Posted on 05/29/2005 10:39:27 PM PDT by FairOpinion
"The result of the special operation surpassed our expectations," the terrorist's statement runs
One of the last leaders of Chechen terrorists, Shamil Basayev, claimed responsibility for the recent blackout in Moscow, which paralyzed a big part of the city and caused huge economic damage to Russia's capital. Basayev claimed that it was him, but not the outdated energetic equipment, that cut Moscow from electric power supplies on Wednesday, May 25th.
The statement, which was published on one of Chechen websites, said that the recent crisis with electricity in Moscow had been organized by Chechen gunmen. Shamil Basayev said that diversionary groups of Chechen gunmen conducted a successful special operation on the territory of Moscow and the Moscow region and put the energetic system of Russia's central region out of operation.
"Our diversionary groups have struck a sensitive blow on one of the most important life support systems of the Russian empire. The result of the special operation surpassed our expectations. At present moment we are collecting the information about the character of consequences of our attack on the Center of Russia," the statement from Chechen leader Shamil Basayev said.
The message from the terrorist says that the Russian government conceals the true reason of the man-caused disaster.
It is worth mentioning that the head of the Russian Ministry for Energy, Viktor Khristenko, told reporters in the State Duma soon after the breakdown that the special headquarters for the investigation of the reasons of the blackout found no traces of external interference, Newsru writes.
OR he is trying to claim responsibility retroactively, to enhance his own powers.
The truth could be either, and I am sure we will never know for sure.
FO he always he said that if something big happen
Remember, we had our own blackout of the East Coast a couple of years ago -- it was "not terrorist related", of course, but then we never heard the actual result of the final investigation.
My guess is that it's a 50/50 chance.
Sometimes accidents do happen and old equipment does malfunction -- before 9-11, I would have said 90% chance of this.
But now the terrorims cause is a definite, finite probability, could be as high as at least 50%.
I am sure the evidence will make one or the other probability go way up.
One of Rumsfeld's favorit sayings, attributed to Herman Kahn, I believe is:
"Hire paranoid, they may have a high false alarm rate, but they uncover all the plots".
Nobody in government likes to shout that they themselves are incompetent. Russia IMO is more trustworthy in admitting terrorism vs risking political/economic consequences or than the US. Russia has will in the WoT, and we have less. It is among them, and attacks are more frequent. Regarding the US blackout, it was planned for - we were supposed to be ready. We were not. Also I think Egypt Air and TWA 800 were buried out of fear.
Well another reason too is knownnn fact that Russia electricity is really old too so maybe that elecrticy wires are so old that reason they cause blackout TOO
Some of them are dated OH GOD to 1930s or before that
And the plane that crashed in Nov (?) 2001 -- due to "mechanical failure" or something like that, though some eyewitnesses said they saw an explosion. It could have been a shoe bomber. But so soon after 9-11, they didn't want to panic people any further.
Highly doubtful the blackout was caused by terrorism. A big blackout like this and no bombings, no destruction, no deaths? I'm very skeptical of his claim.
I didn't say it was a terrorist attack, but it's not as far fetched, as you may think.
Read this very enlightening article (from 2002).
Cyber-Attacks by Al Qaeda Feared
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A50765-2002Jun26
Late last fall, Detective Chris Hsiung of the Mountain View, Calif., police department began investigating a suspicious pattern of surveillance against Silicon Valley computers. From the Middle East and South Asia, unknown browsers were exploring the digital systems used to manage Bay Area utilities and government offices. Hsiung, a specialist in high-technology crime, alerted the FBI's San Francisco computer intrusion squad.
Working with experts at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the FBI traced trails of a broader reconnaissance. A forensic summary of the investigation, prepared in the Defense Department, said the bureau found "multiple casings of sites" nationwide. Routed through telecommunications switches in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Pakistan, the visitors studied emergency telephone systems, electrical generation and transmission, water storage and distribution, nuclear power plants and gas facilities.
One al Qaeda laptop found in Afghanistan, sources said, had made multiple visits to a French site run by the Societé Anonyme, or Anonymous Society. The site offers a two-volume online "Sabotage Handbook" with sections on tools of the trade, planning a hit, switch gear and instrumentation, anti-surveillance methods and advanced techniques. In Islamic chat rooms, other computers linked to al Qaeda had access to "cracking" tools used to search out networked computers, scan for security flaws and exploit them to gain entry -- or full command.
Most significantly, perhaps, U.S. investigators have found evidence in the logs that mark a browser's path through the Internet that al Qaeda operators spent time on sites that offer software and programming instructions for the digital switches that run power, water, transport and communications grids. In some interrogations, the most recent of which was reported to policymakers last week, al Qaeda prisoners have described intentions, in general terms, to use those tools.
The infrastructure in Russia is in terrible condition. I'm sure the chief of the electrical departement is trying to blame anyone but himself...to save his job and his croonies. If this Chechen dude wants to claim credit...great...no matter. On the negative side...if you look at the damage caused in this episode...if I were a Checen...I'd be rigging up a blackout every seven days. You could bring the entire city to its knees and the worldly status that Moscow claims....would just go down the toilet bowl. With the exception of the oil wells in Sibera and the possible vacation resorts on the Black Sea...there is no real money coming into the country.
I haven't seen any Russian imports. No surplus wheat from the steppes thanks to the central planning disaster. You would think the weapons trade would be significant.
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