The Twin Towers and a New Jersey mailbox, the Pentagon and a Coca-Cola bottling plant, TV news anchorman Dan Rather and the National Enquirer.
Terrorists have gone after a bewildering array of symbols, with only their pronounced Americanness in common, raising the question: What next?
There are, of course, countless possible targets that shout "America." Some seem more obvious than others to people who study the terrorist mind.
A short list: Livestock. Hollywood. Minorities.
If it's hard to figure, that's the point, said Stephen Gale, a University of Pennsylvania professor who writes about terrorist psychology.
"A terrorist is like a venture capitalist, investing a little here and there," he said. "A lot doesn't pan out, but then there's the big payoff: 20 men, a few hundred thousand bucks add up to 6,000 dead -- and 300 million people terrified."
Authorities have yet to establish a credible link between the Sept. 11 attacks and the anthrax mail threat. If such a link exists, Gale believes it could be explained in part by Osama bin Laden's signoff in a 1998 interview with ABC.
"We predict a black day for America and the end of the United States as united states," bin Laden said. "Instead of remaining United States, it shall end up separated states ... Allah willing."
The idea that any onslaught could cause the defederalization of the 50 states may be absurd, but the goal might explain suchvaried targets.
Air travel, the symbol of American mobility, has been crippled since the hijacking of four aircraft.
The postal service, one of the nation's primary means of communication, has been dealt a body blow by the anthrax scare. Mail was a logical follow-up to air travel, said Joan Deppa, who teaches public communications at Syracuse University. "It's gone from how we move around to how we move information around."
Shutting down part of Congress stymies the work of the federal government. The same threat extended to the presidency on Tuesday, when anthrax was discovered in an offsite mail facility for the White House.
Anchormen at the three major TV networks have been targets of anthrax sent to their offices or companies. Reliable American totems are now as rattled as the rest of us. "In Cipro we trust," was Tom Brokaw's now-famous signoff.
"The anchor's role is to steady you by projecting his calm to you, the viewer," said Robert Lichter, president of the Center for Media and Public Affairs. "When you shake him up, you shake the viewer up."
It's easy enough to see why the Pentagon, nexus of the military, and the World Trade Center, embodiment of American financial power, were hit.
Less evident to Americans is why a company that owns tabloids would be a target. That might be more obvious to people overseas.
"Most Americans wouldn't know or care that the Sun, the Globe and the National Enquirer are owned by American Media Inc," Deppa said. "But think of how that name plays on Al Jazeera," the Arab TV service.
Tabloid subject matter also would be of interest to attackers. "They're filled with sex and drugs, scandals -- all the things that make American society look sinful and bad," Deppa said.
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