Before the summer of 2001, who would have thought that terrorists would hijack airliners and use them as guided missiles to crash into office buildings? For that matter, who would have thought that terrorists would sail a small boat up to a U.S. Navy ship and detonate explosives that severely damaged the ship? This contest illustrates the problem with TSA and DHS, and U.S. counterterrorism efforts in general. Many terrorists generally are creative, they tend to think outside the box. On the other hand, TSA/DHS appears to merely react. One goofball tried to light shoe bombs, so now TSA runs the shoe carnival. Two Chechen "Black Widows" bombed two airliners, so TSA gropes women. What about ground crews - you know, the catering truck? At airports in Boston and I believe Charlotte, authorities arrested significant numbers of illegal immigrants who had jobs working airside. Where is the security to nip that potential breach in the bud?

The obsession with airports means that terrorists are likely to strike targets that are less guarded. My guess is ports, but possibly also refineries. Perhaps some of the facilities just south of Philadelphia on the Delaware River. This would fit the recent template of a spectacular strike in a large population center. The fact that oil is involved would cause economic uncertainty, to say the least, and would be an additional benefit of such an attack.