What happens in Sin City may not stay in Sin City…

Homeland Security commissioned the Rand Corporation to do a case study on Las Vegas and its ‘risk of terrorism.’

Las Vegas ranks ninth among American cities most likely to suffer a major terrorist strike, according to a newly released report by a government-funded think tank.

“Las Vegas stands out in having a high proportion of high-likelihood targets compared to the nation as a whole,” the Rand Corporation report said. “This unusual distribution increases the overall attack probability in Las Vegas.”

A slew of potential targets on the Strip combined with the projected financial and property losses arising from an attack on a hotel elevate Las Vegas to a high spot on the list, said Henry Willis, the report’s main author.

According to the report the other cities that face a greater risk of terrorism:

New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco

The report confirms findings published last year in the Review-Journal series, “The Long Shadow of 9/11.” Relying on similar data, the newspaper found that the local economy would be devastated by a major terrorist strike.
The terrorism scenarios examined by the newspaper include:

• A 2-ton truck bomb — smaller than the fertilizer bomb used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing — could cause about $2.8 billion in losses. A 10-ton bomb, which would be so large it would have to be hauled on a tractor-trailer, could inflict about $3.7 billion in damage.

• A commercial airliner crashing into a high-rise would cost about $4.2 billion.

• A 5-kiloton nuclear bomb would do about $50 billion worth of damage, more than five times what Clark County’s gross gaming revenue totaled in 2005.

Assistant Sheriff Mike McClary said Las Vegas’ ranking should be viewed with caution.

“Absent specific intelligence about a planned attack, it’s difficult to put an objective number on something that’s by nature very subjective,” he said.

By nature, terrorist attacks are subjective too.

But forewarned is forearmed.

Source – Review Journal – Las Vegas ranks ninth on list of likely targets for terrorists

By LBG

Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
Originally posted at DBKP at Blogger.