PREPARING FOR THE WORST

New York Post ^ | 1/03/05

[kattracks]

While Sept. 11, 2001, vividly demon strated the deadly capability of al Qaeda, only recently has the full scope of the terrorist organization's meticulous level of preparation begun to come into focus.

The Associated Press reports that a bulletin co-produced by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security illustrates al Qaeda's attention to detail.

In particular, the bulletin — which includes many excerpts of al Qaeda memos — demonstrates how much long-term "homework" al Qaeda's operatives engage in before launching a deadly strike. The report notes: "Surveillance of a potential target can occur as little as one week to as much as three years prior to an attack."

[snip]

That organizations and nations not particularly friendly to the United States are involved in surveillance has been known for some time.

Four times during the last five years, Iranian mission operatives in New York have been caught engaged in suspicious camera shoots around the city.

Three of those situations were so problematic that the Iranians were expelled. In that context — and now with the added DHS/FBI information — the MTA's recent idea of banning cameras and personal picture-taking in the subways doesn't seem quite as far-fetched as it did at first blush.

[snip]

Al Qaeda's spying techniques are ruthlessly thorough, as the AP notes: "The [al Qaeda] reports note such things as when people take lunch and smoking breaks, where surveillance cameras are positioned, what public events were scheduled near buildings and how many cars and pedestrians typically pass by per minute.

[snip]

Such preparedness has to be matched.

Efforts to do so may strike some as unnecessary, even extreme. And maybe they are. It's better to be too safe than truly sorry, though.

There's a war on, after all.

[Captain Rhino]

>>Such preparedness has to be matched.<<

While not letting the armed forces off of the hook to do all that they can to defend the United States, its citizens and residents, and its interests against terrorism, matching their preparedness is a losing strategy. There are simply too many vulnerable places to defend.

The winning strategy is to hunt down and kill every one of these bast@#ds and to put genuine, unremitting fear into the mind of any person, organization, or government that would give them any kind of assistance or sanctuary. While we are working on the first part of the strategy, we have yet to really start on the latter. One more catastrophic attack will be needed to do it (mobilize the entire US to accomplish this task).

(Note: During WWII, the United States created and deployed 100 infantry divisions, a huge air force and a Navy of over 1200 ships. All on the base of approximately 100 million citizens.

The present population of the US is nearly 300 million. While ground forces are larger and more expensive to equip and train, we presently have less than 20 Marine and Army divisions in the active forces, Guard and reserves. (I'm hedging here because the order of battle information I consulted ( http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/9059/usaob.html) has repetitive entries for the same units.) We haven't even begun to mobilize to fight the war against terrorism. God help us and them when we do.)

[Captain Rhino]

>>While not letting the armed forces off of the hook to do all that they can to defend the United States, its citizens and residents, and its interests against terrorism, matching their preparedness is a losing strategy. There are simply too many vulnerable places to defend.<<

Obviously, the other federal agencies, as well as state, county and local public security agencies, also have a responsibility to prepare for and defend against terrorist attacks.