Be Prepared

As Iran tensions heat up major metropolitan areas are not the only ones who need to be prepared. CIA and Secret Service retirees warn of possible Iranian Terror cells operating in Rural areas. Although NYC, DC, and other major urban centers are prime targets for acts of terror foreign and domestic, some are warning of the possibility of a strike against low population targets in rural America.

A recent article posted by Law Enforcement Today talks about the capabilities that Iran and its terror cells have to strike the US mainland. Most recently proven with the arrest of two Hezbollah operatives in New York in June of 2017.

Although the Department of Homeland Security says that no identifiable threat is imminent from Iran the possibility of an attack has still prompted a response from state and local officials across the country.

In New York State, Governor Cuomo has authorized the deployment of the National Guard to airports and other important infrastructure around the state as a precaution along with California.

Research done by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) on where Terrorism takes place shows that although a third of all terror attacks recorded occurred in just five major metropolitan areas, rural counties must also be prepared for incidents as well.

How We Think about Terror:

One of the reasons the events of September 11th were so shocking to the US defense apparatus was the underestimation and lack of understanding of tactics used by terrorists. Before 9/11, a hijacking meant that a plane would be held for ransom or political requests and eventually landed by the original pilot as what occurred in the TWA Flight 847 incident in 1985. The possibility of hijackers flying the plane themselves was never considered.

The idea of a hijacked Boeing 767 being used as a suicide bomber was in no ones mind as the nature of warfare was still believed to be stuck in the Cold War. This mindset is documented in greater detail in Rise and Fall: The Story of 9/11 and the evolution of how we think about terror has thankfully been swift ever since.

However the conventional wisdom that a terror cell will strike in a high density urban area should not mean that rural counties and states should ignore the threats posed by foreign and domestic terrorists and must take advance caution as tensions continue to rise in the Middle East in the new year.