teacherken's musings on everything

I did not plan to write a diary today. But thanks to a link at Atrios I just read the following from Billmon:

We can't rule out a major attack on American soil. (A recent report based on Saudi intelligence sources claims the al-Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps – probably the most capable terrorist support organization in the world – already has a box on its organizational chart labeled "North America.")

I decided I needed to write down - and share -that our fears about another 9-11 may blind us to our real vulnerability, how easy it would be to sabotage our economy. I live and work on opposite sides of Washington DC. I live in the bulls-eye.


Years ago I had a conversation with a gentleman that somehow got around to a discussion of how terrorism could impact the US. I was less worried about a massive attack, because it would be possible to cause panic by striking at symbols, or by crippling key parts of infrastructure. One example I cited (and this was BEFORE the 1993 attack at the World Trade Center) was how easy it would be to fill a panel truck with explosives, park it in what was then then public garage under the Air and Space Museum and collapse that - it was at the time the most visited tourist site in the nation’s capital, and was a highly visible symbol of our sense of power and history: the Spirit of St. Louis, moon capsules,etc. Hundreds would be killed and a major symbol of US power and strength would be destroyed. I do not know what if any part this conversation played, but it was not too long thereafter that the garage was closed to the public. Several of the other scenarios I discussed at that time I will not repeat now, because it turned out the gentleman with whom I was speaking had some official responsibility for infrastructure protection and I



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