CB, thanks for the thought. I was actually far more disturbed by the destruction of the Twin Towers, so more sympathy was needed for me then [though most other people were needing some too]. The Bali Bomb wasn't a big deal in my mind [by comparison]. No more than a 747 being bombed and there have been plenty of those. The Rainbow Warrior was more of a big deal [because it was a state doing it - a 'friendly' state at that].
It's odd how each person values mayhem. It's all to do with our sense of identity and values and perspective on how the world should work, but didn't.
For a long time I've been thinking the America's Cup Village in downtown Auckland is going to be bombed. If I was a terrorist, I would NOT let that opportunity go. It's perfect.
The ideal would be to sail a boat with 10 tonnes of diesel and ammonium nitrate into the Viaduct Basin and blow it up. It would be perfect - especially if they could get it on television [they could have cameras up the Skytower with zoom lens for excellent camera angle]. There are other vantage points too.
If they could time it for the finals, when hordes of people from all around the world will be crowding into all the restaurants and buildings surrounding the basin, and many megayachts will be berthed there, including those such as Katana [Larry Ellison's] and many other American super-boats, they'd have a real winner.
New Zealand had troops in Afghanistan chasing Osama and is generally supporting the USA military and United Nations military actions, so NZ is a good target. The America's Cup is a rich, corporate, swaggering event, revolving primarily around the USA and the Auld Mug. Television coverage is extensive. The numbers of people who could be killed would be huge. I guess they could get 20,000 on a good day. Certainly 10,000.
I suspect the police and anti-terrorist people in NZ are trying to figure out how to avoid such an event. I suspect they are far more blase than they should be.
There are many Moslem terrorist supporters here, thanks to our absurd immigration policy of accepting illegal 'refugees' and others who have increasingly been involved in mayhem here: I intervened when some young Indian-looking guys were wielding a sword and attempting to smash somebody's head with a steel pole [which was fortunately attached by a chain as part of a fence and they couldn't reach the guy's head].
Most people are now aware of danger for the America's Cup competition, so hopefully it'll be made a lot more difficult for a successful attack.
The Twin Towers represented important things to me. One day, I'll make a pilgrimage to where I viewed them in awe way back in 1975. I have a photo from then, which was always one of my favourites, of the glistening new towers, reaching up to the sky. I took daughter Emily [19 at the time] there in 1999 enroute to the Global Celebrations at Telecom99 in Geneva, where Globalstar service was announced to the world.
Recently, I saw a documentary about the fire [as filmed by the cameraman who was filming at the time with the fire department]. It included the sound of people hitting the ground outside and the reactions of the firemen. I hadn't really had sound to go with the sights I'd seen [other than the commotion in the streets].
Horrific. [I'm not really sure what I'm trying to write here, so that's not very satisfactory - I'm tempted just to delete the post, but here it is, for what it's worth].
Mqurice |
