Attack could happen here -- but will it?
Editorial ran in Fort McMurray Today June 7, 2006
As more details become known in the alleged terrorist plot recently foiled by the RCMP, CSIS and the Canada Border Service Agency, it's understandable to grow increasingly nervous about the threat of terrorism on our own soil.
Allegations suggest that the plan was to storm Parliament Hill and take politicians hostage, demand the withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan and the release of Muslim prisoners. Toronto's downtown CBC buliding was also a potential target, and the plot called for the decapitation of hostages -- including Prime Minister Stephen Harper -- if demands weren't met.
Around Fort McMurray, talk turned to the possibility of oilsands plants being a potential target. The destruction that could be wrought would devestate Canada's oil industry.
And at first glance, an oilsands plant could be relatively easy to strike. While rigourous background checks are performed on workers, the level of daily scrutiny on workers and visitors entering or leaving the plants doesn't approach that at, say, an airport. The length of pipelines running from the plants -- into the U.S., in many cases, making them a security concern for Americans -- makes them virtually impossible to protect with any certainty.
But strategy isn't necessarily a terrorist's prime consideration. Terrorists don't look to kill people or cripple industries as much as they look to send a message -- of fear and hate -- into the hearts of those they call their enemies. One of the most unsettling thoughts after the attacks in New York on 9-11 was that terrorists could attack anywhere, but the reality is that they chose office buildings full of innocent workers, the heavily fortified and protected Pentagon and, allegedly, the White House. There's no chance a terrorist flying a plane would have been able to kill the president -- but imagine the shock to the U.S. psyche to see the smouldering wreckage of a plane crash into the iconic government building.
Any attacks are likely to be done where, as in New York, there's a concentration of media -- Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto -- where the world will instantly see the aftermath.
That's not to say those in the industry shouldn't be concerned about safety -- they are, and we must always be wary. But it does mean we should live in fear.
© Copyright 2006, Fort McMurray Today.
As more details become known in the alleged terrorist plot recently foiled by the RCMP, CSIS and the Canada Border Service Agency, it's understandable to grow increasingly nervous about the threat of terrorism on our own soil.
Allegations suggest that the plan was to storm Parliament Hill and take politicians hostage, demand the withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan and the release of Muslim prisoners. Toronto's downtown CBC buliding was also a potential target, and the plot called for the decapitation of hostages -- including Prime Minister Stephen Harper -- if demands weren't met.
Around Fort McMurray, talk turned to the possibility of oilsands plants being a potential target. The destruction that could be wrought would devestate Canada's oil industry.
And at first glance, an oilsands plant could be relatively easy to strike. While rigourous background checks are performed on workers, the level of daily scrutiny on workers and visitors entering or leaving the plants doesn't approach that at, say, an airport. The length of pipelines running from the plants -- into the U.S., in many cases, making them a security concern for Americans -- makes them virtually impossible to protect with any certainty.
But strategy isn't necessarily a terrorist's prime consideration. Terrorists don't look to kill people or cripple industries as much as they look to send a message -- of fear and hate -- into the hearts of those they call their enemies. One of the most unsettling thoughts after the attacks in New York on 9-11 was that terrorists could attack anywhere, but the reality is that they chose office buildings full of innocent workers, the heavily fortified and protected Pentagon and, allegedly, the White House. There's no chance a terrorist flying a plane would have been able to kill the president -- but imagine the shock to the U.S. psyche to see the smouldering wreckage of a plane crash into the iconic government building.
Any attacks are likely to be done where, as in New York, there's a concentration of media -- Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto -- where the world will instantly see the aftermath.
That's not to say those in the industry shouldn't be concerned about safety -- they are, and we must always be wary. But it does mean we should live in fear.
© Copyright 2006, Fort McMurray Today.
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