# Perspective



## QC (Mar 11, 2009)

Is the priority placed on preventing terrorist attacks justified?

The answer to this depends on your perspective. Below are selected indicators from a human life, economic  and social perspective.
From a human life perspective, the probability of dying last year as a result of a:
• terrorist incident was one in 9.7 million.
• commercial airliner accident was one in 4.8 million.
• lightning strike was one in 1.4 million.
• car accident was one in 18,800
From an economic perspective, the direct financial cost of terrorism or loss of critical infrastructure includes:
• the 2002 Bali terrorist attack cost the Indonesian economy about 1% of its GDP
• the 2001 New York and Pentagon terrorist attacks cost about $100 billion (1% of the US Gross Domestic Product).
• the 1998 Longford gas explosion to Victoria cost $1.3 billion (1% of Victoria’s Gross State Product)
• the 1998 electricity blackout to Auckland, New Zealand, reduced the nation’s GDP by about 0.3%
From a social perspective, indicators of interest are:
• The Australian newspaper ran 630 articles in 2002 mentioning terrorism, compared with 33 on road
accidents and death tolls.
• The Commonwealth’s National Security Hotline took 2600 calls during its first week of operation, and
18,000 calls between 27 December 2002 and 26 May, 2003.10
Risk evaluation is a product of the social, political, and economic environment. Therefore, no single indicator is
able to capture the reactions of individuals to different threats. The concept that any risk should be defined
solely by supposedly objective criteria, such as probability, ignores the way events are perceived and responded
to. Strategic malicious acts like terrorism are designed to create fear and uncertainty in the community.
Consequently their social aspects must be recognised if the risk is to be effectively managed, and the
community’s confidence restored.

http://www.engineersaustralia.org.a...B-D6C2-07BB-854A-E0AB622149FE&siteName=ieaust


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## arizonaguide (Mar 11, 2009)

Good post, QC! :)


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## Trip_Wire (Mar 11, 2009)

QC:

The things that worry me are the use of 'dirty bombs' and/or nuclear weapons. One well made 'dirty bomb' could if detonated in downtown Sydney could render the city center useless for a while from the radioactivity, as well as kill many from radiation sickness.

A real Nuclear weapon would do the same things plus kill many more in the blast and radiation sickness to follow the blast.

Iran will have or already a nuclear weapon, which to me means that terrorists will have access to such weapons in the near future. Of course there is also North Korea as well.

We also have Bio weapons and chemical weapons to deal with as well. Some Bio weapons could have drastic effects on a cities population as well.


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## pardus (Mar 11, 2009)

I'm not too worried about dirty bombs, their effect will be limited though it certianly would suck to be anywhere close when it goes off but what's the realistic chance of that?

Chemical and in particular  Bio attack are what I'm more worried about, they could cause a lot of damage and are very hard to protect against if you are caught by it.

I really need to get a gas mask...


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## Invictus (Mar 11, 2009)

I believe the emphasis on preventing terrorism isn't rooted in what has occurred/what is occurring in comparison to its potential.  Numbers do not represent potential, such as the extreme catastrophe that can result from a bio weapon attack.


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## SpitfireV (Mar 11, 2009)

This is pretty much why I'm of the opinion it is primarily a law enforcement problem.


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## QC (Mar 12, 2009)

*The things that worry me are the use of 'dirty bombs' and/or nuclear weapons. One well made 'dirty bomb' could if detonated in downtown Sydney could render the city center useless for a while from the radioactivity, as well as kill many from radiation sickness.
*
Interesting, as we here have had installed last year a series of bells and whistles to evac the CBD should the need arise.


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## pardus (Mar 12, 2009)

Queens Cadet said:


> *The things that worry me are the use of 'dirty bombs' and/or nuclear weapons. One well made 'dirty bomb' could if detonated in downtown Sydney could render the city center useless for a while from the radioactivity, as well as kill many from radiation sickness.
> *



You would notice a difference?   :uhh:      ;)


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## Marauder06 (Mar 12, 2009)

Queens Cadet said:


> Is the priority placed on preventing terrorist attacks justified?
> 
> The answer to this depends on your perspective. ...:
> • terrorist incident was one in 9.7 million.
> •



Of course it's justified.  The odds of dying in a terrorist incident would be a hell of a lot different if there wasn't such a high priority placed on their prevention.

I think sometimes people forget that our enemies are doing everything they can every day in order to make those odds 100%.


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