5.3 Transportation and Communication Lifeline Disruption

One of the many lessons from 9/11 is that terrorism is not just about terror. Terrorism is also an attempt to disrupt the daily lives of non-combatants to achieve political objectives. Physical or virtual networks that are vital to health, safety, comfort, and economic activity are called lifelines (Platt 1995). The complete or partial failure of even a limited number of lifelines can have a major impact on economic productivity as well as making peoples’ daily lives more difficult and in some cases nearly impossible. This is not just a matter of convenience. There are members of society with limited resources or other economic, social and demographic constraints, whose very livelihoods depend on reliable functioning of such lifelines. The population explosion of the past two centuries combined with high rates of urbanization means that effective public transit and road networks are indispensable. Increased mobility on a daily or weekly basis or over the course of a lifespan results in an enhanced reliance on communications networks (physical and virtual) in order to conduct daily activities and maintain relations in business, social and family settings. The negative impacts of lifeline disruptions on economies, personal finances, and lives can be so invasive that the terrorists’ political ends often are achieved as effectively as through the direct use of force.