On the one hand, the FBI is asking that local agencies keep a weather eye on the bridges that span the Mississippi River. On the other hand, FBI spokesman Christopher M. Allen noted that the threats were “unsubstantiated," which is another way of saying that they've picked up jihadist "chatter" about attacks on these bridges. Which is another way of saying that counter-terrorism forces almost never have substantiation of jihadist threats. Which makes them sound mealy-mouthed and alarmist when they raise the terror alert while pooh-poohing the obvious reasons for doing so at the same time:
“It was just an anonymous threat with no actual intelligence of an attack,” Little said. Two cross-country routes traverse the Mississippi River at Memphis — Interstates 40 and 55 — and both remained open. Each bridge carries about 40,000 vehicles daily. The FBI advisory, sent Monday, cited a threat to the “Memphis-Arkansas” bridge from an Islamic State cell in Memphis. The I-55 bridge is known as the Memphis and Arkansas Bridge but Little said Tuesday the threat was interpreted as applying to both bridges.
It's a difficult needle to thread. If the FBI sounds the alarm and nothing happens, they wind up with egg on their faces and the public vigilance level - never all that high to begin with - will decline further, which is presumably the opposite of the effect authorities would want. But if the FBI doesn't sound the alarm and every Mississippi bridge winds up in the drink, taking hundreds of motorists to muddy graves, the recriminations will be swift and brutal (or would be under a GOP administration, anyway, but there would still be some).
And this would be a serious, strategic-level attack. An enormous portion of interstate commerce in this country crosses back and forth across the bridges over the Mississippi River. Not all on I-40 and I-55, but those the Memphis bridges are a significant portion of it, given that Federal Express is headquartered in that Tennessee city. Or, in short, by these bridge attacks ISIS would be targeting the already depressed U.S. economy and shocking it further downward.
And, not to be too much of a strange synthesis of the Voice Of Doom and Angel Of Death on this fine Christmas Eve when we're about to celebrate the Savior's Birth, but, ISIS chatter aside, there is the matter of the New Madrid fault to consider.
Another major seismic event there is overdue, based upon the geologic record. And the would take down a lot more than just a couple of Memphis Bridges.
So "stay safe, Memphis," indeed. At least to the degree that it is within y'all's power to do so.
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