Terrorists' most likely weapon here? Bombs

The large-scale emergency drills this week in Seattle and Chicago were designed to teach cities how to respond to two of the most horrifying terrorism scenarios: the explosion of a radioactive ”dirty bomb” and the release of a deadly biological agent. But the drills, many law enforcement and terrorism analysts say, don’t reflect the true nature of the terrorist threat to America — and could leave people with an exaggerated view of the likelihood of such attacks and the damage they would cause. More than a dozen analysts interviewed by USA TODAY say the next terrorist attacks here are far more likely to be like the synchronized car bombings that killed 34 people this week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Conventional weapons — bombs and guns — are tried and true terrorist tools, easy to get and easy to use. U.S. officials say it’s virtually impossible to keep terrorists from getting such weapons, which can kill as many people as would die in most estimates of an attack involving ”unconventional” chemical, biological or radiological weapons. Full Story