Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat - Thread 5

CNN ^ | March 12, 2004

[thecabal]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- This week's deadly train bombings in Spain will not lead to a rise in the U.S. color-coded terror threat alert system, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman said Friday.

"Based on the current intelligence, we have no specific indicators that terrorist groups are considering such an attack in the U.S. in the near term," said department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse.

[MamaDearest]

This is a shame and a sin. These monsters using children to carry out their murderous activities

The family of this boy is certain to receive rebuke and taunting as the boy failed at his mission to blow himself and others up.

[jerseygirl]

Long- but good reading. Seems like the people in the UK are asking the same questions we are. I don't like the comments about an attack being inevitable.
demands security investigation after scaling of Big Ben
Are we safe in their hands?

Today London's emergency planners - led by a man who made his name helping buses negotiate traffic lights - will meet to assess their readiness for the terror attack police say is inevitable. But why aren't they telling us more? And are they preparing for the right threat? Oliver Burkeman investigates

Wednesday March 24, 2004
The Guardian

In the event of a catastrophic terrorist attack on Heathrow airport, a computer system will telephone David Kerry at work, and at home, and on his mobile, over and over, until it tracks him down. If the mobile networks over south-west London are jammed with calls from panicked travellers, the government will implement its access control overload scheme, blocking all but a few privileged handsets. In this way, Kerry will be summoned to his control centre, a chilly room on the second floor of Hounslow town hall that waits, silent and empty, for exactly this eventuality.
He will do all this, one suspects, with an absolute minimum of fuss, and a hint of tongue-in-cheek brusqueness. "I hope you're not one of these people who think it's confrontational to sit across a table from someone. No? Good," says Kerry, sliding into a seat at the control centre. A man of reassuring bulk, Kerry is Hounslow's emergency planning officer, and chair of all London's local-authority emergency planners - and he seems to see a big part of his job as instilling much-needed backbone in soft metropolitan backs. "You take a village in the middle of nowhere, gets cut off by the snow, the power's down? Oh well, fine - we've got the camping gas, got the candles, make a few babies, there you go. But in London people always say: 'What are you going to do for us?' "

Today, at a location that the government refuses to disclose, the capital's most senior emergency planners will attend a gathering of the London Resilience Forum, the body established weeks after September 11 to prepare for an attack that politicians and police now freely refer to as "inevitable". It will be the first such meeting since the Madrid bombings - and the first since this weekend's claim by Nick Raynsford, the minister who chairs the forum, that "London is as prepared as it possibly can be". Among those present will be Philip Selwood, the man in charge of the ambulance service's response to an attack, and when I asked him if he agreed with Raynsford's assessment, he paused. "I wouldn't want to contradict the minister," he said at length. "My position would be that the level of preparedness is continuing to develop."

Finding out what this kind of statement actually means is not easy. Near-total secrecy seems to be London Resilience's preferred mode of operation, to the intense frustration of several of the crisis planners involved, who told the Guardian they believe more openness is essential to quell public fear. Only basic details of a few subgroups have been made public - the Blue Lights subcommittee, for example, which coordinates the emergency services, and working groups on everything from rubble clearance to finding sites for temporary mortuaries. In the absence of further facts, panicky nuggets have inevitably come to dominate, such as last year's claim, made by one government adviser, that people seeking to flee a chemical or biological attack "would be stopped", trapped within police cordons.

Among the hundreds of men and women placed in the surreal position of being paid to prepare for something they hope will never happen, though, it is clear that the atrocity in Spain has jangled nerves. "The incident in Madrid has raised the agenda to another level - simultaneous bombs, no notice of attack, designed to cause maximum fatalities," says Selwood. There have been "a heck of a lot of meetings" in the past two weeks, one highly placed government official said. Each attack "is a wake-up call", the official went on, before being struck with an afterthought. "Except we're not asleep, of course."

The man at the front of the front line is Zyg Kowalczyk, director of the London Resilience Team, the forum's executive wing. When the World Trade Centre towers fell, Kowalczyk was looking after the deputy prime minister's BusPlus initiative, making sure London buses were fitted with radio devices to enable them to communicate with traffic lights and thus speed traffic flow. But his earlier role in helping London prepare for the Millennium bug had clearly impressed his superiors: within days of 9/11 he was plucked from public transport to introduce the capital to the newly minted concept of resilience.

Where the American idea of "homeland security" evokes a permanent state of war, "resilience" is a stiff-upper-lipped, British kind of word, evoking, if anything, a permanent state of insisting that everything is perfectly fine. In Dealing With Disaster, the 96-page tract compiled by the Civil Contingencies Secretariat in the Cabinet Office, it is defined as the ability "at every relevant level to detect, prevent, and, if necessary, to handle and recover from disruptive challenges". Ken Lawson, director of training and doctrine at the government's Emergency Planning College, at Easingwold in North Yorkshire, could probably flesh all this out, but chooses not to. "Put it this way: I refer [media] queries to the Cabinet Office, and I've never heard anything back. Of course," the former military man adds with what sounds over the telephone like heavy irony, "this might mean that they have answered all your questions perfectly."

If an attack takes place, though, and the conceptual gives way to the practical, even Kowalczyk will step aside, deferring to the police. Senior officers will coordinate response to the developing crisis from a "gold control" room in the bowels of New Scotland Yard, while Downing Street's team will activate the monitoring unit known as Cobra, an acronym altogether more impressive than its full name, Cabinet Office Briefing Room A.

At this point, a grim hierarchy kicks in. Mobile phones will be blocked, if necessary, and non-critical patients may be cleared from hospital beds. And at the ambulance headquarters in Waterloo, an ever so slightly tatty room adjacent to the main 999 call centre will be cleared of its usual occupants, whose job is to dispatch vans and buses on the least urgent missions, ferrying the old and infirm to hospital appointments and the like. They will move elsewhere, and Selwood's team will settle in for the duration.

Selwood has practised for this - most publicly in the Osiris II exercise last September, which simulated a chemical attack on the underground at Bank - but there are limits to what he can do. "We get about 3,000 calls a day in London, and about 40% are judged life-threatening," he says. "If I take too many crews off the road to indulge in live exercises, it's a huge clinical risk for us in terms of delivering the core service."

It was the exercise at Bank that did the most to reassure or to panic - depending on your disposition, and on how you tend to respond to TV footage of firefighters in green protective suits shepherding victims (actually police cadets) underneath decontamination showers. The exercise involved a train attacked 80ft underground on the Waterloo and City line and cost a reported £500,000 to stage; the government's report on it has never been made public, but complaints from firefighters soon emerged. It was alleged that the decontamination suits, for example, with their huge, cumbersome helmets, made it dangerously hard for people to communicate with each other. (On the other hand, as Kerry points out, "The purpose of exercises is, you've done some planning, you've got some equipment, now let's see how it works. It ain't gonna work perfectly to begin with.")

Even to the extent that it succeeded, though, the rehearsal highlighted what the lay observer might regard as a strange emphasis on a chemical, biological or radiological ("dirty bomb") attack. Such prospects may terrify us far more comprehensively than conventional bombs, or even destruction in the manner of 9/11, but they have not, thus far, been among the working methods of al-Qaida. Advocates of the government's focus on the unconventional threat refer instead, repeatedly, to the 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway, which killed 12. "If someone flies a plane into Canary Wharf tomorrow, there's still not the equipment to handle that kind of attack," says Duncan Milligan, of the Fire Brigades Union, who calls the Bank operation a "photo-opportunity".

For reasons that remain unclear - critics say it was simply a question of doing the cheapest thing first - the government's post-9/11 plan for the fire service raced ahead with a £56m purchase of chemical and biological equipment while postponing a £132m expenditure on high-tech "urban search and rescue" equipment. The latter sum is earmarked for machines to stabilise teetering buildings, or to pump out flood water, or to detect people still alive beneath rubble, but much of this equipment is not yet ready for use, concedes Ken Knight, London's fire commissioner. "The [chemical and biological] equipment was more readily available," he says. "And work had to be prioritised."

Back in his Hounslow control room, David Kerry gives the impression of desperately wanting to say more - about what the public should do if terrorists strike, for example, or about what plans exist for mass evacuations - but can't. "It's so difficult not being able to talk about the things that we're doing," he says. "I'm not able to say whether the response for a catastrophic [attack] is good or not." He rejects the idea that "the public will become alarmed or panic about the fact that we are doing this emergency planning work". His group is "pressing the government ... to be more open", he says. "I wouldn't want the public thinking we're just waiting around for doomsday to happen." More money would help, too: central government's average grant to London councils for emergency planning, he notes, is a mere £80,000 - enough for two staff.

Another London emergency planning official, with responsibilities for a crucial commercial part of the city, puts it even more bluntly. Some crisis planners had been "scarred for life" by central government for speaking out of turn to the press, the official said. "One's got the black spot for ever from the London Resilience Team for saying something inappropriate." Ministers were unavailable to comment for this article, but they are understood to be taking the complaints seriously. That, apparently, represents a major reversal since last April, when Raynsford told the Commons defence committee that London Resilience had decided not even to distribute an information leaflet to Londoners, because there were so many possible kinds of attack that the document would be "confusing, or, at worst, counterproductive".

Kerry, for his part, says he hasn't changed how much he uses the underground, or whether he ventures into the City, and he does not intend to. "The risks are there, but they always have been," he says. What he does have - ready to throw into a bag and take from the house at speed - are all his essential documents, some bottled water, tinned food, and an old camping gas stove. He calls these kinds of preparations "self-resilience".

"We used to use the phrase 'return to normality'," he says, reflectively. "Everybody used that phrase. You deal with the event, then you work towards a return to normality. Now we look at it as though we might have to redefine normality. If people have lost family and friends, if there has been an area of destruction ... we're not going to be going back to what was there before."
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

[MamaDearest]

Thanks Letiring. Yes, I still wonder if campers are allowed near that area. Does this phenomena typically occur in certain areas (say gullys or low-lying areas)? Thanks.

[jerseygirl]

Just checked Sean's site. There is an update of an AQ "terrorist handbook" on the site. Apparently the teepees were just indicating how to build a shelter.

Then I looked over at Quayle's and saw this:
ISSUE
DATE * LOCATION ATTACK
TYPE TARGET INTEL
SOURCE ATTACK
PROBABILITY*

Mar. 22 ongoing United States Bombings, suitcase nukes, assassinations Churches, synagogues, malls, large gatherings, schools, hotels and other soft targets

Direct statements from Hamas and other terrorist leaders, Arab press, Internet Unusually high


COMMENT: Today's announcement gave terrorists the 'go' signal to attack ALL American and Israeli targets both in Israel and the U.S., and throughout the rest of the world.

"The door to the doors of Jihad are now open." Given the presence of terrorist cells within the U.S. including Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, al-Qaeda, (and every other terrorist group in the world,) they have now issued their attack orders.

I would urge all readers of this terror alert, especially in the larger cities that border Canada and Mexico, to be extra diligent and to avoid large gatherings of people. Also, be cautious of gas stations with an obvious foreign presence.

[nw_arizona_granny]

I am doing some serious laughing here!!!!!

Haven't you caught on?

Granny only knows how to do a simple google search, have never mastered the "advanced search"...........

But, with my simple search I get sites that you won't on your advanced. My search method (LOL) is to ask google a question, or put the whole phrase in the search bar and search.

I know it won't use all the common words, so let it choose the words to use and ignore the notice of the common words.

When I started on the Internet, everyone insisted that Ask Jeeves was wonderful, but all I get are ads for selling things, then I discovered that I could ask Google the same question and get a million answers.

So I search with just the words that interest me or the numbers and no other keyboard garbage and sit back and admire my 7 million finds. ( I did look at 2,000 sites once, but I was 5 years younger.)

To me the "wonder " of the Internet, is the million returns on a search, just to know that I have all that to read and won't ever see them all.

Google didn't have any returns for:
4145sb ahkbar allah

So I shortened it to sb ahkbar allah and there are useable links, so I added 1425 (this muslim year) and got excited, the first one on the list, has 4515sb in the description, but not in the post, unless it is the date converted to english.

I can't see to write down the URL, but it does give this address for the article in HTML.

http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?id=sd68604

I add 440, simply because I like the results and we never did know the meaning and use the 1425, as it pulls the muslim sites.

If you don't have a google button on your toolbar, I would get mine again, (actually did it all by myself), it is at Google, under "Tools" and is a wonderful tool.

All you need to do is highlight the words and click it and the search is done.

Do check out your search, just keep changing or deleting part of the search, till you get the results you want.

[Myrddin]

Also the viral agents such as smallpox would require tissue culture rather than simple agar or nutrient broth since they require living tissue for their medium.

Are you familiar with the typical lab tissue culture bottle? It looks like an old glass cough medicine bottle. It is filled with nutrient solution, laid on its side and inoculated with an initial line of cells. In a few days, you have a nice sheet of like cells. Just add virus and go. It just takes a little longer than growing bacteria because you have to grow your substrate first.

[MamaDearest]

Tensions are high between Japan, China and North Korea. There have been several confrontations between the Japanese and North Koreans at sea. A Google search will list them for you. Shots fired, ships lost, it's all there for the reading.

[jerseygirl]

OK- I googled black wind and this showed up:

White Land/ Black Wind- the story of Chernobyl

[Donna Lee Nardo]

Uh oh, what exactly is in your refrigerator?!

[jerseygirl]

RE: the above on NK, Japan, China, Taiwan etc.

U.S. to post Aegis ship in the Sea of Japan

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin...n20040324a1.htm


Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Compiled from Kyodo, staff reports

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Navy will deploy a destroyer equipped with the Aegis combat system in the Sea of Japan in September to help build a missile defense network against possible attacks from countries such as North Korea, Navy Secretary Gordon England said Monday.
"As part of the president's directive to accelerate the fielding of a BMD (ballistic missile defense) initial defensive operations capability . . . the navy will deploy in the Sea of Japan, beginning this September and on a virtually continuous basis thereafter, a guided missile destroyer to serve as a long-range surveillance and tracking platform," England said in a speech in Washington.

"This means that in just six months, we will have queuing and target data from this region of the world that can be instantaneously shared with command and control and ground-based elements of our layered defense system," he said.

The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush is pushing for an initiative to build a worldwide multilayered missile defense network by combining air-, land- and sea-based systems to intercept ballistic missiles with various ranges in their ascent, intermediate and descent phases. It plans to start deploying such systems this year.

England said the deployment of an Aegis destroyer with long-range missile tracking and surveillance capability in the Sea of Japan will be the first step of the three-phase approach by the navy.

The step is intended to cope with threats of attacks by North Korea's Nodong and Taepodong ballistic missiles.

As the second stage, the U.S. Navy will begin deploying an Aegis cruiser with the newly developed Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) system in 2005 to counter both short- and medium-range ballistic missile attacks, he said.

The navy plans to complete the third phase in spring 2006, when 10 destroyers equipped with the SM-3 system will be deployed to carry out operations "against a wide variety of missile threats from virtually anywhere in the world," England said.

The deployment of a navy destroyer in the Sea of Japan will coincide with the U.S. military's plan to put on alert several ground-based interceptor missiles at Fort Greely, Alaska, by September.

In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda welcomed the U.S. plan, saying it would strengthen the bilateral military alliance.

"(Japan) shares with the U.S. concerns over increasing threats from proliferation of ballistic missiles," the top government spokesman told a regular news conference.

But Fukuda added that the deployment is not specifically designed to address the threat posed by North Korea, stating that it is part of a plan that had been decided long before.

[MamaDearest]

COMMENT: Today's announcement gave terrorists the 'go' signal to attack ALL American and Israeli targets both in Israel and the U.S., and throughout the rest of the world.

I believe you found something there. Please be careful everyone - this may very well be the GO we've been fearing.

[jerseygirl]

I wish Jill would update her site. I looked earlier and the last date was the 22nd. She indicated that 2 of the "jihad" messages suggested the go code had been given.

[jerseygirl]

Over on TB 2000 there is an intriguing discussion about China and Russia panicking that the US (HAARP?) program will be pretty much in place in the fall. Hence their rapid joining of forces and apparent escalation- nuke simulations etc. Does anyone here know anything about HAARP?

[judicial meanz]

Apparently the teepees were just indicating how to build a shelter

I'm laughing so hard I just spewed all over the monitor. Darnit jersey!

I grew up in Oklahoma, and I dont know of any American Indians in the last 40 years who have lived in or used a teepee for shelter. Guess that makes the Al Qaeda sleepers pretty easy to spot in a pinch.....just look for out of place teepees...LOL

Thats a good exampe of why they will not win this war...they just dont get it...they figure we all pitch a teepee when we go camping...LOL

[nw_arizona_granny]

Chocolate Covered Licorice

Cheese (I buy Safeways 5# blocks

Salsa

Vitamins for a poor diet.....

Essential Oils.

After not having a stove for almost a year, I don't know if
I can still cook or not.

As I no longer drive and the closest grocery is 15 miles, we don't have busses or trains in this area, so when I get a chance to get supplies, I do and stay well stocked, always remembering the year that I had no way to go to town.

The solution is simple, either don't get old or don't wind up alone.

LOL

[jerseygirl]

Glad to post something humorous once in a while. I was going to post the "AQ Diving School Manual" here, but it was far too long.

[Pegita]

Heavenly Father, we return to give You thanks that there is nothing man can do to thwart Your sovereign will. As a merciful God, we petition that You would intercede on behalf of our beloved country ... as a righteous God, we know that You will execute judgment on the unjust. May it be, O Lord, that there will be unnumbered multitudes who will be counted as just by the Blood of the Lamb ... otherwise, we would perish in a world growing more dangerous. Strengthen us by the Power of the Holy Spirit, even as we pray that the Holy Spirit will confound and confuse the enemy, causing him to be powerless. Let not the plans of the ungodly succeed ... make it known as to who they are and where they are, that those who stand vigil would be successful in their capture. Let us not be turned aside by the divisive words echoing across our nation this day, for they come from the god of this world, and not from our Creator God. The hope of this world is not in us, O Lord, but in You ... our victory is not in our strength, but in You ... "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts." Zechariah 4:6

Protect Your people this day, O Lord ... turn aside any attack upon the innocents of this world ... we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, Your beloved city, and we claim Your promise of blessing to all who pray for her. In the Name of Jesus, Amen ...