Well, I suppose that today is somewhat momentous, what with the outbreak of war in Afghanistan. I'm ambivalent towards the proceedings over there. Once the Taleban can be forced out of government, it will be more difficult for bin Laden's terror network to thrive, but in the mean time, I worry that the retaliatory attacks will not be on the armed forces, rather they will be on British and American cities.
Another attack on the scale of September the eleventh would be devastating, but I wonder how easily it could be avoided. If someone were to telephone the FBI with the warning that there was going to be an attack on a particular day on the World Trade Centre, I wonder if the risk-assessors would actually evacuate the building, once they take into account the disruption that it would cause, and the money it would cost.
If one did evacuate such a building every time there was a seemingly ridiculous threat, we would see far more hoax bomb threats, which could cause so much panic that people could die without there even being a bomb.
The line between safety and danger is such a thin one, and I would hate to see a cost being put on a life.
Derek.
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