Headlined "Protecting America," the cover of Newsweek magazine on November 5, 2001, listed potential terrorist targets in the United States. From Newsweek, 11/05/01. © 2001 Newsweek, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission and protected by the copyright laws of the United States. The laws prohibit any copying, redistribution or retransmission of this material without express written permission from Newsweek. www.newsweek.com

Newsweek published a special cover story entitled "Protecting America: What Must Be Done?" It was one of many similar stories discussing potential future terrorist acts. On the cover of the magazine were listed the most likely targets of the next wave of terrorism—airports, chemical plants, dams, food supplies, the Internet, malls, mass transit, nuclear-power plants, planes, post offices, seaports, skyscrapers, stadiums, and so on. The article itself goes into more detail about these targets and why they are the most susceptible to terrorism.

The flip side to such reporting, of course, was that the magazine basically identified the most vulnerable targets in this country. If terrorists did not already know where to strike next, this magazine issue would serve as quite a good guide for planning and action. As I said earlier, Newsweek's report was not unique. Many similar reports were published by the media.