[extropy-chat] 9/11 Commission Report

[Jon Swanson]

About potential targets:

> 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.

It sounds like you are saying that most terrorists would not have
heard of silicon valley or Disneyland.  I disagree with this, it would
make sense that many of the people planning these attacks are actually
incredibly intelligent, and are quite capable of doing research.
Although many smaller cells may be ignorant of such targets, higher
ups in larger organizations probably are not.

 Terrorists lately seem to be targeting travelling westerners,
especially contractors and engineers of major corporations.

Global Guerrillas has an interesting article that explains this
strategy, and it's effects pretty well:
http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2004/07/target_outsourc.html

Basically, to summarize the financial impact alone, neglecting
emotional impacts:
 " The need to protect employees has driven up costs across the board.
Approximately 25% of all reconstruction expenditures are now for
private security services to protect employees (an impact that will be
measured in billions of dollars). Lengthy security procedures severely
limit the workday (by up to 1/3) for domestic employees of
"Halliburton" companies. Companies are also being forced to offer
substantial bonus pay (often exceeding 100% of pay) as a risk-premium
entice expatriate employees to work in these areas. Additionally,
insurance costs have skyrocketed." -end quote

 I have read some sources which say that we (the CIA) actually planted
the seeds of terrorism when they trained the mujahideen to fight
against the soviets.  If this is correct, than we gave them many of
the concepts of warfare that they are currently using to fight us. 
Many of these groups are not ragtag untrained fanatics. They are
disciplined, calculating fanatics.

-jon