Fictional Terrorist Attack Terrorist Attack on Edinburgh

Fictional Terrorist Attack

Terrorist Attack on Edinburgh

The FEMA CONPLAN is a publically available document that details the nation's priorities and strategies for a terrorist attack. The document list the protocols, mitigation strategies, and also the acknowledged considerations of what is typically defined as a terrorist attack There are many notable differences in the assumptions made for a terrorist attack, including that the attack will be large scale and intended to take out large amounts of people. After studying the FEMA CONPLAN and the materials detailing the differences between the county's natural and manmade disaster protocols, there is only one clear idea that comes to mind for a fictitious terrorist attack on Edinburgh, Scotland.

The fictional attack would be each of the historical castles in and around Edinburgh. These sites would include, but not be limited to the royal palace and other castles. The attack would happen simultaneously so as to prevent any mitigation attempts by the authorities.

This attack would happen during the Beltane Fire Festival, held each year on Calton Hill on April 30th (Edinburgh Days Out, 2012). This event is an annual tradition celebrating Scottland's wiccan roots (Beltane, 2006). This would be the chosen event date for three reasons. First, it is a large festival in which the community and tourists attend and is an ideal distraction for an attack. Additionally, attacking during this festival sends a clear anti-pagan message synonymous with many terrorist organizations. Third, all civilians would be at the event and away from the historical sites.

The primary purpose of the attack is not to harm people, but rather the region's economy. This area is a major tourist area in Scotland known primarily for the historic sites. By destroying these historic landmarks, the city will crumble from within and be unable to financially recover.

The attack explosives would be set by agents disguised as pyrotechnical experts evaluating the sites for firework launching points. Fireworks are very commonly used during the festival and firework shows are typically going off throughout the region. The bombs would be set with a detonator and each agent would detonate during the firework show at the festival. The initial result will be the destruction of the sites, ideally with the blast noise blending into the fireworks show. This will allow the agents sufficient time to leave the scene and blend into the festival crowd. Given that the firework portion of the festival will be in full swing, the firemen and police will be closely monitoring this event and be unable to respond quickly to the scenes of the attack. Once the bombs have detonated, there will be no further attack, so as to allow the agents to cleanly escape.