NCJ Number
220947
Journal
Homeland Defense Journal Volume: 5 Issue: 10 Dated: October 2007 Pages: 30,32,34
Date Published
October 2007
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article briefly examines and assesses the reality of terrorist threats to soft targets in the United States.
Abstract
The phase has now been entered in this decades-long struggle against terrorism where the risks of a low-tech array of threats, such as suicide bombers, truck bombers, car bombs, and related attacks must be accepted. Recent years have shown attacks on soft targets overseas providing a glimpse of revised terrorist thinking. The United States must consider how likely it is that soft targets also exist within the United States in places least expected. The key to understanding what potential targets may be at risk of attack involves a careful enumeration by State and local officials in emergency management of the actual vulnerabilities they must consider during the course of an ordinary year. A listing of likely places and events illustrating localized soft targets include: stadiums, shopping malls, schools, universities, transit stations, fairs-festivals, theaters, and hotels. There must be collective attention focused on the nature and extent of the genuine threat to soft targets within each and every State.