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Nov. 17, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Las Vegas ranks ninth on list of likely targets for terrorists

By ALAN MAIMON
REVIEW-JOURNAL

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."

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    • 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.

    The Rand Corp. used Las Vegas as a case study in the report, commissioned by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

    "I don't know all the reasons we were asked to use Las Vegas," Willis said. "I just know we were asked."

    The study, which took about two years to complete, is intended in part to help the federal government develop a better method for allocating terrorism-related funds to urban areas.

    Last year, Homeland Security officials threatened to drop the Las Vegas area from a list of 35 locales considered most at risk of a terrorist attack. But the agency restored Las Vegas to that list earlier this year.

    "The report validates our argument that we belong in that top tier of cities," said Las Vegas police Lt. Tom Monahan.

    Five cities, according to the Rand report, face a substantially greater risk of terrorism than Las Vegas: New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

    At ninth, Las Vegas is bunched together with Boston, Houston, Philadelphia, and Miami.

    Much of the data in the report comes from Risk Management Solutions, a global risk-modeling company that quantifies the risk and cost of natural and man-made disasters for the insurance industry.

    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 included:

    • 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.

    The full Rand Corp. report can be found on the group's website at www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR386/.

    Contact reporter Alan Maimon at amaimon@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0404.

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    Peter wrote on November 18, 2007 12:10 PM: Hm, it's pretty obvious that we're pretty high on the list isn't it? After all, this is a city of gambling, where all the wealthy people come to visit every year and stay in luxurious hotels...


    SummerlinResident wrote on November 17, 2007 08:24 PM: Hell! Blow up the whole damn Strip I dont give a damn. The prevailing winds would carry any Nuke fallout toward Henderson and Lake Las Vegas. I will be sitting here in my gated community living large and laughing easy!


    Oscar wrote on November 17, 2007 05:04 PM: Sounds like a good time to consider moving to Pahrump.


    Lou wrote on November 17, 2007 03:53 PM: Keith,
    Would you like to go back to the days of our 2nd president, John Adams, and have you arrested for speaking ill of the government?


    DNAN wrote on November 17, 2007 03:39 PM: A government funded think-tank? There's an oxy moron for you! How much did this piece of wisdom cost us?


    Keith wrote on November 17, 2007 02:18 PM: I wish they would impose a gag order on the media about this war, to much info and negative reporting given out by the democratic state run media. During WW1 people like hary reid and the new york times were imprisiond until the war was over, I don't see why Bush doesn't do that, hell, I'd be excited if he pulled a Julius Ceaser (since they don't teach proper history in public skrewl, google Julius Ceaser)


    GOD wrote on November 17, 2007 02:10 PM: Joe Dozer - perfect analysis!

    Hey, according to my stats, about 30 - 40 million terrorists come to this town each year, half from CA, trash this place, shoot bartenders and such --- thugs, prostitutes, drugs, etc., and METRO does NOTHING (call CRIMESTOPPERS)!

    Middle East terrorists might do this place some justice. Jeez... Harry Reid and the local, county, and state reps are terrorizing this town more than anyone else.


    undrcovr wrote on November 17, 2007 01:49 PM: The terrorists have been gathering this kind of information about Las Vegas since before 911.

    This town is built on PT Barnum's business theory. Millions of idiots from all over the world come here every year to do things here that they wouldnt do at home and a demonstrated disrespect for laws due to the image Las Vegas has.

    That doesnt mean that residents shouldnt be aware and alert of the liklihood of an enemy in our midst.


    Paul Draher wrote on November 17, 2007 12:44 PM: Am I the only one who thinks perhaps these reports should be kept within the agencies tasked with counterterrorism activities. If I am a terrorist this would serve as a pretty nice piece to a strategy puzzle. This report did the terrorists homework. I mean they even list the size of bomb and how much economical damage it would do. Sometimes I think we are our own worst enemy. Any thoughts on this?


    wow wrote on November 17, 2007 12:42 PM: WOW, we are even headed to the bottom of this list.


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