# What would happen if Western terrorists bombed Mecca? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 7, 2007, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-western-terrorists-bombed-mecca/429107 "2007-12-07T02:26:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2007, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-western-terrorists-bombed-mecca/429107/41 "2007-12-09T13:24:52Z")
ignorance fought. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2007, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-western-terrorists-bombed-mecca/429107/42 "2007-12-09T21:50:45Z")
[QUOTE=Testy] **Sapo** Security is about the same as everywhere else. Metal detectors work just fine through a thobe… [/QUOTE] Are women subject to the same level of screening as men (by female guards of course)? ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2007, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-western-terrorists-bombed-mecca/429107/43 "2007-12-09T22:36:42Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] Are women subject to the same level of screening as men (by female guards of course)? [/QUOTE] **alphaboi867** In Mecca itself? I really don’t know to much about that. There was a recent hassle about women being banished to a subsidiary area for their worship. The women fought back and won, BTW. In airports and the like, women go through the same metal detectors as anyone else and get wanded in an enclosed area by female guards. Except for the screened area, not that much different than anywhere else. Regards Testy ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-western-terrorists-bombed-mecca/429107/44 "2007-12-10T00:34:29Z")
What if the destruction were caused by some sort of natural event? I’m not familiar enough with the geology of the area to know if an earthquake would be a viable “act of god”, but what about something along the lines of the [Tunguska Event](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event)? In theory we would know for some time in advance that a big rock was coming our way and someone would work out the point of impact more than a few days before it happened. What sort of crisis of faith and response would that provoke? Apologies for the slight hijack. I’ll start a new thread if need be. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-western-terrorists-bombed-mecca/429107/45 "2007-12-10T03:06:01Z")
> [@Testy](#): > > As an oh-by-the-way, the official Hajjis circling the box usually wear a robe of sorts made of toweling. I guess you could conceal something small under it but anything larger than a small pistol or the like would probably show up. Except that women Hajjis wear regular clothes (often quite voluminous). [QUOTE=Testy] a green Igama [/QUOTE] Got one for you right [here](http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/animals/images/1024/green-iguana.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-western-terrorists-bombed-mecca/429107/46 "2007-12-10T03:10:26Z")
[QUOTE=Testy] **Sapo** They do not let just anyone wander into the sites without some kind of ID. [/QUOTE] In the main airports security is better, but the small regional airports there are people wandering all over the place. If you sit in the waiting area you see a constant stream of people going back and forth through the metal detector with no one stopping them. The continuous beeping gets quite annoying after a while. So, it really depends which airport you are in and which country that is in. From what I’ve seen it wouldn’t take much to smuggle assault rifles on board, let alone box cutters. ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-western-terrorists-bombed-mecca/429107/47 "2007-12-10T04:42:06Z")
[QUOTE=Uzi] In the main airports security is better, but the small regional airports there are people wandering all over the place. If you sit in the waiting area you see a constant stream of people going back and forth through the metal detector with no one stopping them. The continuous beeping gets quite annoying after a while. So, it really depends which airport you are in and which country that is in. From what I’ve seen it wouldn’t take much to smuggle assault rifles on board, let alone box cutters. [/QUOTE] **Uzi** True enough, and not just here, either. Last summer I was entering a controlled area and remembered a large pocket knife I was carrying. I put it in a backpack and left it in the car. Several weeks later I went on leave and was trying to find the knife but couldn’t. I figured I must have dropped it out and lost it. I flew from Riyadh to Abu Dhabi to Bangkok and then to a smaller city in Thailand. On the way back home they stopped me in Bkk and asked me about the knife. :smack: No one had noticed it prior to that. Regards Testy ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-western-terrorists-bombed-mecca/429107/48 "2007-12-10T04:44:25Z")
[QUOTE=Projammer] What if the destruction were caused by some sort of natural event? I’m not familiar enough with the geology of the area to know if an earthquake would be a viable “act of god”, but what about something along the lines of the [Tunguska Event](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event)? In theory we would know for some time in advance that a big rock was coming our way and someone would work out the point of impact more than a few days before it happened. What sort of crisis of faith and response would that provoke? Apologies for the slight hijack. I’ll start a new thread if need be. [/QUOTE] **Projammer** Well, it’s suspected of being a meteorite anyway so maybe there’d just be a new stone. Testy ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-western-terrorists-bombed-mecca/429107/49 "2007-12-10T04:45:51Z")
[QUOTE=Johanna] Except that women Hajjis wear regular clothes (often quite voluminous). Got one for you right [here](http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/animals/images/1024/green-iguana.jpg). [/QUOTE] **Johanna** Thanks for that! 😛 Regards Testy ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-western-terrorists-bombed-mecca/429107/50 "2007-12-10T23:28:07Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] Somehow I see Gene Hackman in the film adaptation. [/QUOTE] Oh yeah, and Will Smith, gotta have Will Smith. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-western-terrorists-bombed-mecca/429107/51 "2007-12-10T23:36:00Z")
[QUOTE=Projammer] What if the destruction were caused by some sort of natural event? I’m not familiar enough with the geology of the area to know if an earthquake would be a viable “act of god”, but what about something along the lines of the [Tunguska Event](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event)? In theory we would know for some time in advance that a big rock was coming our way and someone would work out the point of impact more than a few days before it happened. What sort of crisis of faith and response would that provoke? [/QUOTE] Perhaps they would claim that we diverted the asteroid into Mecca for our own nefarious purposes ? ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-western-terrorists-bombed-mecca/429107/52 "2007-12-11T08:32:30Z")
**What would happen if Western terrorists bombed Mecca?** Has anybody considered that the world would be swarming with terrorists intent on destroying churches, synagogues and other non-islamic religious symbols ? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-western-terrorists-bombed-mecca/429107.md?page=2)