Can't shake dread of terrorism

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is one of the most pathetic I have read for some time.

Firstly you clearly have no real idea of the relative risk of, for instance, car crashes vs. terrorism. Moving out to the far burbs means you are far more likely to die in a car crash than if you take public transport, and your risk of dying in a car crash is many many times greater than dying in a terrorist attack.

But having said that, I don't want to deter anyone from moving. This place would be better off if all the spineless cowards scuttled away to their bunkers in the mountains.

Run away! Run away!

You are out of line, PP.

I don't "worry" about car crashes, but I am aware that they can happen, and take prudent precautions against them. I'm willing to bet OP does, too. She probably researched car safety while shopping for a car, very likley takes steps to be sure her tires are properly inflated, and like me, tries not to drive while fatigued; avoids driving in bad weather and so on. I also have car insurance, and make sure my children are properly strapped in to their car seats.

There are steps people can take to minimize risk and to be prepared for accidents and disasters.

I spend a lot more time and money preparing for the possibility of a car accident than I do preparing for a severe disaster -- but I believe it is wise to me mentally prepared for many things.

[Anonymous]

I have a few thoughts.

First comparing not leaving DC even though a risk of terrorism exists to the Jews who didn't leave Germany and other areas even though they could see persecution coming is not apt. There is a big difference between having a feeling and/or knowing that your own government would like to eliminate you, and having the feeling and/or knowing that there is a risk that, despite our government's best efforts to protect its citizens, terrorists may strike. A persecution of a group of people under color of law is just much more frightening because it's much easier to do.

Yes, this is a high risk area. But, we also have greater protection than lots of other places for that simple reason. I really do not believe that you are at any more risk here than you would be in Chicago, LA, San Francisco, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, or possibly even Iowa, which one poster suggested as a safe place.

They have been predicting nuclear war since I was a child, and it has not happened. Because everyone knows that if you nuke us, we're going to nuke you much, much worse. It's ugly, but it works. As for Al Queda, they do not have weapons of mass destuction. They are patient, and unpredictable and I agree that emergency suppies are a good idea. But I wouldn't worry about Al Queda and the nuclear bomb. They are hard to make. We started a war in Iraq because we thought they had them and they didn't.

If Al Queda successfully strikes again, it will be in a way that none of us can imagine. Who could have imagined 9/11?? It was pretty much unimaginable. Al Queda could well decide that Nebraska would be a good place to strike next. Make a statement. No one is safe.

Unlike Nazi Germany/Poland -- it is not clear here what we are running from or where we'd be running to.

The Virginia Tech situation seems as likely to happen again as a terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

Some of the posters are right. We don't know and we can't predict and to a certain extent, when your number is up, it's up. Nothing will ever be the same after 9/11. But I really do not see how leaving DC will keep you safer. It's like Barack Obama. A lot of people would like to kill him. So he has more protection than any President ever. Still not a guarantee, but it's pretty good.

After 9/11, everyone said we would have other attacks in this country. We didn't. Actually the only thing George Bush could say that he accomplished during his Presidency is that there were no terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. He hasn't said it, because it would sound obnoxious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As for Al Queda, they do not have weapons of mass destuction.

How do you KNOW this for sure? Just because nothing has happened yet? So we only find out they have one what, when they use it?


One of my jobs as when I was in DC was to create our emergency preparedness plan. Stock the office with food, bottled water, emergency packs for everyone, with a flashlight, drywall type mask for over the face, etc. etc. Tell people to have walking shoes, cash, change of clothes, etc. etc. I was the liaison to local agencies disseminating info about emergency preparedness.

It smartened me up. DC is expecting this again. Sure, other cities are also at risk. But wouldn't DC be more symbolic to terrorists? And that's what it's all about, right? Symbolism.

Look, nobody is saying, run screaming for the mtns. Just be smart. If the OP thinks on balance that something will probably happen in DC again, and that she'd rather not be around if/when it does, maybe she should just LOOK at other options. Why not consider one of the many other nice communities in the greater DC area?

I am reminded of the people who didn't evacuate the Twin Towers, or went back in, or slowly walked down, took their time.... we were complacent. I used to have to yell at staff to actually get off the phone and leave the office because they thought fire drills were "stupid".

Are we becoming complacent again?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As for Al Queda, they do not have weapons of mass destuction.

How do you KNOW this for sure? Just because nothing has happened yet? So we only find out they have one what, when they use it?

Actually it's more likely they would use a dirty bomb, which would use an explosion to spread radioactive materials within a specific area. The radioactivity alone would most likely not kill anyone immediately but it would contaminate the specific area where it was set off. In that case, you would be just fine living in Friendship Heights for instance, if the target was the Capitol Building.

[Anonymous]

You are more likely to get hurt/killed by mugging in DC.....

[Anonymous]

While that's true, the urgency with which you respond to different risks should be determined not just by their likelihood but also by their magnitude.

[Anonymous]

How do I know that??? Well, I don't know anything with certainty. Why do I think it?? In order to have WMD, you need a lot of money and a lot of highly trained people to work on them and a place to stockpile them that is accessible. You don't carry it in your handbag. I think Al Queada is basically a group of thugs. They are not a country nor a government. It is very hard to build WMD -- few countries have it now and their POWER countries. And the more of these countries have nuclear bombs, the more it acts as a deterrent.

Do I think there is symbolism in Washington DC? Sure. But it's been done and that takes a lot of the drama out of it. And, we have more heightened security than other places because of that symbolism. The World Trade Center had symbolism. The Sears tower could have symbolism. The Golden Gate Bridge could have symbolism. An agricultural area could have symbolism. Attacking our food supply could have symbolism. Like I said, I'm not an Al Queda member and I can't speak for them. But my hunch is that when they do something, it will be something none of us ever thought of before. A huge shopping mall would have symbolism. A hospital with a huge NICU would have symbolism. A large synagogue would have symbolism. The possibilities are endless.

Planes are out. That is no longer an option.
The U.S. Capitol and White House is no longer an option.
The Pentagon is no longer an option.

I realize I am digressing, but what happend at Virginia Tech scared the living daylights out of me. As much, if not more so, than 9/11. Who could have imagined? I mean, yes, there was Columbine. Again, I ask you: who could have imagined? Who could have planned? And that was in a relatively remote part of VA.

We can't predict. We don't know. We are the strongest country in the world and, for 8 years, we've done a pretty good job at averting terrorism. That doesn't mean we will forever.

I just do not understand the fleeing part. I work at the base of the Capitol and I feel pretty safe. To tell you the truth, I worry more about my son when I leave him at his large Jewish pre-school.

At some point you just have to make a decision as to how you want to live your life. Afraid and in dread? Doesn't seem like a high quality of life. And it gives Al Quada just what they want.

Here's another thing to consider: there are basically three ways to die: 1. An accident, attack, heart attack, anuerism -- something that kills you instantly and you have no chance to make preparations; 2. A gradual disease process -- take your pick -- where you can say goodbyes and make preparations and hopefully not have too much pain and suffering, or 3) old age. Now, most people want to live as long as possible, and see this option as the best one. I'm not so sure. By then, many of your friends and family and spouses will be dead. You will be frail and unable to exercise much self-determination. You won't even be able to kill yourself should you decide you want to.

I'm not saying I want to be a victim of a terrorist attack and would pick door #1. But I will say that what really scares me is the possibility of one of my children dying. Or my dying and not being able to be there for them. Were we all to get wiped out at once, I could live with that (no pun intended). I am much more afraid of dying (the process) than I am of death.

[Anonymous]

I do think that another attack here is a question of when, not if. Having said that, I try to stay aware that I'm undertaking far more risk when I start up my car, cross the street or even step into the shower.

So I've split the difference. I've taken the precautions that are easy to do, might make a difference and have reasonable value even when the world isn't coming to an end. My husband and I are current on our first aid training. Our car is stocked with a wind-up flashlight/radio/cell phone charger and an emergency blanket. We maintain basic landline service at our house. There's always something in the pantry that can be eaten as-is. But honestly, if the Big Bad goes down, our "disaster plan" is to grab a fifth of whisky, sit on our deck and watch the nuclear sunset -- because I'd prefer that my obituary not read "Woman Dies on Evacuation-Choked I-66."

[Anonymous]

That was upbeat. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

OP, my husband is in counterterrorism. When we relocated here 4 years ago, we deliberately chose to live downwind of a nuclear fallout radius. We are on the edge of Fairfax county as a result. One thing that worried him was being able to get out fast, and as a result 1) we don't live close-in and 2) we have an evacuation plan and I know which way to point the car. I also know that if anything bad happened, he'd wouldn't be coming back. He'd be going TO the site, not away from it. This upsets me more than anything else.

My biggest fear is that all three of my kids (depending on the day) are in different schools, and not close together. How will I ever collect them all and get out of town? God forbid, I can't get to all of them - - there's no way I could leave one behind, so I guess we'd just stay.

My DH also believes the likelihood of an attack is high and imminent. He knows we're doing a lot to interrupt and prevent, but it's just a matter of odds. Eventually, they'll get one past the goalie if they make enough shots.

We would both like to get out of the bulls-eye as we call it. I feel safer living where we do, but I understand what the OP is talking about. If I were her, I'd move somewhere south and west of DC. You would at a minimum improve your odds.

[Anonymous]

PP -- how do you know that south west is downwind of DC?

Doesn't the wind change directions all the time?

Yikes -- come to think of it, on the weather maps, the winter weather mix is usually moving north east, isn't it???

Uh oh....

[Anonymous]

Winds tend to come from the west and blow either south or north. Either way, if the attack is is on DC proper, we're far enough out. I would not want to live north or east (houseboat?) of DC.

I have no idea but that he's seen maps and charts is enough for me. When we lived in another major port city, there was periodic air testing by the feds and somehow they can predict prevailing winds.

[Anonymous]

Same here as 16:08. My husband is in the same line of work and well, yes, it can happen any day. One of our precautions is that we don't have the kids in daycare in the city. We pay $$$ for a nanny and know that if there is an issue, they will be safe at home and we won't have to worry about them. We too have the food supply, car kits, etc. When your spouse is in this line of work and knows what threats there, you start to worry. Not exactly fun pillow talk at night either! One of my neighbors saw the stash of food and supplies in the basement and thought we were overreacting. I told her - um, do you have any clue what my husband does for a living!?! She backed off and said -well, if you get notice of anything will you tell me?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: One of my neighbors saw the stash of food and supplies in the basement and thought we were overreacting. I told her - um, do you have any clue what my husband does for a living!?! She backed off and said -well, if you get notice of anything will you tell me?

Except you know you can't. In case it was a false alarm.... that bothers me too. I would get a quick heads up, and couldn't tell anyone else.

[Anonymous]

Oh, and we always have a full tank of gas and have a cell phone on me at all times.