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international terror groups. Exhibit 12.1 compares the different methods
that have been used in terrorist acts between the years 1995-2000. The
number of bombing incidents greatly exceeds all other methods com-
bined. Terrorists prefer bombings for the obvious reason that, absent an
attack with weapons of mass destruction, no other method has the poten-
tial of causing the kind of catastrophic damage that these groups are seek-
ing to inflict.
Exhibit 12.1
Terrorist Methods of Attack, 1995 - 2000
200
150
100
Method
50
0
Firebombing
Arson
Other
Armed Attack
Kidnapping
Bombing
Source: U.S. Department of State, “Patterns of Global Terrorism 2001,” Washington, DC:
Office for Counterterrorism, May 21, 2001.
The tragedy of almost every bombing attack, excepting the 9/11 strikes
which used commercial aircraft both as a bomb as well as the delivery
system, could easily have been prevented by the placement of simple phys-
ical barriers placed around the outside of the building or targeted facil-
ity. Today, if you walk through the Washington D.C. area, you'll notice many
changes relative to the security measures that are in place outside the
other important federal buildings. Parking on the street near one of these
buildings is only permitted when the front of the building is sufficiently
far away from street parking. For example, parking is permitted along
Constitution Avenue adjacent to the Washington Monument. This is true
despite the fact that the Monument has long been thought to be a prime
target for terror groups like Al Qaeda seeking to make a political state-
ment. This is because the street is several hundred yards away from the
monument. A conventional explosive hidden in a truck would not be suf-
ficient to damage the structure at that distance. However, in cases where
the front of the building is only a few short yards from the street, parking
is not permitted. In situations like that, access is now effectively blocked
off by the placement of bollards, cement wedges, and heavy cement planters.
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