TARGET: SUBWAY

New York Post ^ | February 9, 2003 | LARRY CELONA and BRAD HUNTER

[sarcasm]

February 9, 2003 -- Suspected terrorist operatives have vowed to strike "underground" at the heart of where they savored their "last great victory," sources told The Post yesterday.

Officials believe that the two frightening phrases - picked up on a number of overseas phone intercepts - indicate an attack on the New York City subway system and its thousands of miles of track and tunnels.

[sauropod]

Uh-oh...

[JustPiper]

I've always worried here in Chicago for my niece, who not only rides the subway daily, and out subway pulls right into the municipal stops, like City Hall, Daley Plaza and all the Fed buildings, hitting Washington street, Oh My God!

Also she lives in an apartment complex city by O'Hare which has a muslim community of "hundreds" and has prompted her to contact the FBI on more than one occasion.

My mother-in-law also works right there in a tall (Chicago always has to have highrises) corporate complex with names like Nike, Marriot etc. I am very nervous this week!

[HitmanLV]

"I moved back after 9/11, and I think all native New Yorkers should come back home," he said. "If it's going to happen, it's going to happen. I'd rather die here and I know I will die happy.

"It's my home and I'm not going to leave my home because of this."

I planned to leave NY a while back, and actually 9-11 delayed my eparture by a couple of months. I'm NYC born and raised and I would never go back - its suck a has-been town, democRATS under every rock, horrid tax and fiscal policy, and a poor climate.

Oh, and a dedicated band of terrorists want to level the city.

I didn't leave NYC because of 9-11, but it's a reason I'll never return. Most people, I feel, are ind enia over the concept that al Queada (and other terror organizations) won't rest until NYC and DC (or significant hunks of them) is destroyed and uninhabitable.

Bet on it.

[NYDave]

They're just talking about this now on FOX. I can think of several locations where an attack could be horrific. I think, however, it was the head of the CIA who said that a lot of potential terrorist activity has been disarmed that has not been covered by the press. Remember that Bush said that a lot of the terrorist prevention would not be made public. I'd like to believe that we're really on top of this situation. With NYC as the top target, it makes it a fairly scarey place to live. But, we'll all get on with our lives as we always do. I was one block away from the World Trade Center when the planes went in. I was fortunate in that I bailed early and got far enough North before the buildings came down. I certainly don't want to go through anything like that again. Life does, however, go on. DAMN THE TORPEDOS......FULL SPEED AHEAD.

[pfflier]

The Hildabeast should be with her people in their time of need. Where is she?

[patton]

(+)

[Cicero]

I take the Number One line through the Cortlandt Street station regularly. The train no longer stops there but continues on through, because that was the exit for the World Trade Center. They've put up partitions to block off the platforms.

[merak]

There has to be some major kind of countervailing threat on the table. The proposition which says that if you destroy our two most major cities we will have our policemen find the individual perpetrators and bring them to justice simply does not cut it. My own view is that there has to be a credible threat to level the cities of Mecca and Medina on the table as well as a threat to ban and outlaw the practice of islam in the United States and all of its possessions.

An article linked from Liz Michael's web site notes that New York is still the most likely target of major terrorist activity for a number of reasons including the desire to destroy our financial markets as well as the Jewish population in and around New York.

The author suggests a minimal set of necessary measures on our part and on the part of Israel:

The US Must Publicly Guarantee An Immediate Response If Attacked – The United States must go on record stating that any use of weapons of mass destruction against the United States would result in an immediate response against all terrorist groups and existing nations that have supported or harbored these groups now or in the recent past. [ which I would assume includes Saudi Arabia]

Israel Must Do The Same For NYC - Israel, must go on record stating that this type of attack against the 2 million Jewish citizens of New York and the US financial infrastructure will would be considered the same as an attack by weapons of mass destruction on the state of Israel.

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

The subway would be ideal for an anthrax attack - lack of sunlight would allow spores to remain viable. Even a small attack would close the whole system for months. Fear would be the terrorist's best weapon.

I wonder how much damage a few dozen guys could do just by spreading false rumors. I'm not familiar with the subway system, but if twenty people scattered throughout the subway system and then started simultaneously 'reporting' that anthrax had been released, I would think there could be some stampeding, and the subway system itself would be stopped for a significant amount of time while the air is tested. They could even make it authentic by having others toss white-powder-filled mason jars onto the ground or tracks. This is basically yelling 'FIRE!' in a crowded theater, only on a much larger scale.

Is this a realistic scenario, or do you think that if they were going to go to all that trouble, they'd release SOME kind of bio/chem weapon?

[stanz]

So which tax-less, safe and secure Republican-run Utopia are you now living in?

[brewcrew]

OMG - What will Jarrod do?

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

If they were to use some biological material (harmless, but which would cause suspiscion on first analysis) instead of chalk dust, they could probably incite some of the chaos which you describe.

Do you suppose there are any new-fangled sensors that can detect certain chemical or biological agents in the air, that could be deployed in the subway? Or are those still in the development phase?

What I'm working up to is this: Could terrorists release anthrax/smallpox in the subway system without anybody finding out until the first sick people go to the hospitals? This is the kind of attack that really concerns me, because countless people could pass through that subway system between the initial release and the first confirmed case of anthrax or smallpox.

It seems to me ot would be prudent to test the air in various parts of the subway system on a daily basis. If they don't or can't do this currently, then this kind of attack seems inevitable, if terrorists are indeed in possession of biological weapons.

[pbear8]

Also she lives in an apartment complex city by O'Hare which has a muslim community of "hundreds"

She's probably very safe there.

[muawiyah]

The Blue Line (Addison Road/Springfield/Franconia) runs underground at the Pentagon.

Lest folks here forget, AlQaida's operatives did manage to kill a bunch of folks at the Pentagon.

Was it a victory? Was it a great victory? We really don't know how to qualify that particular incident except to note that no one else has ever done anything like that!

I ride that Blue Line train every day and no stinking AlQaida scum is going to get me down even if it is necessary to fuse the sands of Arabia into glass to put a stop to this nonsense.

[mhking]

US & Canadian Cities with subway (heavy rail) systems:

New York City
Atlanta
Baltimore
Boston
Buffalo
Chicago
Cleveland
Los Angeles
Montreal
Philadelphia
San Francisco
Toronto
Washington

[cgbg]

Oh, my God, I am scared because I really think something is going to happen again," said Alexandra Gulbez, 21, at Times Square station. "I take the train every day and I really don't know what I'm going to do."

This is the product of one million years of evolution? ;-)

If you feel in danger then you leave the area. Then you find a job elsewhere.

Hint: Don't move to Jerusalem.

Helloooooo.

Personal security is all about common sense. If you are in a dangerous situation get out of it ASAP.

I would consider living and working in NYC to be a dangerous situation.

It just is an unnecessary risk. This is a big country. Noone needs to be a victim.

It is clear that NYC is target one for AQ and will be until the last of them are wrapped in pig flesh and burned to a crisp.

P.S. It was Winston Churchill who ordered women and children out of the major cities during WWII.

We are at war. Urban areas, particularly NYC, are targets. If our leaders don't want to lead then at least some quasi-intelligent citizens ought to get the hint about what needs to be done.