soft target

世界各地でテロの発生が恐れられています。

How to derail an attack on a soft target: Experts

Soft targets are called soft for a reason — they're easy for a terrorist to strike, and nearly impossible for well meaning businesses and individuals to defend.

But terrorism experts say there are things that companies and people can do to derail a terrorist attack such as the one seen in Paris last week — well before the attackers can even fire a shot.
Part of the solution is aggressive but polite monitoring of the area surrounding a concert hall, stadium or other venue, said William Braniff, the executive director of the National Consortium for the Study of

Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism and a former instructor at West Point's Combating Terrorism Center. He said American companies can look to security experts in Israel for tips on how to handle inbound threats.

"Instead of just having passive security guards who stand still," he said, security teams should "engage in conversation, to move around outside of a sports venue, outside of a shopping mall, and engage with people. And by doing this you're not off-putting, you're not menacing. You're, instead, just probing a little bit."

UG先生から教えて頂いた記事を取り上げます。気になったのは見出しにも出てきている“soft target”です。“soft”には「柔らかい」という意味のイメージがありますが、今回は違うようです。“soft target”には「攻撃しやすい人［物］、えじき≪特にテロリズムの攻撃対象のうち、民間人［設備］など防備が薄いものをいう≫」（『ジーニアス英和辞典第四版』大修館書店）、“a person or thing that is easy to attack or criticize”（LDOCE）という意味があります。反対に“hard target”には「軍事目標のうち、警備や監視が厳重で攻撃が困難な標的。軍人や軍事施設など。」（デジタル大辞泉）という意味があり、真逆の意味があることが分かりました。複数の国でテロが起きており、不安を抱えている人々が沢山いるという状況が変化していけばいいなと思います。（Green）

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/20/how-to-derail-an-attack-on-a-soft-target-experts.html