Citing growing complacency since the Sept. 11 attacks, a counterterrorism official said on Friday that rail line sabotage, attacks on airliners by hand-held missile launchers and invasions of schools by hostage takers still posed major threats to U.S. security. “We are still very much in play, no matter how small 9/11 gets in the rearview mirror,” said John Miller, who heads counterterrorism operations for the Los Angeles Police Department. Appearing at a panel on homeland security during the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Miller said there was a “growing sense of complacency” as the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, on New York and Washington receded into history, particularly in three areas. There were 20,000 portable surface-to-air missile launchers for sale on the black market, he said, at prices ranging from $800 to $3,000. Since Sept. 11, he said, there had been five attempted attacks with such missiles, including one that caused a cargo plane to make an emergency landing after it was struck taking off from the Baghdad airport in 2003. Full Story
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