I doubt we're much of a terrorist target; I have no doubt we're a strategic one.  Knock out the Tehachapi Loop, for example, and we're in a world of hurt.

Commuter trains in Spain are a target; children in school in Russia are a target; women at an open market in Iraq are a target.....yeah, Bakersfield is a target. So is Disneyland in Anaheim. Moslems would prefer large casualties, but if out of reach, "soft" targets will do, just to let you know that you're not safe. They'd suicide bomb a maternity ward for the shock.

catpaw, really?   

"They'd suicide bomb a maternity ward for the shock."

What makes you say that? They've never done it before. Sure, an open market or a party where people are congregating, but come on, they're bad enough to where you don't have to make that stuff up.

A terrorist attack might be an improvement. Far worse than the Tehachapi Loop would be damage done to the Federal and State Water Projects.

Given our oil here, we are for sure a strategic site.  Are we high on the list?  Probably not. 

What makes me say that? Because it's possible. What makes you say it isn't? Because you don't comprehend the logic of a blood thirsty religious lunatic. I could be wrong, but I wouldn't bet that grieving parents of 160 school children in Russia share your confidence that babies are not targeted.

As long as its being discussed you might add Oil production, Refinerys, and a major agricultural food source coming from our valley. ..small crack around here called the San Andreas..Diablo Canyon is just a hop skip and a bang from here.

In the world of terrorism we are a one stop shop..why waste a bunch of ammo when if its planned right the chain reaction could pretty much change life as we know it in just a matter of minutes

I think the most compelling reason Bako might be a terrorist target is the fact that you have the foremost weapons expert in the country residing there -- tkozy.

It would be worth their weight in goat heads to take that guy out.

Once done, they could have their way with us like a tomcat with a half dead mouse.........................

OHhhh CHICO MAwahahahhah

At one time Elk Hills was considered a major target.  Considering the oil producing capabilities of KC we probably still would be.

Chico, you da MAN.  LOL....loved it.

OK, nobody else caught that? Governmernt bus = terrorism. Conspiracy theories, right? But everyone started to discuss it so there must be something to it all. Government comes around, then boom - Terrorism. Weird....

I guess they know something we don't because there's an army on eye st every weekend, too. Keeps getting bigger. Counted 9 cars, 2 motorcycles at a single intersection.

{ cue twilight zone music} do do do do......................

johnbravo6 to base......................

ground control to Major Tom.......................

Jessie Ventura to Rosie................. do do do do......

elk hills has a major gas bubble up there..have you ever been under that huge stack they used to burn off the excess gas?? how do you spell FREEAKIN ENORMOUS..

Arco has Coles Levee where they produce propane and thats right by the aqueduct north of taft hwy.....I worked there for a number of years..that huge tank you see on your way to Taft?? well its alot bigger when your standing ontop trying to catch your breath from the long climb up that ladder..If it went for whatever reason that would make some glass rattle all the way into Bakerfield and back..Lake Buena Vista??? whats that?..that facility a shipping station..compressors blast gas through the piplines from there all the way to LA..Kern river has Omar Hill..

IF ya think your sleepin in a peaceful serine setting an educated terrorist that had the technology wouldnt consider takin a free shot at....THINK AGAIN..

I tend to think any terrorist worth his NaCl would put his efforts toward a large population center or refining capacity (why not both) such as exists in Houston and the Ship Channel all the way through Baytown to Galveston...........

But you never know.

Good show last night on British terrorist attempt -- still using planes.............

I tend to worry more about something coming through Ports at LA, Houston, NOLA, etc........

Seems to me biggest bang for buck would be more attractive to them, especially since security is pretty lax all over.

A tanker truck filled with C4 or reasonable facsimile thereof, a chemical plant in NE........ we are a target rich environment as an open society.......

Sioux -- is the gas bubble at the apex of the primary anticlinal structure in Elk Hills?

We could station Hunter Liggett koz with 81mm mortar and mini-gun thereon

Once word got out, no terrorist in his right mind would come within a CEP of 100 miles........

Im not saying we are a prime target..but to be so nieve as to think we wouldnt be on a list somwhere as far as creating havoc for larger ares is just nutty..shut the aqueduct off..LA shrivels up..it was originally built for them..infact if push comes to shove during a drought our valley gets shut off and the waters run through to LA..

Aquaduct is good point

hard by Elk Hills

Never say Never

They're not going to stop trying. The intercepted plot in England proves that point. Every failure sends them back to the drawing board. We've got to stop them every time. They only have to succeed once. It's not going to stop until moslems reform their religion. Till then, they'll continue to kill people for God.

hehe well security used to be pretty tight up there..but your purposal would no doubt have a postive impact  *grin*

kill people for Ali..people that believe in GOD are on their hit list

The aqueduct is certainly a lifeline for a large populace

Think of choke points

Wouldn't Edmiston Pumping Plant be a place to watch?

(you'd have to keep the koz outa the Denny's though)

San Onofre Nuclear Plant sits on the edge of the Pacific Ocean at San Clemente and is an equal distance between the ocean and Interstate 5 (about 1,000 feet). It's vulnerable at least to being hit by a powerful weapon that could be fired, especially from a truck stopped on the interstate. Right after 9/11 I noticed that a truck had stopped on the interstate right next to the power plant and you can CLEARLY see how close and vulnerable that place is if, say, the sides of that box the truck was pulling were rolled up and an artillary piece was aimed at it.  The damage would be in radioactive contamination of a major metro area.

Here in the Coachella Valley we are also dependent on outside water sources from the Colorado River. We'd be up the creek without that source and given that we live in a major desert, we'd feel the pain immediately.  There is some solace to know that engineers who can reconstruct bridges in LA after a major earthquake almost immediately can also reconstruct a breech in a water way pretty quickly.

Edmiston Pumping Plant would be much more difficult however

See now theres some of that military training showin through Chico.. and thats getting close to the San Andreas..Just dont trust that ol Crack ho..FYI people if you have ever driven the road into Pine Mountain Club..your inside the San Andreas fault line..kinda puts that little jewel into prespective when your looking at and up those towering cliffs lining the hwy..

Chico, that was hilarious!! And, seriously, imagine what about 50,000 pounds of C4 or any other high yield explosive could do. (That is roughly legal max capacity of a semi and trailer...but what terrorist thinks legal, lol??? 

SCR, if L.A. shriveled up....would we really miss it, lol??

HM, unless your terrorists are rolling with something bigger than a 155 howitzer shell (well, maybe multiple armor piercing rounds), I think San Onofre is relatively safe.  The containment structure is 4 to 7 feet of concrete, and is laced with steel rods and are crisscrossed with high-tension steel cables. But...it would fit in the back of a semi trailer, but as soon as you would turn it to fire, the recoil would destroy the trailer.

BTW, myself and a bunch of truckers were conversing one night after 9/11 about what would be the next logical choice.  Planes were out, as they already exposed them for their flaws.  So the next thing that could make a big bang is trucks.  I brought up that you could shut down California cold if you were to detonate explosive filled trucks at the major highway border crossings.  I mean Interstates 8, 10, 40, 15, 80, 5, and like highway 95, the 395, along those lines.  Most all of those have bridge crossings in valley or what not. You would have a monster back-up at all the little highways with everyone trying to get in and get out of the state.  It would a cluster of epic proportions. 

Ponder that one for a minute. 

Sioux, if you think any man-made weapon could cause an earthquake, you've been reading too many Bond novels.
 

The best conventional weapon attack would be at a symbolic target. Look at every "plot" that has been "foiled" by the US govt. Every "target" was a symbolic building (with the possible exception of the JFK fuel pipeline plot, which was only technically impossible). There are hundreds, if not thousands, across our nation. Protecting each one is nearly impossible, and it should not even be attempted.

The most disruptive target for a nuclear attack would either be the LA/Long Beach ports (as Chico pointed out), or Washington D.C. (when Congress and the President are not on vacation).

I bow to your litterary expertise Matt..I dont read Bond always that that crap was Korny..but if you say so..its gotta be GOLD******

OK now I got it..if a  nuclear device or two hitting us say around Parkfield ....we dont have to worry about any shakers..or if they blow up a Nuc power plant on shaky sandy ground we are safe as a bug in a rug....well according to Master Mattloch....

WOW I feel much better ..Next time I see a mushroom cloud forming in the night sky.. I wont give it a second thought..THANKS BIG GUY

Sioux, if you think, for a second, that if terrorists have even a single nuclear device, and they would put it anywhere on the San Andreas with the plan of causing a state-shattering earthquake, you are so far beyond rational thought there is no reason continuing this discussion.
 

If you actually want to discuss this, let me ask you: does the San Andreas move as a single unit, or as a number of small units along a single line? Did the 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake affect any other locations? Did the Northridge quake affect San Francisco? Did the 1989 San Francisco earthquake cause a single building to topple in LA?

As for nuclear power plants, the containment buildings are built to withstand a fully-fueled 747 crashing into them. And let me ask you this: what would happen if the containment buildings were somehow ruptured? Do you know? Because I do.

Terrorists have already looked into the feasibility of a nuclear bomb. Too complicated. According to PBS diagrams pertaining to a dirty bomb have been discovered. A dirty bomb would cause disruption and havoc that would be almost impossible to clean up; over time clusters of cancer may occur. But it would not cause the destruction and body count terror groups prefer.

Captured tapes suggest some considered targets were the Space Needle in Seattle, the Statue of Liberty, the NY Stock Exchange, Disneyland in California, the stadium hosting the Super Bowl, high profile symbolic targets, as Mattlock pointed out.  But the priority seems to be the high body count. Incidental acts of terror that would kill only a dozen or so people are discouraged so as not to alert security even though they have been known to occur anyway.

I've always said Disneyland would demoralize this country and put people in a state of panic where all theme parks are concerned.    They wouldn't feel safe taking their children there and the city of Aneheim would shrivel up.  Taking out Vegas would cripple Nevada.  They have lots of options where we're concerned depending on what area they want to cripple.  Morale, fuel, transportation, energy, food supply.  We're a melting pot all right, along with inncredibly diverse.  We're also resouceful and we'd survive.  I don't think terrorists quite get it yet that pissed off, we're much more dangerous to them.

Matt...you have got to be out of your freakin mind or you no read so good..where did I say it would be a state wide catastrophe?? thats your words not mine..you are creating a scenario in an attempt to feel superior in your knowledge of the pacific plates which actually makes you appear more child like for even asking such stupid basic questions.

As far as a nuclear emergency..well aside from Three Mile and Chernobyl which had no real devastating effects according to THEIR REPORTS (achem) Id say under a 'normal' melt down we stand a better than even chance for containment....but if you drop an A bomb over one of those facilitys your gonna get more bang for your buck than any of 'your' science fiction novels can even imagine..

Please forgive me but Is Iran not a terrorist country? is there not a question on their ability to develop nuclear weapons...I dont expect one to drop next week but these guys have been at war for thousands of years...does bidding your time  ring a bell?

Welp this threads gettin old...arguing over such petty crap's annoying ..keep your turtle shell on cause once they hit Disneyland they might figure out that if you cut off LA's water supply by knocking out the pump station on the hill.. bottled water will only last for so long with the population LA supports...Please realize that  this is just an observation.. I totally acknowledge that you're the one with all the answers.

You Da' Man Chief !!

I can guarantee you that the terrorists don't want to knock out Disneyland.  They've probably already heard that if they mess with Disneyland my granddaughter will singlehandedly wipe them off the face of the earth. 

Disneyland is safe as long as she is the guardian and they know it.  Beware.  Be warned.

Three cheers for your grand daughter Nancy..shes my kinda peoples..*grin*

Nancy, surely you jest regarding Disneyland! Are you baiting? Okay, I'll nosh on it. :)

Crazy:

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,423304,00.html

Sioux, anyone who doubts me should take a tour of her kitchen and spare bedroom.  And take a peek at the seasons tickets they have and the times they've visited just this year.  LOL...the baby is only 4 1/2 months old and he's already been twice.  How many of YOU have a toaster that plays Mickey Mouse Club when the toast is done AND puts Mickeys face on the toast?  (she's really easy to buy gifts for though..lol)

She has family in and from Texas so believes in the "Don't Mess With Texas" slogan but the terrorists better remember her personal motto that says "Mess With Disneyland And You'll Know What Real Terror Is."

PS, I put a picture on TV 23's baby pics website,  It should be there tomorrow saying "Logan is ready for Disneyland."

LOL Vanity...we all know the extremists are nuts anyway.  They just haven't met my granddaughter yet.

She's good natured and takes a lot of ribbing from the family but she really is a true Disney fan and if you ever want to go there and learn all about it, she's your gal for a guide.  AND she's fun.  She's actually my granddaughter by marriage to my grandson but I claim her as my own anyway.

Thanks for sharing, Nancy :). She sounds like a force to be reckoned with! And how cool that you embrace her in such a way. Too bad that doesn't happen more often as it only hurts the little ones.

My son's daughter has the 18 month old boy and my daughters son and wife have the 4 1/2 month old so they have both given me treasures beyond belief.  I always though my grandkids were the best ever but great grandkids are like miracles.

Your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are all so blessed to have you around and involved. My sisters and I all had our kids so late that my dad will most likely never see a great-grandchild. Nor will he see even the grandkids grow up. I know he thinks of this often ... all of a sudden, out of nowhere, he wants to take pictures of what is a seemingly mundane visit. Watching him age has been difficult. 

We have three major roadways running through Bakersfield.  I 5, Hwy 99 and Hwy 58.  In addition to these we also have railway lines running north and south.  Taking out any or all of these methods of transport would create a tremendous problem for California.

Then of course,  we have the aqueduct, oil fields, and the huge farming, and ranching industries.   Why wouldn't we be a target?

Popeye -- A double tanker took most of the VX2 to Syria from Iraq

One double tanker full of C4 or even PETN (or reasonable facsimile thereof ) could do a lot of damage in a refinery, chemical plant, etc. especially a large one like in Houston Ship Channel area.......

Note the number of Arabs learning to drive semi's. Some of them even own the schools! LOL!

Command detonated with cell phone and electronic detonator -- the terrorist wouldn't even have to be that  "committed"!

ML's right about nuclear power plants IMO. Much less hardened are the refineries, chemical plants, major pipelines, gathering facs, etc. And the terror value would be huge!