Is al-Qaeda Targeting the Santa Monica Pier? SM Authorities Fear So
Police patrols have been stepped up in the seaside community of Santa Monica after three “suspicious middle eastern men” were seen videotaping the Santa Monica Pier. The incident happened last month and was reported on CBS’s Los Angeles affiliate television station, presumably after being tipped off by SM authorities. The news report noted that “Santa Monica authorities” said that since al-Qaeda is known to photograph potential targets, they are on high alert.
Independent Sources doesn’t want to make light of terrorism, but let’s be rational for a moment. If al-Qaeda’s next target in the U.S. ended up being the Santa Monica pier with all of its cheesy rides and video arcades, al-Qaeda would find themselves the laughing stock of the western and eastern worlds. I’d like to hear Bin Laden explain how the global Jihad was being served by blowing up a rundown tourist trap in dire need of a new paint job. Good way to bring America to its knees, by depriving them of corn dogs and cheese sticks!
On a more serious note, let’s not see our cities fall over ourselves protecting a municipal piers while things like our major ports lie wide open to nuclear cargo.Since the FBI has said that there is no terrorist threat in Santa Monica, perhaps the city should think twice before expending a self-reported $2 million on extra security.
Additional Reading: In 2003, The ultra-left wing Santa Monica City Council passed resolutions against both the coming war in Iraq as well as the Patriot Act. Since no one particularly cares what a bunch of aging municipal hippies thinks about a national issue (particularly those who think rent control can work in the long run), the resolutions were largely symbolic.
Of particular interest is the following section from the City Council Anti-Patriot Act Resolution:
SECTION 2. The City of Santa Monica affirms its commitment to the rights of all people, including those of various ethnicities and citizenships, and to reasonable and proper expectations of individual privacy when using community facilities such as our Public Library.
In light of recent events I guess the message from Santa Monica is “go ahead and use our libraries, but if we see you using our beloved pier all bets are off.”
Source: KCBS Channel 2 News 8/11 6 pm newscast
Update: LAT reports “suspicions aroused by recent videotaping of high-profile structures appear to be unfounded.”
Far more serious additional reading: 9/11 Commission Revelations and more specifically “Able Danger” can be found at Captains Quaters
Technorati tags: war on terror santa monica
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August 11th, 2005 at 11:59 pm
This is not a joke. Don’t forget Millenium Bomber Ahmed Ressam planned to blow up LAX.
Good luck is not an anti-terror strategy.
It’s pretty unlikely Al-Qaeda can pull off exactly another 9/11, passengers on planes will fight to the death now. It’s that simple. However …
Al Qaeda in Turkey (blasts at seaside resorts catering to Israelis), Sharm-al-Sheik Egypt, Bali, Jakarta, Instanbul, Tunis, Zamboanga Philippines, London, as well as Iraq and Israel have typically targetted the following:
1. “Soft” targets such as hotels, shopping malls, resorts, nightclubs, pizza places, consulates/embassies, banks, synagoges, cultural centers, and other places where lots of people can be killed.
2. Soft targets after considerable surveillance and “dry runs” to maximize casualties.
3. Innocent people, particularly shoppers and/or tourists, to maximize media attention and economic dislocation.
I’d imagine a terrorist attack on “immune” LA particularly the Santa Monica Pier would suit Al Qaeda’s goal of spreading terror throughout America just fine. Didn’t Ayman Al Zawahari, bin Laden’s #2 just threaten that a few weeks ago?
Let’s get real, there is no magic anti-terror fairy over LA preventing terrorism here when it happens in Jerusalem, Bali, Istanbul, Tunis, London, Madrid, Sharm al-Sheik, Jakarta, Zamboanga, Thailand, and other places all over the world.
August 12th, 2005 at 7:33 am
I didn’t think racial profiling was allowed in a place like Santa Monica. What about the rights of the men doing the videotaping? They should be ashamed of themselves.
/sarcasm
August 12th, 2005 at 7:36 am
“/sarcasm”
Pam, you are a welcome additon to the blog!
I also hate the “discrimination” that people with backpacks (or “PWBs”) are being subjected to on public transport. Despicable.
August 12th, 2005 at 9:04 am
to bring in more diverse readers. (Via Romenesko) ? KCBS-2 reported that Santa Monica has stepped up anti-terrorism patrols after three “suspicious middle eastern men” were seen shooting video of the pier. Blogger Independent Sources is skeptical. Also, Channel 2’s Kent Schocknek blogs snidely about a Border Patrol agent caught helping smugglers.
August 12th, 2005 at 3:23 pm
My friends the Santa Monica liberals, just back from a month in Israel and thus a little paranoid, think a more likely scenario is a homeless-looking dude pushing a shopping cart down the 3d Street Promenade on a Friday night — only the shopping cart is not what it looks like. All too possible.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:18 am
not for sale.” He describes the paper as “very special”– just like Corky in ‘Life Goes On.’ (link via Romenesko) -Virginia Heffernan applies her genius-level critical eye to SoCal quasi-reality show ‘Laguna Beach.’ -Independent Sources notes a fishy-seeming KCBS newscast about the Santa Monica Pier as a potential terror target.