Report finds the ... city most vulnerable in the West to attack

By Lyndsey Layton and Ashley Surdin
The Washington Post
updated 12:09 a.m. CT, Sat., April. 5, 2008

Quick: Name the Western U.S. city most vulnerable to a terrorist attack.

Is it Los Angeles, with its crowded roads that make quick escape impossible?

San Francisco and its iconic bridge?

Or Seattle with its Space Needle and busy port?

Try Boise, Idaho, with its, um, ... ... ... potatoes????.

A new study funded largely by the Department of Homeland Security ranked 132 American cities according to vulnerability to terrorist attacks.

Boise was the only city in the western half of the country to make the top 10.

/quote

The researchers assert that their definition of "vulnerable" has nothing to do with whether anyone is interested in attacking a place. It deals only with how easily the town could suffer catastrophic damage.

It's not indicated whether a factor entering into the calculation was "would anyone notice a disaster there."

Apparently, a 9 year old kid with a slingshot could just about take out Boise.(?)

A commentator remarked that Los Angeles has all of the same risk factors as Boise, but "they're used to it so who cares" ... sort of.

(Actually: "San Francisco and Los Angeles got low ratings despite their frequent wildfires and earthquakes because they've grown adept at handling disasters, Piegorsch said.")

See the article for the full story.

John