Terrorism on
rail transportation: Taking down the
Federal Government via the
Metro Rail System
By Patrick
Kennedy
The first anniversary of the Madrid
train bombings that killed 150 and injured over 1,500 people have come
and
gone, yet what has been done to deter or prepare for future attacks
like this? The 10 backpack bombs that
exploded on packed
commuter trains on March 11th,
2004 were an indication of Al Qaeda’s international network
of
terrorists in Spain. The coordinated attacks also served as a
warning
to other Western European allies, whom rely heavily on mass rail
transportation
systems, that they themselves are vulnerable to such a terrorist attack. The Madrid
train bombings were Spain’s
September 11th. The United
States along with many other countries fully understand the Spaniards
pain and
suffering yet have made few attempts to prevent a similar style of
attack from
occurring in our homeland.
Even today, the Washington D.C. Metro Rail
system remains a
viable target for a terrorist event like the Madrid
train bombings. It is a lucrative target
with inherent vulnerability. It is safe
and reliable but not secure. There is a
false sense of safety and security that looms over every rider on the
system;
the fact that it has not yet been attacked. The Metro Rail is a major
mode of
transportation that takes millions of commuters every day to desired
locations
in the metropolitan areas of the District of
Columbia, Maryland
and Northern
Virginia. However, the
Metro Rail system does not check to enforce or restrict any passenger’s
access
to the system or x-ray their personal baggage. For
no other reason than this, striking at
the heart of America’s
federal government employees would be as simple as bringing on
backpacks of
bombs and remotely exploding them on rail cars.
Tactical suicide attacks and improvised
explosive devices
have not been introduced into the U.S.
on the scale of that seen in Iraq
or Israel. Suicide bombers add an entirely new threat
dimension to the U.S. Al Qaeda has indicated that taking down the U.S.
economy along with disrupting the rail transportation system, and
causing mass
casualties are part of their modus operandi. The
recipe for a catastrophic event on the Metro
Rail could be very simple, and similar to Madrid
train bombings. For example, about three
months ago, a train suicide jumper at L’Enfant Metro station stopped
rail traffic
during rush-hour for approximately three hours on a busy Monday
commute. This single
suicide delayed traffic on the entire Metro transportation system until
police
could investigate and clean the scene. Additionally,
the L’Enfant Metro station which has
multiple tracks and
different Metro lines all coming and going, experienced
a “domino effect” that was felt when
this station
was closed, causing thousands of commuters to be stranded in train
stations and
backed-up trains on all metro lines. Combine
this suicide or any other timing device or diversionary tactics with 10
backpack bomb satchels placed in strategic Metro train locations and
the Madrid
Train bombings would not even compare to the death and injury that
could occur
in Washington D.C.