So what's the chance a domestic terrorist will emulate?

Timothy McVeigh was our last wake up call and what a shocker he was. While my friends and I were speculating on which Middle Eastern country was responsible for blowing up the Oklahoma Federal Building, it was determined that a home-grown, ex US military, clean cut American was responsible. We became aware for the first time that elements within our oun country, however misguided, could perpetrate an act of terrorism on a never before seen scale.

So what’s to keep the next McVeigh from making a name for himself or his cause in a manner similar to Tuesday’s events? Sure there’s hightened security now but they’re understandably focused on Arab-looking individuals as potential practioners.

My fear is this; as a security response to prevent another WTC and Pentagon event, we’ll put most of our efforts into airport and immigration security and totally ignore the “boat with a nuke in NYC harbor” scenario. In other works, our reaction will be knee-jerk. Will we in a similar manner ignore the domestic element in our zeal to safeguard against fanatical foreign elements?

How belivable of a scenario do you think it would be for a couple of domestic terrorists, some hayseed Idahoans, once things have calmed down here, to hijack a commercial flight and point it in a direction of their choosing?

We didn’t think it would happen before.

I have to assume that the next time a plane gets hijacked by a couple guys with knives, by the time that plane arrives at its destination they’re going to have to examine the DNA to figure out who the hijackers were.

Well, given the Secretary of Transportations current new rules for baggage and check-in, I think the ability to get a knife onto a plane will not be affected in any meaningful way.

How the passengers and pilots will react to such knives is a different question, one that I’m not sure how to answer.

I’ve been thinking it’s a shame McVeigh didn’t live to see this. I’d like to think it would have given him a better perspective on the hurt he caused.

At least…at least…Middle Eastern terrorists have a real political conflict to gripe about. McVeigh and his ilk were just tilting at windmills created by their paranoia.