With the release of yet another report stating that the United States will be on the receiving end of yet another terror threat, it’s sometimes amazing that one can get any sleep instead of hiding under the bed and stocking up on food.
Of course the US isn’t the only target. Pretty much anybody with a grudge against another Country is seeing terrorism as a viable alternative to protests, demonstrations, or political action. Visitors to Thailand are being warned of possible attacks. Canadian pipelines are under threats of attack from Eco-Terrorists. Even Ethiopia of all places is a possible target.
It’s also clear that going after the Terrorist’s funding just isn’t working. It’s also equally clear that for whatever reason Pakistan is both physically and politically a safe harbor for terrorist of all shapes and sizes. This is despite repeated attempts by many to get the terrorist rooted out no matter where they are.
1.) New York City Subway Threats
The most immediate threat is against the New York City Subway system. Nothing is substantiated, (at least publicly) nor should there be until actual arrests are made. But if you’re a New Yorker, expect heightened security, long lines, and lots of cops and extra security. In my opinion this is probably the biggest and most immediate threat. Previous operations had already been planned but were not carried out because something bigger was planned. Terrorist feel that New York is good target because they’ve already done it a couple of times, and can keep on circumventing American Security measures to follow through with their plans.
2.) Docks and Ports
While not a glamours target, a few well placed bombs in a Port or several could cause huge problems for the United States (and even possibly the rest of the world.) The financial impact alone could be devastating especially as one of our major ports is shut down. On the same token I feel that this is also one of the less likely targets, although the immediate impact and widely ranging affects of shutting down such a port could easily entice a potential attack.
3.) Schools
One of the scariest potential targets for everyone. A suburban school, most likely protected by a couple of unarmed guards makes a good target. Blue prints and surveillance information has already been found on captured laptops in Iraq. Reports that Al-Qaeda is recruiting children themselves to pull of these attacks abound. As protective as people get of children, an attack directly on them would be a huge downturn in moral to a huge portion of the US. On the other hand it would also harm a lot of the terrorists own efforts as their supporters speak out against such an act.
4.) Bioterrorism on water supplies
Fairly low on the terrorism scale, but not unfathomable, is the possibility of attacks on fresh water supplies around the United States. Such attacks would most likely be biologically oriented instead of physical. Virus of various sorts, bird flu, germs, or poison, could all potentially be dumped into the water supply to make the drinkers sick. Luckily such a method would have a huge failure rate as water supplies tend to go through a treatment plant before the public gets it.
5.) Shopping Malls
Shopping Malls are pretty far down the list of potential targets. The only thing that would happen is some people dead, a few stores closed, news reports for a couple of days and everything would be back to normal. This would be a quick and easy target for a lone suicide bomber though. Add in the number of malls (seven within 20 miles of my area alone,) in the United States and there is a better then even chance of an attack.
Other Possibilities: Water Sewage Treatment Plants, Ferries, and of course hotels.
Unluckily the threat of Terrorism is something everyone in the world has to live with for now. Just keep in mind that if we better the United States, and we better the world in general, the potential for attacks will decrease in the future.