The Burj Khalifa - the new, tallest building in the world that just opened up in Dubai.
What if some terrorist group like Al Qaeda, (or maybe Mossad or the Teabaggers or whoever) hijacked a passenger plane and flew it into the tower? What would the reaction be on an international level and on the part of the Muslim world?
(It’s not such an outrageous notion in that the tower has to be an abomination to fundamentalist Muslims who find symbols of Western culture abhorrent.)
It would fall down.
Probably about the same as the response to 9/11, I suspect.
If it was clearly the work of al Qaida, it might cause a serioud rift among various Islamist groups. The rest of the world would already be opposed to any such action.
If it was falsely attributed to any Western group, it would be one more move in the constant struggle for propaganda points, with new varieties of “troothers” popping up around the world to debate the issue.
If it was accurately attributed to a Western organization, the results would be dependent on how thoroughly the West united to punish the offending entity.
There are too many variables to come up with a single what-if scenario.
I can guarantee you someone would blame Da Jooz. But then, someone blames Da Jooz for pretty much everything.
In the sense of the global reaction, certainly. In the sense of the reaction of the leadership and citizenry of the Emirates, not so much - it’s not as though they have the military strength or international influence to respond quite the same way militarily (well-equipped though their army and air force are). It’s worth noting that the majority of the rank and file of the UAE’s military are foreign-born, which would obviously be something of an issue if it came to war with, say, Yemen or Jordan.
Apparently the builders considered the possibility:
I don’t think many people feel the sort of sentimental attachment to the Burj Khalifa that most Americans felt to the twin towers. The numbers of native Dubaians, who might possibly feel some nationalistic pride in it, is miniscule, and the Dubai boom panders almost entirely to the super-rich. The Burj Khalifa is essentially a huge middle finger to the poor, and even the middle class and the comfortably-off of the world. Most people, I think including Americans and Arabs, wouldn’t care or would be secretly rather pleased if it came down.
What if Mossad hijacked an airplane and few it into the Burj Khalifa? Well, if I’m correct in thinking that Mossad is Israeli Intelligence, then I could see a new wave of anti-American sentiment from the Muslim world, for the simple reason that the U. S. is an ally of Israel.
Or maybe I’m mistaken about Mossad…
Why would the Israelis want to antagonize the most progessive Arab society - and an American ally? The UAE, like the other Arab states, doesn’t recognize Israel, but they’re certainly one of the most pro-Israeli (or least anti-Israeli) voices in the GCC, OPEC and the Islamic Conference.
I think you’re forgetting Egypt and Jordan, both of which have full diplomatic relations with Israel and both of which are Arab states.
I’d be afraid to find out. I’ve spent enough time over there as it is.
Let’s not borrow trouble, shall we?
The World Trade Center towers fell because the insulation of the metal came off and heat weakened the structures. The buildings would have survived had this not happened.
I don’t see anything changing if this happened other than even tighter airline security.
I think that whoever did it, most of the world would be horrified. I’ll leave the longer-term ramifications to more informed minds.
Bah. I knew I’d get nitpicked. Most of the Arab states. The point is, if you envision a continuum with the fervently anti-Israel Arab states on the right and the least anti-Israel states on the left, the UAE - and Dubai in particular, since the emirates handle foreign policy individually, to a degree - would be to the left.
The US would still be in Iraq, Afghanistan and now Yemen?
The tower would be damaged, but not fall down.
Bet it’d mess up the plane something fierce.
sigh C’mon guys - the question wasn’t “what would Dubai do?”, the answer to which would be “not much of significance.”
The question was what would be the international reaction and more specifically the reaction of the Muslim world to such an event. The answer ( or my answer ), is that reaction would probably be about the same as to 9/11 - much shock and horror, lots of public condemnation. And maybe a few nutters celebrating here and there.
I kinda thought it went without saying that the UAE isn’t really up to invading Yemen, let alone Afghanistan. I know I just turned 42, but do you really think I’m already that senile ;)?
Nothing much would happen. What would they do? Send the mighty UAE army to invade Afghanistan?