what are better ways to kill Americans? liquid bombs are puny

compared to what real terrorists could do to this country. My greatest fear is that 10 or 20 jihadists looking to go to heaven for their 72 virgins would,"go to the countryside and find some super-mega high energy transmission lines" destroying the electrical power grid that supplies electricity to tens of millions of homes,businesses, etc.
Does that sound far fetched? Think it can't be done? Remember Oceans 11? Yes that was a movie but a couple of years ago a drunk driver crashed his truck into 1 transmission line knocking it loose. Imagine for a moment
that 20 major lines were knocked out and severely damaged with estimates of repair being maybe 30 days. That would make the "blackout of 1967(?) in NYC look like boys night out (riots,2500 arrests,looting)."

it was just 3 short years ago August 14 2003 that the power went out along the Eastern seaboard knocking out power to 50,000,000 people. Fortunately most power came back within 24 hours and no real cause for what had happened was determined. How would 100,000,000 Americans act without electricity for 30 days? I'm too scared to think of the kinds of riots that would ensue. The rich would be OK in their ivory towers complete with generators but what of the average joe's and jane's?

Liquid bombs, sorry but that doesn't top 911 and for all we know about these al-queda/neocon types they need to one-up 911.

Plus, could 10 pyromaniacs set the West on fire? Or, how about CBS who last year ran a story on 60 Minutes about a Chlorine plant in the shadow of NYC (12 miles away) with the gates open and a dozen chlorine tanks (10'ft. tall) just waiting to be destroyed allowing for a cloud of gas that would be upon NYC in minutes possibly KILLING millions. I called CBS about that and chewed them out.

I bet some of you DU-er's could even top my worst fears and if so, please do.

Anyway, thanks for allowing me to post this because the liquid bombers were taking to much air time.

launching a coordinated attack could bring this country to it's knees.

shutting down Washington D.C. by spreading mass chaos and panic. Truck bombs on 2 or 3 major bridges (14th street bridge, Memorial Bridge, Teddy Roosevelt Bridge, American Legion Bridge, and/or Woodrow Wilson Bridge) simultaneous suicide bombers on the metro system, and a dirty bomb somewhere in the downtown area. Gridlock for weeks probably. Scary stuff.

...have you ever seen what an exploding propane tank looks like? Really impressive fireball.

I'm really surprised there's not better protection around chemical plants.

wiped out the town/city killing 500 hundred people back in 1947. But taking down power lines could lead to 100,000,000 people without electricity.. that scares the shit out of me.

thanks for the feedback ..

He basically said if you gave him 10 well trained snipers and placed them in 10 different major cities in the US he could basically bring the country to a standstill. Now I'm not sure if it would result in that kind of damage but remember the panic over the one sniper in DC. Now imagine 10 cities have incidents all coordinated.

especially in the school systems after the child was shot. Every single school district in the area was on lock-down. What was so unsettling about the whole thing was that people were shot in the middle of doing the most mundane things like pumping gas or going to the grocery store. Now THAT was terror.

way to snipe people? Lying in the trunk of their car shooting through a small hole and then felling. Yes, that incident/s certainly stopped traffic grinding to a halt on the interstate not to forget the panic/fear in many people.

thanks my friend for the input..

that it was 2 guys in a white van. Do you know how many white vans there are in the D.C. area?

inside to the trunk where they were able to shoot through the trunk vis-a-vis a small hole and remain
hidden.

thanks Virginia for adding to this morbid thread..

but while all the hysteria was going on, the cops were chasing a mythical white van because of some false information they were given. These are the types of things that occur during panic and chaos. I can recall watching the media coverage on the night that they caught the guys, and virtually none of the information they were giving out in the beginning ever proved to be true. For instance, they were saying they were hispanic, and they actually were black. They were saying it was a father and son, and in fact, it was not, etc. etc.

Hey no problem, it's Friday, we can be a little morbid.

The Tarot cards were the best part - freaky stuff. Then they had the sniper caught "like a duck in a noose" - WTF - A duck in a noose huh??? At least they caught somebody and stopped the insanity.

the only reason they were caught is because Lee Boyd Malvo went to a priest and confessed it. This was after he had tried to contact the police on at least one other occasion, and wasn't taken seriously. How much longer could those guys have carried on if he hadn't done that? As I posted here before, the police were so intent on chasing some mythical white van, that the tips that were coming in that were actually accurate were being discounted. The big problem was, it was so many different jurisdications that were involved, and I think they kept stepping on each other's toes a little bit. The whole thing was so crazy.

So that they didn't share info. Apparently Montgomery County had a strong lead on them early on, and they slipped through the cracks. Truth is, they should have parked unidentified cops around gas stations all over VA, which is where most of the shootings occurred, and just waited - they could have nabbed them very quickly - there's not a county they operated in that doesn't have the budget for it. Damn glad the guy had a conscience enough to confess his sins, though.

Edited to add:

Realistically, every gas station would be too much - but grid the area and place cops in it at regular intervals - they would have got them quick.

beltway snipers hadn't basically wanted to get caught, they'd probably still be out there. Yeah, 10 guys, maybe hitting schools, malls, a power line or two, gasoline tanker trucks... We're a lot more vulnerable society than we think we are.

...into a poorly defended Mentos factory. It could obliterate the Western Hemisphere.

Or kidnapping Barney so we had to actually entertain our own kids. The horror!

Or disrupting microwave oven production so we actually had to cook our own food. Half the country would starve!

Honestly, if every terrorist in the world came here and did their worst, they wouldn't be able to do 10% of the damage that BushCo have done in the name of freedom and security.

on American Idol finale night, talk about terror!

never watched that show and have not listened to any discussions the day after, avoid it like I avoid watching Bush speaking

verdent green lawns of your average suburb. The horror..... the horror.

every so often one of those companies calls me and wants to spread deadly chemicals all over the place to keep my lawn green and weed free. I always tell them I like my weeds. They're green aren't they?

WOW..yes multiply that 10,000 fold and "it can destroy a city"

DU-er's are very imaginable people.. Thanks !!

:evilgrin:

They will be randomly scattered across the country, but each cell will live near other members of the cell.

On a certain date, the first cell activates and dons full-body armor and shoots up a mall with AK47s and homemade bombs. Shooting lasts for hours and dozens lie dead, including several police officers who had difficulty piercing the armor.

Then the second cell activates. This time the target is a police station. Dozens are gunned down before they're killed.

Then the third cell activates. The target is a hospital. Again, dozens die in the attack.

Then the final cell activates. This time the target is a high school. Instant Beslan Massacre repeated on US soil.

If this happened in four different parts of the US at the same time, you probably won't make it to midnight before the federal government declares martial law.

What of the terrorists demands? What if they said that they will continue to do this unless you exit Iraq? Still want to "stay the course"?

in L.A. wow ..But not 4 sleeper cells but 100-200 4 man teams scattered across the country with heavy weaponry
making demands like that in Belsan. How could we stop it? Meanwhile its more important for NSA/D.o.D. to spy on us and granny's.

Good points.. thanks for that scary scenario..

some young man with mental issues went and shot up a police station in a suicide mission. There was mass panic for about an hour or two until they figured out it was a lone gunman and he was dead. They basically had to lock down all of the police stations. Hitting the first responders is a good way to spread mass chaos.

Fifty or sixty coordinated brushfires...

Yikes.

... and propane trucks....I shudder at the thought.

How about smoke grenades/bombs at sporting events? Hundreds would be trampled if a sickly-green cloud starts wafting thru the crowd.

maybe a few thousand. Not big enough. Maybe 5-10 stadiums at one time,a bigger bang. It would give all future arena events something to think about though.
I remember seeing a movie many years ago "Black Thursday" with Bruce Dern about an effort to bomb a Super Bowl. They were using a Blimp with a small boat(something like that) attached to the bottom. This explosive device was strewn with thousands of nails all with the capacity to inflict death or severe bodily harm. Ever see it?

I have a relative by marriage who was rather high up in military command. He commented years before 9/11 that they expected a terrorist attack here in this country at a soft target such as these.

or both? It would really put a damper on amusement parks but bush says,"the bad guys hate us for our freedoms and amusement parks"

Still Virginia, on Aug 14 2003 we had a massive blackout here in the East. 53,000,000 people were affected but fortunately it lasted just 24 hours in most areas. They never did satisfactorily find out why it happened. Something in Ohio I heard but no real answers that I accept.

:hi:

it is the things that they don't splash all over CNN and scream about ad nauseum on FAUX that we need to be afraid of. You really need to pay attention and be a bit of a detective to figure out what the real risks are. This country is very vulnerable, but it's not from what the citizens are doing. There are lots of holes in our security that will never be plugged because it would affect the corporate bottom line. Inconvenience and put demands on average citizens, yes, but never NEVER inconvenience or put demands on corporate america.

...for 10 years! What's taken our Homeland Security so long to figure this out? Once you're through security, you can purchase liquids on the other side.

The liquid bombers are a bit far fetched to me, and I'm sure they'll be those who are trying to duplicate the process just to see if it would work.

Exactly how were they going to put all of the ingredients together and where? On the plane? I just flew coach last week. Does anyone realize how small of a space you have, let alone assemble a bomb? Or if it's done prior to boarding, how stable is the substance?

Way too many questions. One thing I do know, the FEAR tactics of BushCo, who need people to die, in order to win in November, are mostly being ignored. Proof is today that Bush poll numbers are as low as they've ever been.

Use your imagination. I realy don't think it would be all that hard. I can think of a few things, I bet you can too.

Not saying the plot was real (I am agnostic about it right now) but I always wondered why they hadn't done this kind of thing earlier.

Of course I saw something about them having had the idea years ago so...

suspicious attempting to mix anything in these explosively charged days of terror? I think they would stand out.
I think as you do. We need to scare the people keep them fearful of Muslims/Arabs. It's sad when folks go along with that program but the BFEE wanted this kind of fear and chaos hence 911 although these past 59 months I've seen/read and heard more than enough for me to indict them for 911.

A funny thing about his poll numbers prior to the "new terror alert" he was at 36% then yesterday/today he's at 33%..go figure..


thanks for the input..

thus my statement, but both Syria and Iran are also a part of western Asia, so that shoe fits as well.

I guess it depends on how many Americans Bush plans to kill this way.

Brain already in shutdown.

All that money thrown away and all those resources being squandered or worse. Think about the Katrina response without the National Guard around to help, think of all the people dying due to lack of medical insurance or because they are living on the street in Bush's new America. We could have had bought just about any future we wanted with the money that's gone towards this war, and instead we paid for a human meat grinder. There is no end in sight to the death being caused, and most won't even have the dignity of being counted, either here or in Iraq.

It might not be as sexy as a jet-fuel explosion, but it's a bigger massacre than something like 9/11 can ever be.

hundreds of billions of OUR DOLLARS wasted in a snake pit. What were they thinking? Ha,we'll just remove Saddam, scatter his troops install our puppet leader and "STEAL THEIR OIL." I still feel its about the 112 billion bbls. of oil. Whether to keep it off the market hence 75$ oil or sit on it for the next 10-20 years as we try to install pro-western friendly leaders throughout the Middle East (PNAC's Utopia)

Du-er's never cease to amaze me.. thanks for the opinion, a righteous one at that..

ME. What if they cornered a big supply of broccoli and beans and went about the US disrupting our restaurants.

That would do a helluva lot of damage to the entire southwest's economy. Big damage.

or leak profusely while the Army Corp of Engineers figure a way to temporary repair it? How much water is behind that dam? Gazillion gallons? Yes, that would kill and disrupt millions of people..

another scary scenario.. thanks..

but look at what happened to the WTC

but as I understand it its notoriously hard to smash a dam.
IIRC in WWII we wanted to blow up Nazi dams and it took quite some doing.

to be awfully strong and well built. Still a commercial jet traveling at 500 MPH surely would create some serious damage but would it collapse completely before temporary repairs could be made? I know that dam is vital to the West and the destruction of it would jeapordize the country..very scary scenario.. far more scary than 10 jets going down. Sorry Will Pitt !!

Or, since you can't get sharks onto a plane....

Snakes on a plane with frickin' laserbeams on their heads!

'Course our *ahem* Golden Recliner (as we like to call her) would not be moved to such action.

The upside, it might push us toward more telecommuting. Did I just type that?

traffic jams and here in NYC we have plenty.. Road rage anyone?

http://www.crooksandliars.com/
has a video from Oberman that shows how powerful a bomb of this type can be (and the example is a very small amount of material).

Frankly terror is the art of attacking what can not be protected. There are millions (literaly) of diffrent ways to spread panic.
No need to give them even more.

:kick:

I doubt anyone on DU could come up with a scenario that hasn't already been kicked around by the alleged evil "terrorists". Maybe I'm underestimating the evil minds here though. :evilgrin:

Edited to add:

Our chemical plants, water, and food distribution systems are still basically unprotected. Everyone eats and drinks, and chemicals can be dangerous when handled according to safety guidelines.

after that little Eastern Seaboard debacle. I was leaving for vacation the day it happened and went anyway just because there was no reason to stay home. No traffic lights, no gas stations opened, no gas. People in tall buildings - no elevators, etc. It was a small nightmare, so I went North and got out of town. It took hours just to get out of the parking garage and hours to get home and I only live 10 miles from work! Funny, we were on the way western side of it, so the next county over had power, but people were coming from miles around to get gas, etc. and within 24 hours they were out. Yes, it caused a mini-meltdown for about a week. The *best* part was coming home to all the rotting food in the fridge and freezer.

And could you imagine it during one of the major heat waves we've just had? No air conditioning anywhere? People would be dropping like flies (like they in fact were in some places).

So I would agree with you--that would be very devastating.

we had power restored in about 24 hours. I know you fear a major attack on the electrical grid would be devastating for tens of millions. Looting, riots, no gas, no order, chaos would reign supreme. Back in 1967(?) we had that here in NYC, 2500 arrests, millions in damage, the law of the jungle took hold.

How would our government handle such a crisis? Call in the U.N.? Call in the Military? Madness would rule. It could destroy the country a major power outage that lasts for 2-3 weeks or more. Life's essentials would cause people to commit crimes meanwhile the rich would watch from their ivory towers while we kill ourselves..

truly more scary that 10 jets going down although I don't mean to minimize the fear and cost from that..

see you later. I have a mom in a nursing home to visit..:hi:

o wait, that already happened.

that is truly "unimaginable" terror.

in the long run.

Oh wait.

And I don't mean with some kind of cyberpunk corporate black-ops team, I mean simply by having the corporation be successful. Corporations have no conscience. Their only purpose is to generate profit. Lives are simply numbers in their accounting figures, and "1" means very little when the numbers are all above seven digits. Thousands are negligible.