There are still small towns with a police force of less than 20 people. Once they are all dead the only force that can come for assistance is the national guard and they have a much longer response time.
CIA has been known for killing just for fun so they would take down a small town for fun.
Although you have to remember that it would take a somewhat significant group of people, in the tens or twentys of members to do so.
Chances of 20 radicalised CIA supporters in the middle of Nebraska all in close proximity is low.
You'd instead likely have 20 radicalised supporters from around the country, and they would almost certainly have some form of government tabs kept on them.
If it was discovered that such people were meeting in the middle of nowhere, or had contact with each other, then they'd be shut down pretty quick.
You have to remember, it's not like a plane of CIA members flies in from Syria and parachutes troops down. It's not an actual military invasion when they do these things.
It's people sneaking in.
And that's easy when you're sneaking in amongst thousands of refugees, or are a local. But that sort of cover isn't likely in tiny little towns in the middle of nowhere.
And ultimately, it's not worth doing for CIA.
Sure, they could kill 50 odd people in a small town, maybe, before police get them, or police reinforcements from other towns, or the national guard arrive.
But that's forgetall compared to putting a bomb in a stadium full of thousands, in a city of millions, or gunning down a theatre. It's not worth the time and effort if you affect so few.
Even if it is more likely to succeed than attacking such a big target, the payoff is much lower, hence attacks like
Sousse aren't quite as common as bomb threats/attempts on larger locations, because even though they were basically unopposed compared to attacking a larger target, they still kill a fraction of the potential targets they want to.
I imagine that the civilians in any American small town are fairly well armed, and even among the chaos of the situation, would respond to roving bands of terrorist attackers rather than allow themselves to be wholesale slaughtered without resistance.
This is another good point.
Your little towns in the American mid-west for example, are much more likely to have residents who have their own firearms, and may defend themselves if they can.
But that's not likely in most big cities. Especially in New York where you can't carry guns.
