[extropy-chat] 9/11 Commission Report

Kevin Freels megaquark at hotmail.com
Sun Jul 25 23:37:05 UTC 2004


>"Much of the US is almost guaranteed safe
> from their first WMD shot - and odds are they'll only
> have the resources to strike one city."

I just hope that they never realize that a low profile target would put more
fear in the American population than any high profile target ever could, and
that said target is most likely easier. Even right afterwar 9/11 mosot
Americans thought "gee, it was only a matetr of time before the WTC was
attacked again". Most people still felt pretty safe in their own little
low-profile surroundings.

Imagine the fear that would be created if a really big college basketball
game in middle America was the target. How safe would you feel then?


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Adrian Tymes" <wingcat at pacbell.net>
To: "ExI chat list" <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Sent: Sunday, July 25, 2004 5:13 PM
Subject: Re: [extropy-chat] 9/11 Commission Report


> --- Olga Bourlin <fauxever at sprynet.com> wrote:
> > As a personal aside, in the last year or so I've had
> > the worst dreams of my life regarding
> > "end-of-the-world scenarios" caused by explosions -
> > nuclear bombs and such (actually I haven't had
> > nightmares any like this, ever - and they've been
> > coming intermittently but consistently).
> >
> > Is anyone else on this list as worried as I am?
> > Does anyone see any end in sight?
>
> Even as a grade schooler in the '80s, I looked back on
> history and saw Mutually Assured Destruction keeping
> us from nuclear war.  I see parallels to that here:
> Muslim leaders see that American (and by extension
> Western) vengeance is not as precise as they would
> like, sweeping up some innocents along with those who
> assaulted them, and that America's military options
> are being stretched thin.  (I emphasize the leaders
> here, who would be aware of this.)  Which makes
> turning the Middle East into a glass desert seem like
> possibly the only remaining solution that will make
> America safe, *if* one of its cities is nuked (or
> subject to large-scale biochemical attack, or the
> like).  The other nuclear powers that can hit the US
> might object somewhat, but in the aftermath of such an
> attack, and since their own soil wouldn't be touched,
> it is unlikely any of them would seriously threaten
> MAD if America employed this option.  Which, in turn,
> comes up with a kind of MAD even now: Muslim leaders
> can make sure America is not attacked that way, or...
>
> And further, if America is attacked, even the
> terrorists know where their targets are.  Civic pride
> might lead you to think your part of America is the
> most important, but look at it through the terrorists'
> eyes: they all know of Great Satan Bush, but how many
> of them have even heard of, say, Silicon Valley?  Or
> Disneyland?  Much of the US is almost guaranteed safe
> from their first WMD shot - and odds are they'll only
> have the resources to strike one city.
>
> I rest easy at night, knowing the odds that our
> efforts to create a better tomorrow that is proof
> against this kind of thing will most likely have the
> time they need to suceed.
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