Al Qaeda Is ‘Laughing,' Bloomberg Tells Congress

New York Sun ^ | 01/09/07 | RUSSELL BERMAN

[TET1968]

"His Honor is correct in that the targets will not be in small towns. What glory is there in bringing down a one story double wide?"

Beslan, Russia

[The South Texan]

Bloomberg is proof that NYC produces some of the most idiotic politicians in the nation. Al Queda is laughing at us more because we(as a nation) have become soft and putting the Rats in charge of the Congress is proof of that. They were probably ROTFL the day after the November elections because the American Sheeple bought the Rats and the American media's propaganda.

[TET1968]

In the interest of National Security,give NYC $200,000 earmarked for investigating Charlie Rangle.

[dighton]

Laughing out of the other side of their faces, if faces can be found after an AC-130 strike.

[UpAllNight]

--His Honor is correct in that the targets will not be in small towns. What glory is there in bringing down a one story double wide?--

Never say never. Over-confidence leads to failure.

[AdvisorB]

Al-qaeda laughed when New Yorker's elected Bloomberg. Since the alternative, the nader-raider moe green, was an even bigger joke, the joke was on them.

[PISANO]

IMHO Bloomberg, like most liberals, believe 911 was a bunch of bad guys who ATTACKED NEW YORK's iconic WTC, killing people who worked in NEW YORK.

The concept that the UNITED STATES of AMERICA was attacked that day escapes them!!

[cripplecreek]

Beslan, Russia

Good point. It's like winning a bad lottery. Given the numbers of small cities as opposed to large, your chances of being in that particular city are small. That's small consolation if you happen to be in that small city on that particular day.

[weegee]

It's fair share? From each according to ability, to each according to need?

The 9-11 hijackers had residence in Florida. Dearbornistan seems to be a likely place for at lease SOME radical Isalmic supremacists to be plotting.

Should the funds just go to build up infrastructure around likely targets or should it also go towards monitoring and investigation (of things like trucking and flight schools)?

[weegee]

If anthrax is again mailed out, it can be sent from a small town and still affect Big Town USA as it contaminates the US Postal Service's equipment.

How small a town could still pose a valuable target? Houston has a major port, major medical center (including research), NASA mission control, Halliburton, and Big Oil. Did I mention our city leadership is incompetent and couldn't manage traffic in a precautious evacuation resulting in a 36 hour traffic jam that streched at least 90 miles in every direction outbound?

[presidio9]

With all due respect, I submit that most of the terror funding should go to New York and DC. They are more likely to get hit than the rest of the nation combined. There are many reasons why Manhattan is the most likely target:

1) Osama bin Laden has said specifically that he will hit New York again.
2) Manhattan has a population density of 67,000 per square mile before you count the 1mm tourist who are in the city on any given day and the fact that commuters double the population every day. The next closest city is San Francisco with 16,000 people per square mile.
3) New York is the financial capital of the world.
4) The only city that can challenge NY for symbolic targets is Washington, DC.
5) All of the major news media outlets are headquartered in Manhattan, ensuring the fullest coverage.
6) The United Nations is headquartered in Manhattan.
7) New York is the cultural capital of the western world.
8) There are 2mm Jews living in NYC. There are 360,000 living in Tel Aviv.

There are many more, but you get the idea. Since 9/11 we have been able to prevent three attempted subway bombings that we know about (with one convicted terrorist being sentenced to 30 years yesterday), one plot against the Lincoln Tunnel, and one against the Brooklyn Bridge. That we know about. Obviously they are going to try again. Soon.
Is it possible that there is another Timothy McVeigh out there? Of course. But we know that a million or so Islamofacists are out there with an axe for us and especially Manhatttan. And that's what these funds were designed to protect us from.

[weegee]

It would seem that they forget that the flights originated outside of NYC and that Washington DC was also attacked that day.

New York was not attacked, AMERICA was attacked.

We were attacked when the USS Cole was attacked. We were attacked when the US Embassy was attacked.

[cripplecreek]

Dearbornistan seems to be a likely place for at least SOME radical Isalmic supremacists to be plotting.

It's a matter of how the money would be spent. I think Detroit is somewhat less likely as a target of a major city wide attack due to the large numbers of muslims. Money would be better spent on surveillance in Detroit than on protection.

[presidio9]

This incredible arrogance is why so many dislike NY and LA.

This isn't about arrogance, and its not about dissing other cities. It's common sense. LA's low population density makes it a highly unlikely target. It only has 6,000 people per square mile. Medwestern cities like Kansas City have about 1,000 people per square mile. Not as much bang for your buck.

[manic4organic]

The world is laughing at Bloomy for allowing a fart to shut down Manhattan.

[Alberta's Child]

In other news, I heard an announcement this morning that New York City is projecting a $2 billion budget surplus this year.

So in addition to paying their police recruits more than $25,000 per year (as per the previous thread on this topic), Mike Bloomberg can certainly fund whatever security measures the city needs without going to Washington with his hand held out.

[MplsSteve]

A terrorist attack in the heartland of America could be just as chilling as 9/11 was.

I cite this as a horrible possibility:

An jihadi walks into a day care center in Newton IA or Aberdeen SD.

He's got a bomb vest full of explosives, nail, screws, etc. He blows himself up in a room full of pre-schoolers. Ends up killing 20 or 30 little kids and the adult day-care workers.

In rural America, people may not feel as acutely in danger as New York or DC - but an attack like this would jolt America to the core and make them realize "Yes, these bastards can hit us anywhere - even in small town America".

The repercussions of an attack like that would be beyond belief.

[presidio9]

The Democrats think that Homeland Security money should be dealt out like all other pork.

Actually it looks more like Homeland Security is punishing New York for voting Democrat, and that's reprehensible.

[presidio9]

When You give sanctuary to illegal immigrants, you give sanctuary to potential terrorists.

Terrorists are educated and well-funded. They can enter this country legally on student visas. Illegal immigration is a serious issue, but it is a distraction when we are talking about the much greater threat of terroism.

[cripplecreek]

I understand your point. Obviously NY is a high profile and highly desirable target. I'm more concerned that the money won't be spent correctly.