Replies

http://www.mensnewsdaily.com/archive/m-n/marzullo/2004/marzullo080904.htm
War Gaming Terrorism, Part 9
Starting for Real

August 9, 2004
by Tom Marzullo

This is the last part in a series of analyses that seeks to promote a community-based dialog by partially gaming out potential terrorist attacks from the terrorist’s point of view, using some of the realistic measures that we know or suspect are available to them.

By seeing how such attacks are designed and are likely to be used, it is hoped that we may begin to understand the basis for an informed response. This is, after all, the very practical basis our forefathers envisioned for citizen participation in domestic conflicts. Today, we find ourselves to be the target of the guerrilla actions rather than its instigators and must act efficiently or see our culture and civilization die, for that is our enemy’s openly declared intent.

Summation: On the Other Hand… the Alternate Scenario

If we, as a people, are taken in by the puerile disingenuousness of the Kerry campaign it is sucker bet to say that the Islamists will not seek to manipulate him by threats, demonstrations of power and international pressure.

Obviously, the Islamists themselves do not enjoy the favor of popular opinion, but there are a great many countries that are willing to take effective steps just to see us fail. Think on France, Germany and Russia just for starters. The enemy of my enemy is my friend… a most useful and pragmatic application of circumstantial political strength that the Islamists have played before and most assuredly will again.

Kerry has proven historically that he will rarely stick to his convictions under pressure (if indeed such convictions - other than a penchant for pernicious self-promotion - could actually be pointed to) and so he is a ripe target for manipulation by the Islamists, who are his polar opposites when it comes to displaying intestinal fortitude.

So let us assume that they want to use the ‘stick’ on him right from the start. The other thing they do not want to do is to arouse the still sleepy populace into a rage by mass killings, therefore actions designed to produce significant economic and political pressures are a most attractive option set for the Islamist’s operational cells.

Because New York City is one of our major financial and economic powerhouses, debilitating and isolating it at a stroke would be a demonstration of power that would fit the assumptions made above.

For instance, using large stolen trucks packed with explosives, a set of road bridges into Manhattan could easily be dropped. Combined with this attack would be the simultaneous derailment of trains on key rail bridges and the destruction of other railroad bridges. To add to the confusion and limit the ability to coordinate repairs, communications are also likely to be interdicted at multiple points.

The end-result is that the city begins to starve in myriad ways. Now not only can’t key business workers come into the city, neither can they continue to work remotely – and much business grinds quickly to a halt. Fixing the bridges will take anywhere from days to years to repair, depending on the effectiveness of preplanning and implementation of the attacks. Because of the shorter-term need to continue commerce, many firms will temporarily leave the city while still others will consider that the city is no longer a tenable location and flee to safer locations. This significantly erodes the city’s already stressed tax base that provides for newly required repairs and the long ignored upgrades to security that the usual politicians now scream weren’t provided (mostly by them, they’ll decline to point out).

In this scenario, NYC is now effectively crippled and the costs are expected to be running into the multi-billions as the Islamists begin the process of forcing Kerry’s hand. Kerry would be painfully aware that a major bastion of his political support has just been reduced in a great variety of ways. He would be loath to risk another such blow to his political base and so negotiations with the terrorists would start, however quietly. Mission accomplished…

Understanding what to expect…

To grasp what the Islamists have in mind, possibly the best comparison that the most will be able to readily relate to is that of the Nazi’s treatment of Russians, Jews, Slavs, and Gypsies… To the Nazi’s, these people were all sub-humans, to be used, enslaved or killed at their whim.

Dedicated Islamists don’t relate to western cultural demurs, because as Muslims they have been inculcated with the idea that all Infidels are lower than animals since birth. The radical teachings of al-Qaeda and others simply expanded upon this bedrock belief structure.

To get a personal sense of what it would look like to be in an American town taken over by the Islamists, I most strongly recommend watching the Russian film “Come and See” made in 1985. Simply substitute Islamists in the accurate depiction of the Nazi’s behavior. While a fair warning is surely called for, I can assure you that this film still flinches from showing the reality up close and personal.

Once having seen “Come and See,” you will then just begin to grasp who we are up against. A dose of harsh reality will be good for you and your community… and better that is acquired by seeing a film, rather than through experience.

One effective means we already have to build upon is the ‘neighborhood watch’ program. If thoroughly and seamlessly integrated with local and federal authority, it stands to be the best existing program we can readily apply to today’s threat. This process needs to be driven from the bottom up.

But unquestionably the very best preparations begin in the home… for instance; does your own family know where to meet and what to do in the case of various emergencies? If not, then get organized.

We have a very long way to go before we actually get off the dime regarding the terrorists amongst us. The FBI still considers known funding for terrorists to be below it’s radar, even at the level of $100k a year, as shown by their shelving reliable reports of Middle Eastern owned businesses in Texas that do just that. We still maintain our borders in such a lax manner that the Islamist shock troops are literally pouring in as we speak. The silly rules imposed by federal airport security continue to ignore danger.

It is time to begin discussing this at the grass roots level since our federal organizations are still paralyzed by the fear of offending the politically correct overseers of society.

Although I am not hopeful, it would undoubtedly be best to start this process before the mass funerals begin in earnest. We must act or we will surely be acted upon, whether we would choose to see this coming or not.

Tom Marzullo