[Calpernia]

THANK YOU for starting a new thread. Next time, please provide all with Dramamin!

[Indie]

Interesting Read on Danger of Dirty Weapon ~2002.

[nwctwx]

al Queda?! After following this for as many weeks as you have, you should know not to put a U after the Q! ;-)

[Squantos]

I have a rather novel solution to this threat..............kill em first !

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Just al-Damn!

[thecabal]

Ah, I see we have been tagged with "brokenrecord" and "chickenlittle" keyword tags. Thanks people!

[judicial meanz]

Bookmark

[thecabal]

Olympic WMD drill starts

Fri 6 February, 2004 11:44

ATHENS (Reuters) - Athens has begun a three-day Olympics security drill focusing on nuclear, biological and chemical threats to the Greek capital during the Games.

More than 1,100 police, coast guards and military and medical personnel are taking part in operation "Blue Odyssey", described by Greek newspapers as the biggest of its kind staged in Europe.

Rescue and protection scenarios in case of an unconventional attack during the August 13-29 Games stretched 40 km (25 miles) along Athens' southern coastline, from the port of Piraeus to the seaside suburb of Anavissos.

"There could be as many as 100 points where the exercise is taking place simultaneously," police chief Fotis Nasiakos said on Friday. "There is not just one specific location."

The drill is one of dozens planned during the six months leading up to the Games and is so far the largest test of security against a threat from weapons of mass destruction.

Greece has set up a seven-nation Olympic security group of Britain, the United States, Israel, France, Germany, Spain and Australia to help it guard the Games.

Authorities have kept the drill scenario secret and have ordered media to stay away, but officials said it was taking place on land and at sea.

The Olympics organisers are budgeting an unprecedented 650 million euros (355 million pounds) for security measures.

After the U.S.-led war on Iraq and twin bombings in neighbouring Turkey last year, organisers have further beefed up their plan with extra security staff and equipment.

Public Order Minister George Floridis told Reuters on Thursday Greece would get from Russia several mobile laboratories capable of testing for nuclear, chemical and biological agents ahead of the Games.

[Texas Lizard]

I am getting so sick of this post every time I look at FR.
I guess I'm just not hip enough to get the joke.
WHY ARE WE WASTING BAND WIDTH FOR THIS EVERYDAY ?

[expatguy]

Im wondering should I paint the guest room or not?

[LayoutGuru2]

Load of links courtesy of our good buddies at Khayma.com...

http://www.khayma.com/wahaat/new.htm
http://www.khayma.com/wahaat/aslami%20__gg.htm
http://www.khayma.com/wahaat/gmat.htm
http://www.khayma.com/wahaat/ghd.htm
http://www.khayma.com/wahaat/adian.htm
http://www.khayma.com/wahaat/dros.htm
http://www.khayma.com/wahaat/katb.htm
http://www.khayma.com/wahaat/gran.htm

[CJ Wolf]

New thread, oh boy.

[Indie]

BTW. We were right. All of those ricin scares dropped off the media radar FAST and were buried.. Any others come back positive besides the Senate Office Building?

[JustPiper]

Russians fired up over AK-47 copy
UPI ^ | 2-6-04
Posted on 02/06/2004 8:26:25 PM CST by Indy Pendance

NEW DELHI, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- India's state weapons maker apparently designed and built a knock off of a popular Russian firearm -- and then tried to sell it back to the Russians.

It didn't work.

The AK-47 or Kalashnikov automatic rifle is the preferred weapon of non-western infantries and guerrillas the world over and is licensed by various arms makers, the BBC reported Friday.

Representatives from Russia's Izhmash, the gun's original manufacturer, discovered what they saw as an Indian rip-off of their AK-47 at an arms fair in New Delhi.

Furious, they demanded proof of a license.

But India's Ordnance Factory Board responded that the weapon is different enough to count as a distinct design.

The new weapon has yet to appear on OFB's website, which advertises products ranging from pistols to battle tanks.

Russian companies spent two years disputing who owned rights to the AK-47 before Izhmash finally won sole control in 2002.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1073151/posts

[JustPiper]

CNN

Exodus of Dominicans forces extra U.S. deployments
02/06/04

Slicing through whitecapped swells between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter patrolled Friday for Dominican migrants trying to reach U.S. shores.

[JustPiper]

Regional Terrorist Groups Pose Growing Threat, Experts Warn
By RAYMOND BONNER and DON VAN NATTA Jr.

Published: February 8, 2004

AKARTA, Indonesia, Feb. 7 — The landscape of the terrorist threat has shifted, many intelligence officials around the world say, with more than a dozen regional militant Islamic groups showing signs of growing strength and broader ambitions, even as the operational power of Al Qaeda appears diminished.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/08/international/asia/08TERR.html?hp

[JustPiper]

(Border Patrol) Agent Saves a Life, Only to Lose His On Mexico Border
Washington Post ^ | Feb. 8, 2004 | Kevin Sullivan
Posted on 02/07/2004 11:00:53 PM CST by FairOpinion

Witnesses recalled that Fan (19, an illegal immigrant from China, was in the river trying to sneak into the United States with four Chinese companions and two Mexican smugglers) was drowning in the fast-rushing waters and screaming for help when U.S. Border Patrol Agent James Epling waded into the deep river and carried her to safety. Epling then turned to go catch the others... Divers found Epling's body three days later, drowned at the bottom of the river.

Border Patrol officials said their officers catch an average of 2,500 people a day -- more than 100 an hour -- who, despite sharply increased security since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, continue to try to sneak across the U.S.-Mexico border. The Border Patrol, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, has 9,800 agents stationed along the border, up from 3,600 a decade ago. That includes 1,300 agents hired since 2000, reflecting a new emphasis on tracking border crossings.


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1073740/posts

[JustPiper]

(Border Patrol) Agent Saves a Life, Only to Lose His On Mexico Border
Washington Post ^ | Feb. 8, 2004 | Kevin Sullivan
Posted on 02/07/2004 11:00:53 PM CST by FairOpinion

Witnesses recalled that Fan (19, an illegal immigrant from China, was in the river trying to sneak into the United States with four Chinese companions and two Mexican smugglers) was drowning in the fast-rushing waters and screaming for help when U.S. Border Patrol Agent James Epling waded into the deep river and carried her to safety. Epling then turned to go catch the others... Divers found Epling's body three days later, drowned at the bottom of the river.

Border Patrol officials said their officers catch an average of 2,500 people a day -- more than 100 an hour -- who, despite sharply increased security since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, continue to try to sneak across the U.S.-Mexico border. The Border Patrol, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, has 9,800 agents stationed along the border, up from 3,600 a decade ago. That includes 1,300 agents hired since 2000, reflecting a new emphasis on tracking border crossings.


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1073740/posts

[JustPiper]

U.S. Says Files Seek Qaeda Aid in Iraq Conflict - By DEXTER FILKINS
Published: February 9, 2004
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 8 — American officials here have obtained a detailed proposal that they conclude was written by an operative in Iraq to senior leaders of Al Qaeda, asking for help to wage a "sectarian war" in Iraq in the next months.

The Americans say they believe that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who has long been under scrutiny by the United States for suspected ties to Al Qaeda, wrote the undated 17-page document. Mr. Zarqawi is believed to be operating here in Iraq

[JustPiper]

CLIMATE COLLAPSE
The Pentagon's Weather Nightmare
The climate could change radically, and fast. That would be the mother of all national security issues.
By David Stipp

Global warming may be bad news for future generations, but let's face it, most of us spend as little time worrying about it as we did about al Qaeda before 9/11. Like the terrorists, though, the seemingly remote climate risk may hit home sooner and harder than we ever imagined. In fact, the prospect has become so real that the Pentagon's strategic planners are grappling with it.

http://www.fortune.com/fortune/technology/articles/0,15114,582584-1,00.html