Posted on 07/19/2008 1:51:09 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Hijacking a LPG super tanker and detonating it in a major harbor would be nearly as destructive as nuke.
In regards to nukes and bio, some folk like to say that it can’t be done with “cave tech” like what the islamotards have on hand. You know the cave tech they’re talking about... it’s slightly better than the late ‘50s, early ‘60s tech that churned out those really big hydrogen bombs.
Anyone ever find out what happened to those hundreds, if not thousands, of former Soviet scientists that migrated out after the wall came down?
Another question...
how many Fat Man or Little Boy sized bombs could fit in a standard issue shipping container? The tech that those were built by wouldn’t even rise to the level of current “cave tech”.
> or mad cow disease...
Or, if the terrorists aren’t complete idiots, select something that isn’t lethal to humans but highly contageous and devastating to economies. Such as foot-and-mouth disease, for example.
I am astonished that they haven’t tried this one out yet.
A liquefied petroeum tanker ship detonation would leave one ugly harbor for quite some time... but it would probably burn, not fully explode utilizing all of the potential chemical energy, and would probably fail to do much damage to the city outside of the port-side. It certainly wouldn’t have the body-count (few ports are within 5 miles of the population center) or the long-term effects of an actual nuclear attack... unless you meant a dirty-bomb assembled by the usual Middle East morons. It might approach that kind of damage.
> Hijacking a LPG super tanker and detonating it in a major harbor would be nearly as destructive as nuke.
Detonating a medium-sized grain elevator, or setting a sugar refinery alight, would do more than plenty of damage, without requiring any special level of technology.
Detonating a port grain-handling facility would be mighty inconvenient, and would require a level of technology bordering between the moronic and the imbecilic.
An e.coli outbreak would be childishly simple to engineer, and could be done over and over and over again, defying detection until lots of people were very ill.
Foot-and-mouth disease? An outbreak would be nearly impossible to contain in a place like the United States. With no risk to the terrorist, and no easy way to stop it happening again and again and again.
This article is filled with scientific inaccuracies and misleading statements.
Without getting too technical, let me point out that botulism cannot be spread as described here.
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/botulism/index.asp
The pathogenic bacteria Clostidium botulinum is an anaerob, which means that it connot thrive in an oxygen-laden environment. (However, its spores are a natural component of the soil, where it can survive in a dormant state.) The neurotoxin, botulin, which the organism produces, is what kills you. It cannot be used to "infect" cattle, etc. which then might spread it to consumers. As such, it is not infectious.
Regards,
Wishful thinking, even if McCain is POTUS. Since we as well as the world import a huge percent of their oil from the ME.
Heck, they could even attack our major institutions like our financial, military and political structures and not get nuked....................Oh, yeah. Been there already!!!
Somehow, I doubt it. Seeing Saudi Arabia and Pakistan being rewarded as they are, after 9-11, what makes you think the ME would be nuked?
Besides, what would nuking one's own energy source do to one's economy?
You are underestimating them. The 'morons' are just cannon-fodder that the real players use. Think of them as 'smart bombs' but with human brains. The real players- the ISI (not exactly M.E, but they are a player, nonetheless), etc., are not as moronic as you might imagine. Read about them; they are an extremely dangerous and determined bunch.
The big attack is a big pr deal and deadly. But if anyone remembers what those two guys did a few years ago, sniping and shooting people all over the country and how disturbing it was, it is suggestive that constant small attacks over the country would be devastating. Just a constant chipping away at the sense of safety. I think anonymous shootings agt malls, service stations, busstops, school yards would be hideous, unpredictable and lead to everyone feeling terrorized.
Analysis: Will terrorists hijack passanger jets and fly them into major government and financial assets?
This wouldn't work too well. After a while, people get used to it. That's what happened in Israel and India.
Even a smallpox attack won’t have the effect as a nuke going off in 2 or 3 cities, and the threat that more are coming.
Nuclear attack is without a doubt, far FAR worse than the other options. A bio attack would be bad, but could possibly be no worse than the tomato scare or anthrax attack. It *can* be contained typically.
A few nukes going off randomly, and threats that any city will be next, will cause intense chaos (justifiably so) that can’t be imagined yet.
Nor can BSE (Mad Cow Disease). The incubation time in humans can be decades, and there is no way the pathogens could make the traverse described.
More than bio-terror, mega-arson scares me. Terrorists could burn millions of acres with virtually no technology whatsoever, if they hit at the right time and place.
"But how will they get them?" Iran will give them away, as soon as they have 25 or so left for themselves. While the west does nothing.
What I fear is economic terrorism, we are seeing a form of it right now and we have no defense for it.
I’d try a highly communicable diseasein an area of low resistance. Small pox spread in San Francisco bath houses for a start/ Maybe plague? That is relatively easy.
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