I thought that maybe they would hit a ship in Bremerton and then the planes as they took off to respond.
I think your husband is more on the mark here, IMO. But then I'm a man and we tend to agree with each other on these things. ;)
Think about what terrorists do: they want to demoralize a country's population, not its military or government. By targeting the civilian population, they "encourage" (for lack of a better way for me to say it at the moment) the general civilian population to recoil in horror and limit their activities/movement. While targeting a civilian population will alays force a Military and Government response, the psychological effect IMO is more devastating by targeting civilians vs. Military or Government. We sort-of *expect* the military to be targets. Witness the USS Cole. What psychological impact did that have on the US Civilian population? Not much in the grand scheme of things. What effect did Sept. 11th have? Quite a bit.
By targeting passenger planes, they'd be discouraging the public from flying. In fact, they've pretty much already done that. Airlines are still down 25-30% capacity post Sept. 11th. A recent report in the Chicago Tribune states clearly that people would rather DRIVE 6-8 hours via car for personal/business than they would FLY. Why? The hassles going through the airport, perceived lax airport security, the inconvenience, and the FREEDOM to come/go as they please when they drive vs. fly. They're not limited to airline schedules that way.
I can tell you that this is true, because many of my co-workers commute between Chicago and Detroit, where our other data center is. They're driving instead of flying. Flying takes them 6 hours easy, driving takes them 5-6 hours *and* they have more flexibility. By the time they get to the airport, through security, on the plane, make the 50 minute flight, get their baggage, get out of the airport and catch a taxi/limo home it's easily 6 hours and it's a huge hassle. (BTW: has anyone else noticed rental car rates have gone UP because of the increase in demand for them?)
The possibility that SAM's are here in the U.S. and in terrorist hands makes me exceptionally nervous. Think TWA-800 where scores of witnesses went on record saying they saw a flasy of light go UP from the ocean surface TO the plane. A SAM can be launched easily from a small 24' cabin cruiser, and I suspect that's precisely what happened (call me a conspiracy kook. I didn't want to believe it at first, but the clincher for me was the full page ad in the WSJ/NY Times from the witnesses who saw it.)
Given the fact that our borders are sieves (especially our border with Canada) I don't find it hard to believe at all SAM's were smuggled in by terrorists and they're laying in wait to strike again. As somoene who flies as part of his job, it does cause me concern. I have my own theories on how these terrorist scum might use them, but I really don't want to share them publicly at the risk of giving anyone ideas. I think blowing another plane out of the sky is a very *real* possibility, and it can be done much *easier* than any of us suspect/think. I also don't think our government can stop it.