I've never been to New York, but wouldn't Sunday be a stupid

[rzemanfl]

day to attack the subway system? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051008/ap_on_re_us/nyc_subway

[Maraya1969]

1. Yes, the subways are far more crowded during the week.

The terrorism alert does not sound very feasible if it is planned for a Sunday.

It is kind of like saying the terrorists were planning on blowing up a subway at 2am on a Tuesday night.

[rzemanfl]

3. Yeah, it sounds really stupid to me too. Although I am inclined to

believe the whole thing was pretty much a fabrication, maybe started by some detainee who didn't know Sunday was not a work day here making up a story and BushCo then using it as a distraction.

[BrklynLiberal]

2. I believe the entire episode was a case of "Don't look at the man behind

the curtain"...for both Bush and Bloomberg. It was an opportunity for both of them to try to distract the public from issues that they should have been concentrating on.
I hope it did not work.

[Karmakaze]

4. For the sake of argument, say I was a terrorist...

now, say I was now a target of the war on terror, and was suspicious of my communication channels or lower ranking personnel. How would I check my security?

Well, to me it seems pretty obvious - come up with a series of phony plots that I do not intend to carry out then channel by channel, person by person test each by transmitting a phony plot to them.

It would take time, and each plot would have to be something that would cause a visible reaction from the authorities.

So say Muhammad just joined my group in the last few months - I tell him he is going to coordinate a plot to bomb the subway in NY, and then tell him to coordinate with trusted members.

If the plot is revealed - detectable by the increased security or media reports about it - then I know Muhammad is a plant or talked to a plant. If it is not revealed I simply call off the mission saying other plans have instead been made.

How many of these plots we hear about in the press are such tests? Do you think we would ever be told if the person who informed the US about the plot wound up dead? I don't think so.

[ucmike]

5. the bomber would be able to get a seat on sunday.

so that might make it more appealing to them. no reason to stand and blow yourself to bits, when you can sit and blow yourself to bits.