Coast Guard warns of terrorist threat in Puget Sound

KING-TV Seattle ^ | 6.9.02

[mhking]

Coast Guard warns of terrorist threat in Puget Sound
06/08/2002
The Associated Press

SEATTLE - The Coast Guard warned Saturday evening of a potential terrorist threat to “maritime interests” around Puget Sound.

“Based on information received across the U.S. Government, there is a credible threat to maritime interests from swimmers and divers,” Lt. Scott Casad of the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Puget Sound said in a release.

He said the Coast Guard had told local port officials and maritime business owners to be on guard for suspicious activity.

No further details on possible targets or what triggered the warning were released. Casad did not immediately return a phone call Saturday evening.

The warning followed one from FBI national headquarters on May 23 that “various terrorist elements have sought to develop an offensive scuba diver capability.”

FBI agents have been questioning scuba diving instructors in Washington and around the country about any suspicious activity, including students interested in learning about underwater demolition.

Also, the Washington State Patrol last week was making random vehicle searches at public ferry terminals. The searches were done on the advice of the Washington State Ferries Security Committee, made up of staff from the Coast Guard, State Patrol and ferry system.

The Coast Guard’s Casad asked Saturday that any suspicious maritime activity be reported to the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Puget Sound, at (206) 217-6230 or 1 (800) 688-6664.

[goodnesswins]

Oh, great....I live over the Port of Tacoma....., but the person I think should be most worried are those who live near Bill Gates, on Lake Washington (and there are a couple of bridges to the City of Seattle which are crammed during weekdays).....we have water EVERYWHERE here, folks.....everywhere.

[goodnesswins]

ping

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

FYI

[HiJinx]

For regular FReepers, this is old news. Reports of ME-looking men trying to buy rebreathing equipment in Florida surfaced on FR a week and a half ago...
And the attempt to purchase kayaks in the LA area was reported when, Thursday?
They're out there and they're looking for a spectacular target (I would).

[mhking]

we have water EVERYWHERE here, folks.....everywhere.

How close does "water" get to Boeing Field?

[GretchenEE]

Thx for the info.

[goodnesswins]

Boeing Field is between the Duwamish River (close) and Lake Washington - (a mile plus, I'd guess).....It's also south of Harbor Island, which is the major port in Seattle on South Puget Sound (about 3 miles, I'd guess).....and then there is the Univ of WA which is ON water (Montlake Cut)....and the city of Seattle and Tacoma sit on water too....like I said....we have water everywhere here.

[Quix]

I suppose they could drop them off the Space Needle and see how high they bounced. . . or maybe how fast they could run in front of the monorail? Maybe coat them only in pig fat and drop them off at the nearest "gay" club.

[MarMema]

well cheers! Better a scuba alert than handing out potassium iodide pills, I always say.
Course that case of stolen immigration stuff in Tacoma last week didn't make me feel all that great...
But then we're out Auburn/Enumclaw way so we don't have that much water here. The Green River probably doesn't count.

[Savage Beast]

"Muslims should continue to be afraid, very afraid of the consequences of any further crap the world has to take from them."

--amstaff1

[goodnesswins]

No....you just have to worry about Mt. Rainier blowing up...LOL - gee, shouldn't give them any ideas....

[Travis McGee]

Let me, a former frogman, put in my $0.02 worth.

A scuba attack is not that hard to master, depending on the water. In very cold water with swift currents it's a b!tch. In calmer water, it would be no sweat. But I still don't think that an underwater scuba attack would be the first choice, it's just not neccesary to attack underwater!

Sure, to attack a Soviet sub base in 1975, that might call for mini subs and no-bubble rebreather rigs, and the skills of say, SEALs. But in the USA in 2002, forget all that, even today our maritime security is virtually nonexistant where it counts.

Think surface swimmers and kayaks. A surface swimmer with only his black painted face out of the water, swimming on his back using only his fins, is VERY hard to see. Stay in the shadows, get under the docks, it's easy. Tow in a neutrally bouyant 55 gallon drum filled with the demo of your choice, I'll leave the rest to your imagination, only in case some stupid rag hasn't already considered it.

Historical note: the British SBS was born in WW2 when Blondie Hasler led a half dozen two man kayaks way up the Girone River in France right under the noses of the Nazis and sank several large ships pierside. Just black painted kayaks, that's all it takes to get alongside a ship with enough demo to sink it.

I could go to any Boy Scout summer camp and get 20 kids capable of sinking most of our fleet at the dock in Norfolk or San Diego in one night. They would need a month of training and a few thousand dollars for equipment.

[goodnesswins]

Thanks, Travis.....we really appreciated that....LOL...you make it sound so EAAASSSSYYYYY....

[Travis McGee]

I am sorry to report that even a couple of screwballs like the 9-11 crowd could do it easily.

MUCH easier than flying 757s.

[RipeforTruth]

Under Clinton's watch, I telephone the Seattle FBI when I was contacted by Islamic terrorists. Nobody returned my call.

[MarMema]

PING

[LikeLight]

Tex,
These people spent years of their life going to flight school learning to accurately fly jumbo jets! They may be idiots and murderers, but they do have patience and a flair for pulling off the wholly improbable and unexpected.

[piasa]

In a large country where people have never had to be observant to survive, and who live in target-rich environment which has blissfully slept behind its coasts for generations ... it is easy to do a lot of things unobserved. It's even easy to do a lot of dangerous things in plain view, since people tend to overlook the obvious or are reluctant to inquire. Targets on land or sea are absolutely limitless. They don't have to be big. People are going to have to pay more attention instead of walking around all glassy-eyed.

[goodnesswins]

Funny you mention being observant....I saw these two guys a couple days in a row sitting in front of MY Starbucks, obviously watching people go in and out.....and one day acting weird....so I pulled out my trusty little throwaway camera and took their picture, (including license plate) and they knew it - haven't seen em since....

[hedgetrimmer]

Coast Guard Auxiliary Members PING

BUMP that!