Targets for next Act of Terrorism

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Pick a location or object that you deem most suitable for the next of terrorism against the United States. Factor in:

1) # Potential Victims

2) Amount Potential Property Damage

3) Amount Symbolic/Pride Damage

4) Amount Political Turmoil Caused

5) Ease of Destruction/Defacement



Mind you, this problem puts some limits on the mayhem you (the terrorist) can achieve. Assume you have a limited supply of young men willing to die through any orders you give them. Assume you have an even more limited supply of technically qualified suicidal bastards. Assume you have no industrial base (i.e., everything beyond spears and arrows must be bought in stolen money or oil money). Assume you have a limited amount of time before those horrible Americans catch you.



I'll go first.



[ 11-26-2001: Message edited by: cdhostage ]</p>

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    First entry:



    Take a single 18-wheeler cargo truck. Load on it a single nuclear weapon, obtained from your country's secret labs hidden in the mountains or bought from your allies. Drive it somewhere inside the limits of Washington D.C. Activate the device.



    Potential Victims - 600,000 dead instantly (population of D.C.), plus several times that lost over long period of time to radiation sickness and cancer



    Property Damage - I don't know how to estimate this. Enormous.



    Pride Damage - Enormous. Loss of nation's capitol to cowardly users of The Bomb.



    Political Damage - Ranges from Horrible to Horrendous. Given good timing, nuking Washington could take out the President and many people down the chain of President fill-ins, as well as taking out the main buildings and populations of the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches. Given bad timing, nation's control center is now a smoking crater.



    Ease - Moderate. Assume you already have weapon. Hard to get to coast or US border without being noticed (a primitive nuke is BIG). Very easy to conceal under a McDonald's food-truck box or the like. Very easy to drive into the nation's capital.
  • Reply 2 of 15
    dude, they can make nukes that dont require a huge truck like that...

    some say even some that fit in a suitcase...



    way too easy, if u ask me...im surprised they havent done it before now...

    but itl happen...sooner or later, nuclear technology will be released on this country...

    im not sure about living in major cities these days...



    oh, next target? they shoulda hit the texas a&m - tu game this past weekend...

    ther goes 88 thousand texans in one stadium.

    the best and the brightest
  • Reply 3 of 15
    They can make nuclear weapons that fit in suitcases, but those are either extremely low yield (one or two city blocks, with little fallout), or they are unable to obtain them because only we have the technology to produce high yield weapons in small containers like that.



    If they use a nuke, it'll be an old Russian one, and if you've seen the movie "True Lies", that's the actual size of most russian warheads--pretty ****ing big.



    I'm going to say that no nukes will be used, because I honestly don't think these ppl are that dumb. They know that their entire race would be eradicated if they used nuclear weapons against us.



    I think several 18wheelers loaded with explosives would be driven onto the bridge in San Fran, parked at the main support cables locations, and detonated. It sounds hard, but they have the advantage of confusion. Drive all four in at the same time, park, while everyone honks, you arm and detonate.
  • Reply 4 of 15
    The most frightening scenerio is a bio/chemical-terrorist attack...



    1) # Potential Victims - 10 - to 100's of thousands. depending on the chemical/disease carrier.



    2) Amount Potential Property Damage - This is the "best" part about it...none. But a definite psychological blow.



    3) Amount Symbolic/Pride Damage - A lot, remember the cerin gas released in the Japanese subway on the news? Bodies twitching everywhere, women and children too. Horrible. We would freak out.



    4) Amount Political Turmoil Caused - Only if they would succeed would the government get a thrashing. Also, what steps they would take after it happens...look at there investigation on the anthrax letters...they're stumped!



    5) Ease of Destruction/Defacement - Pretty easy. Remeber the crop duster incident? Or it can be transported/released on a chemical tanker truck or even in a suitcase.



    This is one of the most frightening weapons of terrorism in my opinion.
  • Reply 5 of 15
    a10t2a10t2 Posts: 191member
    The FAA's regional Air Traffic Control Centers.



    1) # Potential Victims - a few hundred to several thousand, depending on what flights are in the air at the time. For maximum effect, simultaneously attack all nine centers on, say, December 23.



    2) Amount Potential Property Damage - the centers themselves, plus whatever aircraft run out of fuel, crash trying to land, or collide.



    3) Amount Symbolic/Pride Damage - FAA shuts down domestic air travel for weeks while centers come back on line. Airlines go out of business as public confidence erodes. America is effectively grounded for years.



    4) Amount Political Turmoil Caused - Americans aren't safe flying home for Christmas? Public outrage at the government's ineptitude. Elected officials are evacuated from D.C., leaving lower-level people to mismanage the PR nightmare that's coming. Government offices shut down for several days.



    5) Ease of Destruction/Defacement - Nine pickup trucks loaded with Semtex drive into each building and detonate. No new technology, no significant expenditure of resources or personnel. To maximize devastation, you'd also want to hit the control towers of the major airports (Logan, JFK, Dulles, Lambert, O'Hare, LAX, etc.) This would leave smaller regional airports trying to land widebody jets in a serious time crunch. Phone lines would jam nationwide as people try to track down friends and relatives. For about three days absolute chaos would reign. The media would report on nothing else for months as the confirmed dead continue to pile up.



    Ooh... I just scared myself.



    [Edit: spelling]



    [ 11-26-2001: Message edited by: a10t2 ]</p>
  • Reply 6 of 15
    Just like the WTC they would go after the targets they missed the first time. White House and the US Capitol.
  • Reply 7 of 15
    cdhostagecdhostage Posts: 1,038member
    It would be ridiculously easy to mix in a powder of dry virus particles or spores (of anthrax, for instance) into salt or sugar, and send it out to lie dormant in people's kitchens for a little while before they use the se very common white ingredients in food.



    Rather widespread damage and terror, too.
  • Reply 8 of 15
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    [quote]Originally posted by cdhostage:

    <strong>It would be ridiculously easy to mix in a powder of dry virus particles or spores (of anthrax, for instance) into salt or sugar, and send it out to lie dormant in people's kitchens for a little while before they use the se very common white ingredients in food.



    Rather widespread damage and terror, too.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    How would they get it in people's homes?
  • Reply 9 of 15
    cdhostagecdhostage Posts: 1,038member
    [quote]Originally posted by EmAn:

    <strong>



    How would they get it in people's homes?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Dude!



    Mix it with the sugar or salt at the factory, and let the company's trucks distribute it all over the country free of cost to you!
  • Reply 10 of 15
    In America, the Statue of Liberty. It's unique and is the symbol for the U.S. People would lose a part of their identity with the loss of it.



    There won't be many dead but the psychological effect will be tremendous. The risk of it is that you kill a lot of tourists and more countries get actively involved in tracking them down.



    London would be even easier. All you have to do is supply the gear and you send the "Real IRA" in to blow up either Downing Street or The Tower of London. Big Ben would be a big blow too.



    If you don't mind I'd rather not give my opinion on how to do it. I don't want it to come true and then have the FBI kicking down my door.
  • Reply 11 of 15
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    [quote]Originally posted by cdhostage:

    <strong>



    Dude!



    Mix it with the sugar or salt at the factory, and let the company's trucks distribute it all over the country free of cost to you!</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Makes sense. I don't know how I didn't realize that.
  • Reply 12 of 15
    tmptmp Posts: 601member
    The Oscars. Live. (or rather, dead)
  • Reply 13 of 15
    bellebelle Posts: 1,574member
    [quote]Originally posted by tmp:

    <strong>The Oscars. Live. (or rather, dead)</strong><hr></blockquote>

    Some would say it's no more than the "stars" deserve after "America: A Tribute to Heroes".
  • Reply 14 of 15
    newnew Posts: 3,244member
    Bagdad?
  • Reply 15 of 15
    tmptmp Posts: 601member
    Didn't catch "A Tribute to Egos" so I can't say.



    But I do know that they (the people who just spent 400 mil on the mall that houses the new home of the Oscars) were going to try to get a huge crowd for the first Oscar 'do in the new Kodak theater. In a very densely populated area in the heart of Hollywood, with a comvenient subway stop right in the building.
Sign In or Register to comment.