Lexis

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/...ns_no_mon.html

Can someone please tell me what the hell the author of this report was thinking? I mean the security at Liberty Island is so strict precisely because of the risk of terrorists trying to make a symbolic attack.

The budget cut also seems so huge! I mean, going from more than 200 million dollars to under 130 million dollars.

TheAngel

I think the biggest threats now are to our ports. Do you know how easy it would be for a terriorist to load a cargo container with explosives, drive it into San Francisco or Florida or around the Gulf and blow it and part of the city into tiny little pieces.

Lexis

I totally agree with you about the ports - isn't the statistic something like 5% of cargo is scanned when it enters the country, the rest goes through unhindered? Still, I can't understand why the huge cut was made when New York is such a prominant place.

UnsilentMajorty

If we are talking about potential targets, we have to separate them into two categories: Hard and Soft.

Major cities like New York, Boston and Los Angeles are called Hard Targets because they are "harder" to hit since 9/11, becuase of increased security and high visibility.

Among the hard targets that most likely be attacked next are Las Vegas, Seattle or Los Angeles.

-Las Vegas because it is a symbol of Western decadence and excess. The entire city's economy and how it is percieved around the world revolves around excess and opulance. The worst in Capatilsm and an "Infidel" society has to offer.

-Seattle because it is the seat of high technology (Computers; Biotechnology; Aerospace; etc). It is also part of the soft target category (more below).

-Los Angeles because it is on the West Coast and is the Entertainment Capital of America as well as the world.

The main goal of terrorism is to send a message via fear, panic, and the mass media in order to enact change in a society (of the enemy, or even in their own) to further their agenda.

A prime example would be destroying a major city like Los Angeles and crippling the movie industry would be one way for terrorists to stop the spread of what they consider "Western Corruption" as would a strike against Las Vegas as mentioned above.

Soft targets -- suburban malls; neighborhoods; hotels; restaurants; schools; etc. -- Which are outside of the major cities is where terrorists are most likely to strike next more than hard targets.

Is it not just because they are supposedly easier targets to hit, but because if Al-Queda managed to blow up a suburban school full of children it would prove they could get to anyone at any time becuse school is symbol of everyday life outside of "the big city" and this would greatly affect the pyschological moral of this nation if that happened.

Not only would it make them more hated than before, BUT pragmatically, in the long run, it would severely effect national moral as there would be indefinite suspensions of schools and perhaps even work and major public events as martial law would set in complete with armed National Guard troops on the street at checkpoints similar to Belfast during the IRA bombings. This IS a change in the society and exactly what they would want because it would be forcing us to live as they want us to and that is the whole point.

Lexis

Interesting points UnsilentMajority. But should money be withdrawn from the hard targets (perhaps making them less difficult to hit if the cuts are big enough) to sure up the soft targets or should we find a way to finance both?

I hate to beat a dead horse here but wouldn't it make more sense to roll back the tax cuts for the rich and use that money to fund security measures?

Ms Carolyn

I just have a hard time understanding how they determined that NY had "no icons". The Statue of Liberty?? Hello!!!

Likewise, I'm not really sure that most terrorists have even heard of Louisville.

UnsilentMajorty

In past raids on Al-Queda insurgent strongholds in Iraq, U.S. intelligence found computer disks full of photos and blue prints and evacutation procedures for major U.S. suburban school districts in the suburbs of Chicago and other mid-western states.

The fact is this new enemy is already here (sleeper cells) and is more wide-spread than you think and is not just limited to the major urban cities. We have a tendancy in this country to try and be all inclusive and non-discriminatory... Especially, on the basis of race or religion... But unfortunately this is the biggest loop hole our "open" society has as a lot of sleeper cells are in fact right out in the open among the Arab, Middle-Eastern and Musilm and Islamic communities spread through out the country in suburban and rual areas.

The biggest problem isn't the majority of the members of these communities (the ones who aren't terrorists and just want to have a decent life for them and their families), but a lot of the religous leaders... The radical clerics who are the community leaders... Who support and secretly harbor and sponsor terrorists because their loyalties are divided among their religious beliefs and where they live because they truly believe the U.S. is intent on invading and destroying the "Holy Land" out of sheer hatred of Islam and Muslims, right or wrong. The clerics are the majority of the problem because they have what amounts to diplomatic immunity -- not legally, but how they can sponsor "student" visas and channel funds under what falls under "religious and educational" purposes -- And they are also smart in they usually are an educated person who knows the laws of the United States (search and siezeure; Miranda; First Amandment; 14th Amendmant; etc.) and the limits of what can and can't be done on both sides.

I must stress this isn't all religious leaders of the Islamic or Muslim communities... But for the radical ones this is exactly how terrorists and their funding are getting into the U.S. (aside from our lax security even after 9/11). In addition, true Islam, like most religions is a faily tolerant and non-violent one, but with recent events such as the invasion of Iraq for what amounts to nothing and the possible coming invasion of Iran, you can see how confusing things are and why loyalties are suddenly not as black and white as they used to be.