Posted on 05/14/2002 8:41:49 AM PDT by o_zarkman44
Rules of Engagement: Take the Terrorism Test - Then Prepare for the Worst By J.J. Johnson Published 05. 14. 02 at 7:24 Sierra Time
As probably planned by someone, this is a post-September 11 series that got side tracked due to everything else going on in the world. But with the latest events that have taken place, we can only hope we have enough time to get back on track in this war. The primary reason this article was written at this time is due to several issues on my mind, but what brought me back to reality and showed me where we are losing was a minor incident that occurred here, an incident that happens thousands of times each day.
A water leak.
Before we talk about that little water leak, let's review where we've all been focused: anthrax, dirty bombs, bio/chemical warfare, suitcase nukes, bad boys in Gitmo, Ground Zero Cleanup, color-coded heightened security, and a federal budget at nosebleed levels. Of course we can't forget the Israeli/Palestinian mess, and a healthy does of U.S. propaganda. We are being told the war in Afghanistan is all but won. Somehow, someday, we must go after Iraq, Iran, Cuba, Pakistan - and that's just this week's menu. Yes, after September 11, America went to war to stop all this. We, on the other hand, should get on with our lives, wave a flag (oh - did you forget to do that?), pay our taxes, don't complain, and have endless debates on what our policy should be toward Israel and the Middle East. So let's ask the question and get to where the rubber meets the road:
Do you feel any safer since September 11, 2001?
If you do, take this under consideration: the Director of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge, recently gave a speech where he stated that even if and after Bin Laden is gone, "We will be on alert for the foreseeable future; possibly forever."
Translation: "We don't have a clue who's attacking us, where they are, how many there are, or what they are up to- and you are on you're own."
Is it just me that's noticing that our rail system seems to be mysteriously having a large number of 'accidents' these days? Why have oil refineries in South Texas just started burning on their own? Of course, we don't want to panic anyone. As a loyal American, you should only concern yourself with possible attacks on banks, shopping malls, supermarkets, schools, trucks, planes, boats, embassies, buses, bus stations, airports, churches, and anything else we can beat out of a captured guy with one testicle. We told you about much of this before, and it seems the government is just getting around to it. We've received warning after warning of the bad guys going 'high tech' in their covert warfare techniques, right?
Your anxiety needle should be well pegged by now. Remember, last time, all it took were box cutters and plastic knives. So, while you sit and freak out about all the possibilities (since no one has yet to give a real profile of the enemy out there), take the Real American Terrorism Preparedness Test:
Turn off the water supply to your home.
Leave it off for a while. See how long you can stand it. While you're at it, turn off the main power switch to your home. Leave that off for a while as well. Go ahead - I'll be here when you get back.
Most folks in the Southwest would not ever dare do that - especially right now, would you?
More on that later. Now back to the water leak. For this ranch, all it took was one cracked water fitting under the bathtub faucet. Since there is no shutoff valve installed (until tomorrow), at the time of this writing, the water had to be shut off at the main to avoid a major house flood. Without even a thought, the wife and I simply moved into the RV for the night. There's water here and even if the power goes down, the pump runs of a 12 volt battery system, which can be recharged from both solar and wind power.
Bragging? No. But it was that one little incident that slapped me back into reality. Just for good measure, I fired up the generator - right after I got word of the 5.2 magnitude earthquake that hit the San Francisco area, also at the time of this writing.
Now, I know that most of you didn't turn off your power when asked, else you most of you would not have been able to read the remainder of this article. Many of you in the desert southwest - well, since many of you are on well water, turning off your power isn't really a good idea, is it?
Since the destruction of the World Trade Center, we have gotten several hints on how bad thing can really get without something like a dirty nuke going off or a July 4th attack on a nuclear power plant.
1) On September 11, there was a mad rush on gasoline nation wide - remember some of your local stations quickly running low?
2) We then quickly learned what life is like with no planes in the air, and checkpoints at key thoroughfares across the country. It affected millions - even if you didn't fly. Talk to the entire workforce of Las Vegas and Honolulu.
3) October: anthrax clogs the U.S. mail system. Notice how much we are dependent (like it or not) on the U.S. Postal System?
Now, think water, fuel and electricity - in that order. Then think about September 11 happening due to, of all things, box cutters. Then imagine these bad guys going after something like - water, oil refineries, and/or the electrical grid - in that order.
Far fetched? So, what did the authorities find in that Rolodex in Virginia? Answer: locations of oil refineries.
A few years back, a 'tree branch' was reported to cause a chain reaction electrical outage in eleven western states and parts of Mexico. While I question the validity of the source of that problem, it does prove that it doesn't take much to cause a major outage on a large scale - even though temporary. Maybe just spitting it out may cause to people to take action: Despite what guarantees you may receive from your government, the U.S. electrical grid is a sitting duck for an act of (I hate to use the word) 'terrorism'.
But like I said: you wanna beat terrorists? Start thinking like terrorists, and stop thinking we can't win. Remember: we were the ones that gave the heads up to truckers - about six months before the government got around to it.
Last year a warning was given to the airlines about the possibility of attacks to U.S. aircraft. With the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, no one had any idea what attack was planned until the world woke up to two skyscrapers in flames. Today, we hear about a threat to nuclear power plants. Sounds sexy enough to raise the anxiety level yet again, but if I was on a 'terrorism think tank', I would expand that warning to the general power grid itself.
Why?
Two ways to take down a nuke plant: another set of improvised Boeing class cruise missiles (hijacked planes) or 1982 Beirut-style (truck bombing). One would assume the goal would be to destroy the plant, sending huge amounts of radioactive particles into the air, causing both panic and evacuations. You then assume that since you've heard so much about this, the authorities have taken precautions against such disasters. They have.
But the byproduct of a destroyed nuclear power plant is what I've heard few 'terrorism experts' (the ultimate oxymoron) talk about openly - suspended power generation and delivery. Before you worry about radioactive particles doing harm to the infrastructure, think about - no electricity, especially in the Southwest during spring and summer months.
Yeah, you'd forget about September 11 real fast living in metropolitan areas like, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Tucson, San Bernardino, Bakersfield, Albuquerque, et cetera with no electricity and no power to run those water pumps. Oh, did I forget to mention Los Angeles and San Diego?
About 30 million people would be affected immediately. After a few days, the domestic tranquility would certainly begin to unravel to a point where someone - somewhere would have to take drastic measures to 'ensure the peace' and 'restore order'. Got any spare troops? Maybe consider relocating some from other 'hostile areas' to the home front? Yeah, it could get that serious - real fast. It's called a 'domino effect'.
Think about it: no electricity, no water, no air conditioning - out in the dry desert.
No electricity anywhere can be a disaster in the long term, but would be especially dangerous to the Southwest.
Don't bother accusing me of 'giving terrorists ideas'. One of the things that's been bothering me the most over the past few months is how Americans are getting comfortable thinking radical Jihad freaks are stupid. If they've thought of oil refineries, they are thinking 'infrastructure'. If they are even THINKING of attacking a nuclear plant, we could naturally conclude they are thinking power generation and distribution.
That's what nuclear plants are for, aren't they?
No need to panic of course, since we have thousands of 'linemen for the county' out there ready to make all the repairs needed, right?
Now I'll raise your blood pressure again: the electrical infrastructure took years to build using several working crews dedicated to one 'line'. Widespread destruction, even if only for a short period, may not be repaired in a few hours. It could take weeks or months. You don't have enough linemen on staff to handle major emergencies in numerous areas.
A little history lesson.
I recall an ice storm in southern Virginia circa 1992. There were crews in the area, but the damage was so severe that crews were called in from as far away as Georgia and Ohio (over 200 additional men for over 2 weeks). Working 18-hour shifts, I remember getting to one area that had been out of power for almost two weeks. We had something going for us: the power plants were still working, the Appalachians had plenty of water runoff, and it wasn't 110 degrees in the shade. And get this: all the damage occurred in one night - yet it took two weeks to repair. It's May 14, and we're still picking up the rubble from September 11.
A calculated attack (hint to Homeland Security: remember - they don't mind dying in the act, and they've had plenty of time for 'recon') on the electrical infrastructure could lead to a disaster of epic proportions and the weapons needed to pull it off are on the technological scale of say, box cutters.
Solution: get serious, people. Start thinking 'Y2K' again. So what if nothing happens? Our lives shouldn't be dependent on electricity anyway. We should have been doing this for years. Of course, many can't afford to make the preparations. Goodness knows we can't part with our videotape rental/movie/cigarette/beer money to buy a few batteries, many a solar panel, or simply storing up on some extra water. No, we haven't thought about this much over the last few months; we've been watching the Middle East.
Yes, it's much easier to think that it will never happen. I hope it doesn't. But America will be better off if we are better prepared. Don't make the mistake of looking toward Washington to protect you, or waiting for Tom Ridge to change colors on the security status. Don't make the mistake of spending all your time trying to find a 'smoking gun' in Washington, Tel Aviv, or Mecca.
Let's get back to protecting America with the best physical weapons at our disposal - ourselves. Look for more information of defensive survival on sierratimes.com - Lord knows we need it.
This is Real. This is War. These are the Rules of Engagement.
How did America win the 2nd World War? How did America survive the Great Depression? Because we werent dependant on foreign oil. We had gardens. We didnt need electricity to the extent we are dependant on it now.
Homeland defense starts at home. Keep cash on hand. Keep a supply of non perishable food items. Especially keep a supply of water. And have plenty of ammo for your firearms to keep hungry looters from stealing your stash.
Regrettably, this is as true as can be. There are an infinite numbers of ways that we can be brutally attacked and for which our government and citizenry are totally unprepared. The only two things we can do are to prepares our homes, as you suggest, o_zarkman44, and to go forth in the world and determinedly root out every nest of terrorists that we can find. If we flag in our determination, we will pay a much higher price than we've paid and are still very likely to pay. Fortunately, our president gets this. I hope that his determination does not lag.
Next have a well. next get armed, next let the arabs or the un come!
In addition to preparing like it was Y2K, we could also pray and ask for God's protection of our country.
Now, if they're thinking about it as a serious option, you can bet that's what the Jihadists are thinking too. Another thing, everyone is focusing on nuclear power plants. If I were a Jihadist, I'd hit a convential one while everyone's looking at the nuclear facilities. It'd be just as effective.
Following 9/11 I also thought if I worked in a skyscraper, I'd make myself a survival kit that would fit in a small rucksack that I would take to work with me just in case. Included in the kit would be:
I figure if something like 9/11 happened to you, you could just reach under your desk, grab your little rucksack and go. You'd have some useful tools with you to help facilitate your escape from the building and you might be able to help someone else while you're at it. These are all common items that many Americans already have (with the exception of the pony bottle).
A very sensible article. Thanks for posting it.
AZ
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