New York, Madrid, London. All infrastructure targets.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

They attacked the WTC, and the transportation systems in Madrid and London. And, in Moscow they also attacked the subway system.

Could it be they are after economic infrastructure and civilians are secondary targets? It has cost billions to repair and defend.

My thought is that while we focus on the civilian casualties they are succeeding in making the western nations expend a goodly portion of their income in a fruitless attempt to "stop terrorism" with military means which only make the problem worse.

It's dangerous to underestimate your enemy.

[ClintonTyree]

1. The $180 Billion we've spent so far.....

to settle bush's grudge in Iraq would have gone a long way in protecting our borders, ports, mass transit, nuclear facilities etc.

But then HELLiburton and all of the other GOP "contractors" wouldn't have gotten those fat contracts, would they? :shrug:

[Larkspur]

2. WTC represents to Al Queda the US's financial strength

It's not pivotal to the US economy. It was a symbol of financial strength from Al Queda's view. In Jungian terms, a tower is a phallic symbol, so in a sense, by bringing down the WTC, Al Queda was symbolically neutering the US.

Madrid and London were attacking public transportation, which causes fear and terror in the local populace and in those viewing the catastrophe, and it also creates a lack of confidence in local and national authorities by the populace. It makes the authorities look impotent and undermining people's confidence in their leaders is one of Al Queda's goals.

Public transportaion outages at a large scale can cause financial stress but not necessarily take down an entire Western nation. A nuclear device on a Western city could bring down a Western nation, but not necessarily the US. It would definitely bring down a government, like Blair's, but not necessarily one like Spain's unless PM Rodriguez was negligent in his duties.

[chicagiana]

6. I don't think this will impact London quite as much ...

Don't forgot that Irish terrorists have been blowing up British public transit for quite some time.

The Brits have "been there, done that".

[Egalitariat]

3. They're clearly targeting civilians. All those targets

have off peak times at which point they could be attacked w/o maximizing civilian deaths.

The could have hit the WTC on a Saturday, for instance.

[DinahMoeHum]

4. Very true. All the attacks happened during the morning rush hours

on a workday.

:(

[Dangerman]

5. "It's dangerous to underestimate your enemy. "

I agree.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. It is far more dangerous not to know thy enemy

they don't, and they don't want to know either.., these people could not find their way out of a wet paper bag

[Igel]

8. By destroying a train, they make a mess for a day or two.

By destroying a bus, they make a mess for an hour or two.

They could destroy bridges or RR tracks. Instead--making the assumption these were jihadis of some variety--they target civilians as civilians, finding some excuse for considering them to be valid targets.

Sometimes they--I continue to assume jihadis were involved--argue their victims, as a group, elected (instead, apparently, of assassinating) their leader, who attacked Muslims. Always innocent Muslims; there is no other kind.

Sometimes they argue that the targets pay taxes, voluntary or not, or otherwise support the system, and are therefore ok targets.

Sometimes they argue that the Qur'an says to fight them as they fight you: and given the inflated numbers of civilian casualties reported from time to time, the number of civilians they feel they have a license to kill is great. It's even worse when they decide the Qur'an was speaking in terms of percentages, because then they're talking many millions of Americans that deserve to die, men, women, and children.

It makes the stereotype of rabbinic sophistry and Jesuit casuistry look like grade school ramblings sometimes.

[alcibiades_mystery]

9. rabbinic sophistry and Jesuit casuistry

not to mention Pentagon bureaucratese!

[Just Me]

10. I think they hit places which have maximum chance of media coverage.

I can definitely figure infrastructure targets which would be far more costly.