ass to figure out more reasonable ways of dealing with their perverse concerns. In their ideal world, there would be events that would allow them to use these programs and detention facilities to change the course of the country's mindset away from "liberalism". I don't think one goal is to intimidate people simply by the creation of these facilities. I think they really would like to use them.