NEW WORRY OVER LIBYA – AT 8:58 A.M. ET:  As we count down to the 10th anniversary commemoration of the 9-11 attacks, America is on alert for new ones.  And now we have a new worry, which reflects a general concern about proliferation of major weapons, including WMD.  The question, which has planners concerned, revolves around the Gaddafi arsenal.  From WaPo:

AL-AJELAT, Libya — Documents showing the shipment of thousands of gas masks and chemical-weapons protection suits to Moammar Gaddafi’s remaining strongholds in the last weeks of his regime raised fresh concerns Wednesday about whether the deposed Libyan leader’s forces could still have access to deadly mustard gas.

The Pentagon and an international monitoring organization have said that Gaddafi’s remaining stockpiles are secure. But more than 11 tons of mustard gas is known to be accumulated in a country that suddenly lacks a strong central authority and where weapons are fast proliferating. Libyan rebels say they are concerned that Gaddafi holdouts could have access to the mustard gas and could use it in a last-ditch effort to halt advances by the opposition.

And that mustard gas can also find its way across borders, even oceans. 

The concern goes beyond mustard gas, as The New York Times reports:

TRIPOLI, Libya — The sign on the wall reads “Schoolbook Printing and Storage Warehouse,” but the fact that the double gates in the wall have been crudely ripped off suggests that something more interesting might be inside.

It turns out that the only books to be found in any of the three large buildings in the walled compound are manuals — how to fire rocket launchers and wire-guided missiles, among others. The buildings are actually disguised warehouses full of munitions — mortar shells, artillery rounds, anti-tank missiles and more — thousands of pieces of military ordnance that are completely unguarded more than two weeks after the fall of the capital.

Perhaps most interesting of all is what is no longer there, but until recent days apparently was: shoulder-fired heat-seeking missiles of the type that could be used by terrorists to shoot down civilian airliners. American authorities have long been concerned that Libyan missiles could easily find their way onto the black market.

COMMENT:  Our airports, and airports around the world, are vulnerable.  Planes taking off and landing could be targeted by one or two men with those shoulder-launched weapons, hiding in the tall grass near airports, or even in a building with an accessible rooftop.  That is one of the nightmare scenarios faced by terror experts. 

Not only could an airliner be brought down, but the act itself could disrupt the entire international air system.  How do you tell passengers their safety is guaranteed after a successful attempt to bring down a plane? 

This weekend's commemoration should remind us that the battle goes on.

September 8, 2011