Expended rocket launcher found near Atlanta tracks

WED 19MAY04. Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

FBI officials said it posed no threat, but the discovery of a [already fired] rocket launcher near MARTA [Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority] train tracks in southwest Atlanta left commuters rattled Tuesday.

M136 AT4

If you ask ACE:

Hmm.... Even though we know this is the disposable part of a weapon, with the sights broken off, one has to wonder exactly WHY it was there, given the attacks on trains in Spain and Russia.

If a law-abiding citizen purchased it at a salvage store, gun show, or from another individual, why wouldn't he/she take it home, instead of discarding it?

A dry-run test of how to sneak such weapons past the turnstiles and MARTA Police, perhaps?

If you're not familiar with MARTA (click for map), it consists primarily of a N-S line and an E-W line, which intersect at two different levels underneath Five Points, at the heart of the city. Simultaneous RPG hits on trains stopped on both lines during rush hour, followed by detonation of sarin gas containers, would kill thousands. Not a bad 15 minutes of work in a terrorist's mind.

The rocket launcher was found at the Hamilton E. Holmes Station, which is the last station to the West on the E-W line.

At it's southernmost point, the MARTA train tractks come right into a building at the edge of the Atlanta airport, second-busiest airport in the US (just slightly behind O'Hare at the moment). An RPG, once on a train under a coat or in a large case anywhere in the system, could reach the airport undetected.

Imagine simultaneous transit attacks in the top 10 cities.

A childish prank? Maybe.

In any case, I sincerely hope the FBI is only said it's nothing to worry about to sooth the public, while it continues to investigate. This will probably turn out to be nothing. On the other hand, it could turn out to be one of those little clues we realize we overlooked after a major terrorist attack occurs, like the numerous little clues before Pearl Harbor and the suspicious things prior to 9/11, like foreign students asking to only learn how to fly planes, not necessarily land them. We don't want to be paranoid, but we do want to be vigilant.