TRAM SECURITY CONCERNS IMPOSSIBLE TO IGNORE
It did not take the release of another Osama tape to make the tram look like an unbelievable security risk. The best case you can give for it is that it could present a diversionary target that could spare downtown. Just ask yourself what it would take to bring down the Space Needle, versus shooting apart a cable.
Weren’t we the ones who were spending hundreds of thousands to study putting a cover on anything bigger than a water fountain? How do you make a cover for this bastard?
The Bush administration has used the threat of terrorism for its own ends, but that does not mean there is no threat. As Y2K approached a terrorist was stopped entering America in a car up in Port Angeles, Washington. His plan was to proceed to LAX, which would have meant driving right through our city. That is reality. We’ll never be able to protect against all threats, so the key is to analyze what it would take, versus what it would cost in blood and money.
The tram would be a symbolic, visible target, with two cars holding possibly 79 people each. The falling debris would land on freeways and residential areas. I’m sure I’d worry if I lived under the damn thing.
But here is the crazy part: How little it would take. A high-powered rifle could blow the cable apart, couldn’t it? That’s way too easy. Hell, the marksman could be in so many places he might even get away with it. And the required tools could be purchased here. You wouldn’t even have to smuggle something in the country. This is an unacceptable risk.
So why bring it up? Because the damn thing is not built yet! If it was, I would not discuss this in print. I hate those stories: “Tonight on the News: How the Terrorists Could Kill Us All!”
Besides, we have some local politicians here who are currently playing dumb about how they got into this. I would hate to build the tram and have an incident and then hear our local council lie like Condi: “Nobody could have imagined that someone would shoot down the tram.” Well, go ahead: Use your imagination and stop this crazy project right now!
posted by Bill McDonald @ 1:38 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
And just in case we're still keeping score, it's absurd that Condi, Rummy, & Dick would argue that "no one could imagine using a plane as a weapon to take out a building".
After all, that's the basic plot premise of the final "Jack Ryan" novel by Tom Clancy - Executive Orders - in which Japanese terrorists smash a 747 into the US Capitol. That book was published in 1997.
Of course, it's also true that Clancy has been renowned for his CIA and Pentagon sources - so it's certain that at least a few people in those two places read the damn book.
"No one could imagine..." My ass.
Dear Kari,
Damn right! And there was another specific threat involving planes at a conference in Europe. Look, I can go as far out there on 9/11 as anybody. I think there's a lot we were not told. I read "Crossing the Rubicon" and here's my position: I have an open mind. I wouldn't put anything past this group. And I do mean anything.
--Bill McDonald
Have no fear! As the good doctors travel between their sky offices and their subsidized river offices, they will be required to remove their shoes. Isn't that enough to scare away any would-be snipers?
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