Los Angeles and Melbourne New Targets

[Dagny]

Was just wondering what people thought of these new threats? In particular those people who live in Los Angeles and Melbourne. Do you feel safe? Do you think this should be taken seriously...and is it being taken seriously by your officials? What weaknesses do think your city has (if any) that terrorists could possibly take advantage of?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-0...or-threat_x.htm

For my part, as a resident of Los Angeles, I am a little worried but I'm not going to be paranoid or anything. I will just be more cautious of my surroundings. From this article it sounds as if officials are hesitant about taking the tape seriously but I hope that their statements were only made so as not to alarm people. They have recently arrested 3 men that met in a California jail who had been planning attacks on Los Angeles so the new threats aren't really that far fetched. Obviously the city's officials cannot protect every part of the city 24/7. I think LA's biggest weakness is probably the freeways at rush hour. They can't all be guarded all the time and it is what Los Angeles is most known for.

[Unconquered]

By its nature, such threats are open ended and designed to create worry. Unfortunately there are so many ways that these lice could do damage that I don't see any particular thing that a person could do differently with any real justification. The major threats are a nuclear weapon or release of a biological pathogen, in which case it only matters where you are in a broad geographic sense. The U.S. will continue to be in danger until the government takes the necessary actions to pulverize the countries supporting and harboring the terrorists - i.e., it will be in danger indefinitely. Four years after 9/11 the biggest threats still exist and little action is being taken to address them.

[Edited to remove large, unnecessary quote. Game on! Matt]

Edited September 12, 2005 by Groovenstein

[FeatherFall]

I think it's interesting to note that the guy who made these threats used to be an environmentalist in high school. I've thought for a while that in environmentalism and jihad lies an alliance to happen. The protest culture is rife with environmentalists who invariably support the Palestinian cause.

[mweiss]

These days, the US government is so paranoid over ANY thought of terror attack that even the mere leak of a conversation or a captive talking about a plot can cause major mayhem over here in the US.

A few weeks ago, NYC had a 'credible threat' and I was driving home from FL at the time this was reported. When I reached Delaware, the overhead traffic information sign has a 1-800 terror alert number posted.

All it takes is for some malcontent to make up a bogus story--heck, they shut down an entire highway recently because of a 'suspicious package' found by the side of the road--to disrupt this nation. A few hundred such incidents and our resources will be overtaxed. A few more and the 'cry wolf' syndrome sets in and folks will not take the threats seriously anymore. And that's when a real attack can happen.

We're just chasing our tails and running in utter terror. The terrorists have won.

BTW, when I crossed the George Washington bridge, they had signs forbidding the use of cameras while on the bridge! Is this America or Soviet Russia? It's getting hard to tell.

[Dikaiosyne]

BTW, when I crossed the George Washington bridge, they had signs forbidding the use of cameras while on the bridge! Is this America or Soviet Russia? It's getting hard to tell.

I really cannot resist:

In America, you can take a picture of the bridge.

In Soviet Russia, Bridge can take a picture of you!

[mweiss]

I really cannot resist:

In America, you can take a picture of the bridge.

In Soviet Russia, Bridge can take a picture of you!

Ah, as it was/is in Soviet Russia, it is today in Soviet New York!

[Fenriz]

I think LA's biggest weakness is probably the freeways at rush hour. They can't all be guarded all the time and it is what Los Angeles is most known for.

I'm also an Angeleno.

I think that the Port of Los Angeles is Al-Qaeda's most likely target. It's probably the busiest seaport in the United States, and it would be catastrophic if a dirty bomb were set off there.

Anyway, I'm not too worried if a terrorist attack does happen in Los Angeles. Recently there was a power outage that affected most of the downtown area, and within minutes the police and fire departments were in tactical positions ready to respond.