Living in a Dangerous World

Aug. 10, 2006 — -- For thousands of airline passengers having to toss out bottles of drinking water and cans of hair spray, there were delays and fears and frustrations today. And for security officials, another question loomed: One plot to blow up planes may or may not have been foiled -- but what other threats may loom out there?

"Our society was not built, our infrastructure was not built with terrorism in mind," said Michael Taylor, head of American International Security in Boston.

Which revives questions that came up after the terrorist attacks of 9/11: If planes are vulnerable, what about trucks? Or bridges? Or shopping malls? Or the food supply?

In many cases, private security consultants and other experts say it is hard to kill large numbers of people in one act. But with Americans already on edge, it may not be hard to do something that would scare millions.

"That's the fear factor," said William Vorlicek, associate managing director of Kroll Inc., a New York security consulting firm. "The terrorists have succeeded because people are scared."

Government officials, including Tommy Thompson, the former Secretary of Health and Human Services, have worried in particular about attacks on the food supply.

Thompson insisted America's food is safe. But in comments he made on Dec. 7, 2004, shortly before stepping down from office, he said, "That doesn't mean somebody, somewhere or sometime could not put some kind of adulterated additives into the food that could cause problems."

Security experts have described scenarios in which someone might dump a small amount of bacteria into one tanker truck, carrying a load of milk from a farm to a pasteurizing plant. Thousands of people might become ill. Few of them would die -- but people across the country would worry about feeding milk to their children.