Posted on 10/07/2004 5:00:41 PM PDT by dubie
School Plans, Security Information Gathered by Suspected Iraq Insurgent Focus Concern on Schools in Six States
By Brian Ross
Oct. 7, 2004 Schools in six states in particular are being watched closely based on information uncovered by the U.S. military in Baghdad this summer, law enforcement and education officials told ABC News.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
This is my first time posting on FR as well...just couldn't help but respond to this one.
I live quite close to the Michigan town listed in this article. You hear about this stuff all the time in other places (recently, Russia...) but it sure hits home when you think about it happening only a few miles away. Eek.
Additionally, I just graduated from high school in '03 from another school district in this area and am currently studying to be a teacher... is this the kind of thing I'm going to have to deal with in a few years? ::sigh::
Hopefully we'll (continue to) have a president who won't be "sensitive" about going after terrorists.
I can NOT even fathom what those parents in Russia are going through. I cannot fathom what the parents of soldiers go through. I imagine a mom, who carried, diapered, fed, played, nutured and loved their son or daughter and then losing them to violence. It makes me want to cry just thinking about it.
My darling daughter pointed out that her school's gym is being remodeled - Just like the gym in Beslan...
Welcom to you and G -I love this neighborhood.
Here is an advisory issued today by Dept. of Education Secty Hickok:
Federal law enforcement officials also have encouraged local police to stay in contact with school officials and have encouraged reporting of suspicious activities, the letter says.
In particular, schools were told to watch for activities that may be legitimate on their own but may suggest a heightened terrorist threat if many of them occur.
Among those activities:
_ Interest in obtaining site plans for schools, bus routes and attendance lists;
_ Prolonged "static surveillance" by people disguised as panhandlers, shoe shiners, newspaper or flower vendors or street sweepers not previously seen in the area;
_ Observations of security drills;
_ People staring at or quickly looking away from employees or vehicles as they enter or leave parking areas;
_ Foot surveillance of campuses involving individuals working together.
The effort is the latest by the Education Department and other federal agencies to encourage school officials to maintain and practice a plan for responding to emergencies.
The article lists the states targeted as:
Georgia, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, Oregon and California.
I looked up polls at http://www.surveyusa.com/currentelectionpolls.html
ALL of these states have Kerry winning or are swing states, with the exception of Georgia.
Would there be a political reason for terrorists to choose these states?
We also have to remember that we know how far candidates will go to win elections - could this have been planted in an effort to scare people in those states back to supporting Bush?
Having seen the media used so many times for such things, it is something that needs consideration. Hate to say it, but i hope I am right in this thinking, because the alternative - that terrorists are targeting our schools - is much worse.
I strongly suspect the problem isn't limited to these states. Years ago when doing research in the federal dept of education website I came across some statistics that projected home education to grow exponentially until 2015 and they had calculated terrorism as part of the reason.
Thanks for the flag.
Yep. . and to any DU LURKERS . . if we had not gone into Iraq, this plan to attack specific schools would have gone undetec - - - never mind, common sense is lost on you - - -
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