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What would you do if you were a terrorist?

First things first....you need to write a long rambling manifesto. Or if you're Islamic or Christian a copy of the religious tome of your choice would fill in in a pinch.

Next find yourself a secluded place to craft pipe bombs and mail bombs. Montana is good I've heard....

Buy a "hoody" jacket and some cool shades....

Some don'ts;

Don't weird out your baby brother with your political nuttiness.
Don't get the WaPo to publish your manifesto...it'll seem like a good idea at the time but hey....

-z
 
Kerberos said:
I don't really think that any ideas are likely to come up here that they don't teach in terrorism 101.
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Probably true. We still have this faulty tendency to view terrorists as unsophisticated.

In the "homeland", there's a particular action that occurs to me that would be devistating -- moreso than 911 -- requiring no skill, no special materials, and costing next to nothing.

Because I imagine this (undefined) technique is covered in T101, I find it curious that al Qaeda favors the high-risk spectacular over the low-risk practical.
 
- Take over a oil-ship/tanker.
- Steer it to the US coast line.
- Explode it when it hits the shore.
 
In terms of attacking the US, I'd try to get hold of a light aircraft, stack it full of high explosives, and crash it into a nuclear power plant - preferably into the reactor itself.

Even if it doesn't do much to the reactor - and those things are massively shielded - I'll get lots of headlines and scare the hell out of people, and almost certainly shut the plant down for a good long while.

If I get lucky, I get some release of radioactive material - and the public reaction would almost certainly be massively out of proportion to the danger.

Another thing to think about would be contaminating water supplies. It should be easy enough to access a reservoir or ten, and no doubt there are all kinds of nasty things you could pour into them. You'd have to check how the water companies do quality control and try to work around that, though. But even if no contaminated water does actually get through, even shutting down the supplies for a few days could be a serious and widespread menace to people.
 
varwoche said:
Probably true. We still have this faulty tendency to view terrorists as unsophisticated.

In the "homeland", there's a particular action that occurs to me that would be devistating -- moreso than 911 -- requiring no skill, no special materials, and costing next to nothing.

Because I imagine this (undefined) technique is covered in T101, I find it curious that al Qaeda favors the high-risk spectacular over the low-risk practical.
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Ditto.

I can also think of an extremely simple way of causing localised severe poisoning ( most likely not fatal though ) which would be extremely difficult to trace. The effects of mass hysteria should also not be underrated.

The fact that there are numerous easy ways to disrupt a complex society suggests that Terrorists are not that thick on the ground. Or possibly very thick indeed!
 
jj said:
There is no way I think anyone should answer this question. While there are many smart anti-US nuts out there, I see no reason to help them out if they haven't thought things through the way you or I have.

So, let's not take the chance of actually helping somebody who might actually DO something of this sort. :(
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Obviously the best thing to do would be to hand yourself in to the police. Then they can put you in jail.

While this may not seem like a beneficial thing to do, it will put you in contact with a large number of criminal and like-minded people, who will be able to help you co-ordinate your attacks when you're released.

Simple plans are often the best.
 
Random letters sent across the US with rat poison. Send some to politicians, some to prominent businessman and some randomly. If 10 people in 10 states spent $100 on stamps and rat poison, the ensuing hysteria would break our mail system for a few weeks.

CBL
 
varwoche said:
In the "homeland", there's a particular action that occurs to me that would be devastating -- moreso than 911 -- requiring no skill, no special materials, and costing next to nothing.
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Hmmmm...I wonder if your nightmare is the same as mine.....


Because I imagine this (undefined) technique is covered in T101, I find it curious that al Qaeda favors the high-risk spectacular over the low-risk practical.
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My guess is that the spectacular is easier to sell to the 'masses', since some of what I have in mind would indeed be devastating but without the images like the burning towers to show folks their power over the 'Evil Americans'.

Thing is, IMHO as always, is that the terrorists are somewhat hoisted on their own petard, in that anything smaller than 9-11 in terms of casualties and 'spectacular effects' will make them look 'weaker' and to do an even more major attack relies on long-term planning (which they have shown they can do) and avoiding detection (which is much harder these days).

I fear we will find out, one way or another, in the next several years.
 
AWPrime said:
- Take over a oil-ship/tanker.
- Steer it to the US coast line.
- Explode it when it hits the shore.
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Actually, a Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) tanker would give you more bang for your buck...in a ghoulish way, of course...
 
CBL4 said:
Random letters sent across the US with rat poison. Send some to politicians, some to prominent businessman and some randomly. If 10 people in 10 states spent $100 on stamps and rat poison, the ensuing hysteria would break our mail system for a few weeks.

CBL
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My first idea was similar, except that instead of targeting random people, I would target everyone in one particular small farming town. You know, the type no one ever targets.

My second idea was to find at least one more accomplice. A total of three people would be ideal but 2-5 would work as well. Settle down in geographically- and demographically-diverse areas. Specifically avoid NYC and DC. On one particular day, everyone wires themselves up like a Hamas suicide-bomber and gets on a bus. One person blows themself (and the bus up), then ten minutes later another one in another town blows their bus up, then ten minutes later another one, etc.

You wouldn't need more than 3 people, $1000 in explosives, and no security papers whatsoever to shut down every mass transit system in America.

The terrorists have already shown that they can hit big obvious targets, and we have put systems in place to defend against that. With the way 24-hour news coverage is these days, an attack could happen anywhere and the entire country will know about it within 45 minutes. If the terrorists show that they can and will aim for and hit any target, it'd put our morale into an incredible tailspin. And that's really what they're after.
 
Hutch said:
Actually, a Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) tanker would give you more bang for your buck...in a ghoulish way, of course...
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Thanks for the tip. :evil:


ps. Whatever they say, I didn't do it!
 
I would try to build up to an attack so shocking and devastating that America would be provoked into retaliating against Arab nations in general. Presto, a unified Arab coalition against America. With any luck, I'll be in charge.

Now for the non-hypothetical: It is my fear that America is all to willing to go along with such a plan.
 
Seismosaurus said:
In terms of attacking the US, I'd try to get hold of a light aircraft, stack it full of high explosives, and crash it into a nuclear power plant - preferably into the reactor itself.
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Actually, you'd be better to aim for the fuel storage area. It doesn't have the massive bulk of the reactor containment vessel and would release enormous quantities of radiation. Pick a reactor with a large population down wind.

I've worried about such an attack for years, even before 9/11...
 
Beleth said:

My second idea was to find at least one more accomplice. A total of three people would be ideal but 2-5 would work as well. Settle down in geographically- and demographically-diverse areas. Specifically avoid NYC and DC. On one particular day, everyone wires themselves up like a Hamas suicide-bomber and gets on a bus. One person blows themself (and the bus up), then ten minutes later another one in another town blows their bus up, then ten minutes later another one, etc.

You wouldn't need more than 3 people, $1000 in explosives, and no security papers whatsoever to shut down every mass transit system in America.
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All that will happen if you do that is people will stop using buses. Instead of buses, hit America in its heart. Shopping malls.

As a former mall cop, I can tell you that malls are easy targets. You don't even need to have suicide bombers. Trash cans are evenly distributed around every mall. Parking garages are easy targets as well. And security can't really stop you, because if we cranked up enough to stop you, we would chase the customers away anyway.
 
Random said:
You don't even need to have suicide bombers.
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Yeah, you really don't, even to blow up buses/trains. Put your explosives in a backpack, stuff it under the seat, and leave at the next stop, "forgetting" your bag (see Foucault's Pendulum). Odds are, no one will even notice.

There are so many easy avenues of attack for someone with the will and a few bucks, that it truly is surprising that more have not happened.
 
Screw it. If the state of CA is willing to discuss it publicly...

September in Southern California. Bone dry. Santa Ana winds howling. Fires breaking out all over the state. (This describes what is an annual event, to varying degrees.)

Add to that a team of 20 bad guys with matches and you have trouble on a biblical scale.
 
Heres my idea..........NO KILL TERRORISM!!!

Whats with the body count. Is that really needed? What about the "art" of terrorsim. You can make statements without killing thousands of people! And isnt that what terrorism is about. THe statement and attention whoreing.

For example, you could blow up well known/meaningful landmark. Take out the arm on the Statue of Liberty. Knock down the Washington monumnet. You can do that stuff with little or no deaths! And you still have your big fashy impact. Its win-win!
 
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Ooops....here come the black helicopters....
 
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