I worked in the fiber industry for years. There are “backbone” fibers that are straight runs independent of the regular duct runs. If the backbones were hit entire states would go dark. The same is true with intercontinental fiber. There are fibers that connect continents and because of the nature of the ocean these fibers are literally laying exposed and ready to be cut. All systems are built with redundancy but they were not designed to be protected from terrorism. The POP site in Nashville was hit but it was sloppy. One doesn’t blow up the outside of a central office to knock out communications. Was it designed to have us look the wrong way? Was it a fumble for a much bigger plan? Or perhaps there is far more to it that we cannot see on the surface?