[oceanview]

I recall those stories, all of the LA activities seem to be linked to aircraft hijackings, the airport, it just keep coming up "aviation".

if given the choice between going to red and letting the nuke go off, I think Bush would go to red. What's he going to say when the nuke goes off, "we didn't want to go to red because of the impact to the economy so we let it detonate". that certainly is going to be political implosion.

also, word would get out about this. no way could they keep it a secret, government people "in the know" would talk to get their own families to safety, they would tell others, the elites would certainly get "the word" (recall that chistopher hitchens said that a couple of weeks after 9/11, he was tipped that a nuke was on its way to NYC). it couldn't stay bottled up.

[eastforker]

Did you ever think that if we went to red,if they indeed do have a nuke,they wouldn't hesitate to detonate it ASAP.When you go to red,it would be a lockdown of somewhat, not total but definatley impeded.Would be hard to move a nuke, hell just blow it up now. These guys might like to work around dates but they will engage targets of opportunity when they exist,less the lose the means to engage their target. Case in point,homicide bombers blow themselves up when detected,target or not.

[Cvengr]

When posed with a choice of red or risk the unknown, I suspect they will save the red for a bit more certain event,...to make sure that when it is issued, it is respected and not viewed as crying Wolf, Wolf.

Unfortunately, as soon as one reserves its usage for a known impending event, the red becomes an evacuation notice and very similar to inducing the same terror we seek to avoid.

Sort of like Independence Day with everybody trying to get out of town type of event.

Culturally, Americans aren't prone to accept that type of risk. It seems more prudent to consider the threat an impotent bluff, good for a spectacle, but not really threatening American society.