Friday August 12, 2005

I've Been Thinking:

Ports. Gas stations. Large transport trucks.
Trigger words for terror alerts.

Los Angeles was just issued a warning about potential terrorist attacks. The alert came from the California office of the FBI. Other cities put on alert are New York and Chicago. They are to be on the lookout for gasoline tanker trucks.

Gasoline tanker trucks are the perfect weapon for terrorists.
Gas stations and ports are the perfect targets.

Some facts:
Many ports and most gas stations, even in populated areas, remain unprotected.
Many of the 9-11 terrorists had truck driver's licenses.
To drive a truck filled with gasoline or any hazardous material, all you have to do is know how to drive. You don't have to be a US citizen, you don't have to clear security.

In a recent undercover terror sting operation in San Diego one cell member had a trucker's license. Every day he drove his weapon, his truck filled with fuel, into the assumedly secure San Diego Port, an area teaming with highly explosive materials, gasses and chemicals.

We must better protect ourselves. That means making sure that our ports and gas stations are better secured and better situated. That means revamping the trucking industry. Before it's too late.