Posted on 01/31/2002 9:30:02 AM PST by RCW2001
In a speech laying out the Bush administration's justification for proposing a $48 billion increase in the 2003 defense budget, Rumsfeld said the nation is vulnerable to new forms of terrorism ranging from cyberattacks to attacks on U.S. military bases abroad to ballistic missile attacks on American cities.
"Our job is to close off as many of those avenues of potential attack as is possible," he said in a speech at the National Defense University.
His remarks coincided with new indications that terrorists have considered a range of possible attacks. The FBI warned on Wednesday that al-Qaida terrorists may have been studying American dams and water-supply systems in preparation for new attacks. And in a report to Congress made public Wednesday, CIA Director George Tenet said rudimentary diagrams of nuclear weapons were found in a suspected al-Qaida safehouse in Kabul, Afghanistan. Other evidence uncovered in Afghanistan includes diagrams of American nuclear power plants, although it is unclear if an attack was planned.
Rumsfeld said there could be no doubt that in the years ahead the American people will be faced with an attacker as unconventional and unpredictable as the hijackers who killed more than 3,000 people by flying airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
He warned of new adversaries who may strike in unexpected ways with weapons of increasing range and power. He appeared to be referring to ballistic missiles, a weapon the administration fears countries like North Korea, Iran and Iraq could either use against America or sell to terrorist groups.
"These attacks could grow vastly more deadly than those we suffered" on Sept. 11, he said.
The speech made a case for spending more money on a wide range of weapons and other military programs, although Rumsfeld mentioned no specific amounts of spending for individual programs.
He made a pitch for deploying defenses against ballistic missiles to guard against the possibility that American and allied cities could be held hostage to "nuclear blackmail." And he said new earth-penetrating weapons could make obsolete the deep underground bunkers where terrorists hide.
He said the war in Afghanistan has shown the effectiveness of some new military technologies that past administrations failed to develop in sufficient numbers. He cited the example of unmanned aircraft such as the Predator, which provides live TV images of the battlefield but is in short supply.
He also mentioned a shortage of manned reconnaissance and surveillance planes, command and control aircraft like the Air Force's AWACS plane, chemical and biological defense equipment and certain types of special operations forces.
Rumsfeld cited specific lessons learned from the Afghan campaign:
- Wars in the 21st century will increasingly require all elements of national power - not just the military. They will require that economic, diplomatic, financial, law enforcement and intelligence capabilities work together.
- The ability of military forces to communicate and operate seamlessly on the battlefield will be critical to success. He noted the success of U.S. special forces on the ground in Afghanistan communicating target information to pilots of Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps strike aircraft.
- Wars must be fought by "coalitions of the willing" - they should not be fought by committee. The United States has taken the lead in the war in Afghanistan, not allowing coalition partners to determine the mission.
- Defending the United States requires prevention and sometimes pre-emption. Rumsfeld has said many times that the Sept. 11 attacks showed that it is impossible to defend against every possible threat in every place at every conceivable time. He cited the old saying that the best defense is a good offense.
AP-ES-01-31-02 1320EST
We have a more pressing problem regarding shelters. The old model uses a massed bomber attack, dropping nukes as the criteria for protection. We have, unfortunately progressed beyond that. We MUST be prepared for all types of attacks, but most of all ChemBio (Include dirty nukes here, because they, in reality are not true nukes, but radioactive mat'l dispersed by an explosive).
We also have a demographic problem of where to place the shelters. The makeup of society is vastly different now than it was the last time we were going through this very same exercize. What one sees, given a terrorist attack of 9/11 scale is a vast number of latchkey kids left in a house with no protection, training, or knowlege of where to go, or for that matter, when to go. As the sprawl gets bigger, so does the logistics.
I fully agree with you that individual communities need to get together on this, turn off the darn tube, go offline, and get together to work out "what if" scenarios. The more chilling the scenario, the better. I believe in preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best, and counting on neither.
Basically, there are large communities existing where one doesn't even know their neighbor. If we are going to be prepared, we have to remedy this and quickly. Government will not help here. " Nothing to see here, Don't upset the citizens, they may not buy the new car" seems to be the order of the day.
We as a nation can't prepare for ChemBio or Nuclear attacks alone. We must have goverment support at least to the point of providing prepositioning of the basic survival packs (I forget what the basic unit was in the '50's. seems to me it was in a cardboard container, about 6' in length by 3' square, with metal strapping.). I do believe these kits were removed because they contained narcotics in the medical kits and they were getting ripped off.
Anyhow, the major thing is getting people to at least acknowlege another's presence. I am fortunate to live in an "old line" community where everyone knows everyone else, and most of the people have been residents for years, but it is definitely not the norm anymore. Thanks much for your perspective on this. The prep work needs to be done, and people really have to believe that location doesn't matter. What is needed is to put the old time fear of the bomb back into the people, and get the word out concerning drills (remember them). They may not accomplish a darn thing concerning survival, but they will breed camaraderie, which is probably the #1 item for successful survival in a group setting. As for me, I kind of figure I have been waiting for this for 55 years, it didn't happen in 1962 from Cuba, as we feared,but it could happen tomorrow, and preparing myself mentally, physically, and spiritually for the balloon to go up.
Keep the Faith for Freedom
MAY GOD BLESS AND PROTECT THIS HONORABLE REPUBLIC
Greg
Agree on all. I hope the Freedom corps will focus on these issues - and not let it be just FLUFF!
Preparedness now - if made "fashionable" - will help everyone be more able to deal with the worst if/when it comes. Any kind of preparation, by the way, is better than NONE.
There are some serious problems in the legal immigration area as well.
g
By making sure our kill ratio is better than 5 to 1. We've done that before.
-bc
KJV Hebrews 2:
14* ¶ Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
15* And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
OK!! Ok! We will give you the 48 billion. Stop scaring us.
A cyber attack could wipe out FR. What would we do after we bury the dead from a missle attack if we have no FR ??- Tom
Life goes on my FRiend, including traveling, hunting, fishing & just snuggling with your grandchildren & your dogs. Live your life with extra gusto just to show them we are not afraid and they can’t win. There's more reason than ever to enjoy your life. Enjoy it and help others to enjoy theirs!
Life will go on. Live it to the fullest everyday and never take anything for granted. But never live in fear. For if you live in fear, you are already dead. -- Republican Warrior Princess
:)RWP
Kinda hard to do that when you have the United States Government banning normal capacity magazines (10+). Its not always one shot, one kill, you know. Sometimes you miss.
Food, water, medical supplies and Potassium Iodate.
I think we should freak the Saudis by gathering data on all Ben Laden construction sites and posting them on the web.
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