[kingsidharth]

> I know they seemed dangerous as late as 2001, because I wrote an essay then about how they were less dangerous than they seemed.

Didn't get it. They seemed dangerous because Paul wrote an essay?

[corin_]

The 'because' refers not to them seeming dangerous, but to his knowing, in 2007, that they did seem dangerous in 2001.

[ashearer]

If they hadn't seemed dangerous, Paul wouldn't have written the essay.