[ndt]

"far worse then what thousands of soldiers could do during the civil war with single shot rifles."

Actually I need to add to that.

In the Civil War, 2% of the population died. Today, that would be 6 million people or 2000 World Trade Center Attacks.

Hiroshima killed upwards or 200,000 people and that bomb was 150 kiloton. Much bigger than the suitcase bombs your talking about, with a yeild of 10-20 tons.

Again, not to minimize the danger, but no, one of those going off is NOT going to equal the devastation of the Civil War.

[clawrence3]

Last time I checked, the population of NYC is approximately 8 million, and no one said just a suitcase bomb (i.e. high-yield nuke loaded on a barge and sailed right into the Harbor). As for the destruction it could cause, it would be worse than any single-day loss during the Civil War - if you want to compare nuclear attacks day after day for as long as the Civil War lasted, be my guest.

[Sir_Humphrey]

Hiroshima killed upwards or 200,000 people and that bomb was 150 kiloton. Much bigger than the suitcase bombs your talking about, with a yeild of 10-20 tons.

Oh I see your point, by your math only tens of thousands, not millions, may die from a terrorist attack. A small price to pay don't ya think? But darn it we can hold our heads high when we attend those funerals.

Sorry but we are in a war. Government power was reigned back in after the Civil War, WWII, etc. A government's first goal is to protect it's people. Terrorism will not just go away- we can't use moral suasion on it. It has to be confronted and fought with whatever means are necessary