From: Samantha Atkins (samantha@objectent.com)
Date: Thu Aug 01 2002 - 04:58:33 MDT
Spudboy100@aol.com wrote:
> Spike noted:
> <<Furthermore, it is not just the American people. It is
> also the Jews, and after them, the fanatics will next
> attack the Brits, the Aussies, the northern Europeans,
> pretty much anyone who bring change in the future and
> are doing well. The militants are trying to preserve barbaric
> cultures that are mercifully going extinct. They will attempt
> to slay anyone who they perceive to represent modern
> times. Those who do these terrorist acts are the ones
> who deserve utter contempt, not the governments who
> fight them. spike >>
>
> Moreover, according to one analyst, Al Qeida has a fair chance of
> breaking up the USA into small struggling regions by attacking targets
> such as power lines, water treatment plants and data centers. We are not
> imperivious, and do have vulnerabilities that can be exploited by a
> determined enemy.
>
Can we please stop casting Al Qaeda as nearly omnipotent boogie
men supposedly justifying any increasingly draconian measures
and abrogation of rights our governement may choose to take?
Besides, a bit of a look into the redundant failsafes of systems
like the power grid will show that fragmenting the country by
such means is not at all an easy task. What "data centers"?
Hitting major network hubs might do the trick or launching
certain kinds of massive virus attacks. But I have no reason to
believe Al Qaeda has more capability there than many larger
friendly enemies like China or even anywhere near any real
capability beyond that of some groups of malicious crackers who
are into it for fun or angst. Water treatment plants are
already monitored for adulteration and have been for decades.
- samantha
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