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OK, before I get fed up with Armslocker’s resident nut case, (or is it, cases?) and drop off the board, again, I’d like to weigh in on this subject. The Yellowstone Caldera is, surely, something to worry about; and who can, really, blame the government for not publicizing it more? However the event I, personally, worry about most is another 9/11. I’m an old chess player; and one of the things you always have to do in chess is to view the board from your opponent’s perspective. So, here goes: Will there be another airplane attack using American planes on American soil? Quite frankly the odds are against it – a foreign plane, perhaps, but not an American one. Is this sort of repeat attack, even, attractive to Al-Quaida? At this time I do not believe so; these people are thinking in terms of, ‘big numbers’ now; and an airplane or two, presently, holds little interest to them. So what’s up?
I’ve heard rumors, often repeated but largely unsubstantiated, that Osama Bin Laden has promised to commit suicide, right here, in America at sometime in the near future. I’ve, also, heard that Al-Quaida has, ‘the bomb’. Exactly which model is open to speculation. So, given this background, what is the most plausible method of attack for a relatively low-tech group of Muslim fanatics whose historical, ‘strong suite’ is an unabashed willingness to sacrifice themselves in violent confrontation?
Other popular rumors concern threatened attacks against famous national institutions like the White House or the Statue of Liberty. IMO, the White House is more than safe because it's well-known to be a very, 'hard target'; and I doubt that even a crazed Muslim fanatic would waste himself on any lesser target like the Statue of Liberty. What's more, taking out another tall building, or two, is now passé – Even Tom Ridge is expecting it; and, there's simply not enough shock value to warrant the effort!
So if you were an Arab maniac with a big bomb what would you do? Remember delivery is a serious problem; and you don’t have a B-1 bomber to come flying in on. Well now, how about that most unobtrusive and readily available of low tech delivery systems – a ship! That’s right; if I were playing, ‘chess’ with Osama Bin Laden this is, ‘How’ I would view, ‘the board’ from his point-of-view.
There are fewer than a dozen principal commercial entry ports in North America. If only 4 or 5 of them were to be successfully attacked and taken out, life as we have known it in the Western world would change forever; and the extraordinarily high, ‘body count’ would be exactly what Al-Quaida is looking for!
Are we, as a nation, ready for this? No, not from what I've seen - so far! Are North American commercial ports, really, easy targets for a devastating low tech/big bomb attack? Yes, they are - and beyond any shadow of doubt, too! Is the probability of carrying out a successful attack(s) weighted in favor of the crazy Muslim aggressors? Yes, unquestionably, it is! Now, is Al-Quaida going to, at least, attempt to carry out this sort of an attack(s)? Again, in my opinion, they would be very foolish to overlook this blatantly obvious, 'soft belly' in America's defensive armor.
Coordinated Atomic bomb attacks on America’s principal ports is the next smart move on Osama Bin Laden’s, 'Chess board'. What a damned shame that in spite of the Patriot Act, and the sacrifice of so many of our cherished historical freedoms, America is, still, goofing around, foolishly involved in a broad range of disorganized military gestures all across the globe while our homeland remains, quite literally, wide open to devastating attack! We don’t need to disband our hard-won civil liberties in order to protect the nation; instead, we need to protect our ports, and take a lesson from our forefathers by defending ourselves against this skulking, ‘enemy within’.
Pray that I’m wrong; I know I do.
