Posted on 01/01/2006 6:41:58 PM PST by DAVEY CROCKETT
Weapons of Disruption
C 2006 Frederick J. Cowie, Ph.D.
Whereas we have no masses, it certainly would be seriously challenging to deliver a "weapon of mass destruction" in the vast majority of geographical areas in the American West, as well as in many areas in the East and South. For instance, Montana is approximately the size of Germany, yet the population hovers only around a million (we have one representative in the House). There is no "metropolitan" area anywhere around, though Spokane is about three hundred miles away. Wyoming has more sheep than people. Utah has Salt Lake City and a few nearby populous areas. Nevada has two populated regional areas, Las Vegas and Reno. North and South Dakota have, well, a few folks here and there. Idaho folks are few and far between. I swear you can drive from San Antonio to El Paso without seeing a city policeman, because I've done it several times. Then there are Arizona, New Mexico, eastern California, inter alia. The point is we have a few population points, while the rest of the states are empty excepted for isolated small communities.Thus, out West we probably need to talk more about "weapons of disruption." (Some folks say "weapons of mass disruption," but we have no masses!)
You must ask yourself: What would I do if I were a terrorist (or a terrorism preparedness instructor) looking into the ramifications of launching a rural terrorism attack? Personally, I would concentrate on considering the consequences of disruption rather than mass destruction. Here are a few scenarios you might want consider when your local rural emergency management/response group gathers to discuss terrorism exercises.
1) Wildland Fire Incidents: Incendiary (mostly wildland) warfare has been used by military strategists for at least 2500 years, over a thousand years before the use of gunpowder. The western U.S. is disrupted, seriously disrupted, every year by wildland fires. Quite a few are started by humans, accidentally and purposefully. Starting dozens of major fires in a dozen western states could be a brilliant line of attack if militants wished to disrupt America. Thousands of security personnel could do nothing and the perpetrator/s would probably never be implicated, much less captured. Are you prepared?
2) Railroad Chemical Incidents: Many railroad main lines go through tunnels. A few strategically placed armor-piercing shells in a series of chlorine cars, along with appropriately staged derailments leaving the leaking cars in the tunnels, could shut down many main line routes in the West. Spin-off scenarios are numerous. Ready?
3) Flammable Liquid Incidents: Bridges are not easily brought down from below and approaches to bridge support structures are often highly visible and randomly monitored. However, on CNN we all have seen many tanker truck accidents involving burning hydrocarbons which have made bridge structures unusable. How hard would it be to have a few terrorists steal trucks and drive them (as opposed to hijacking planes and flying them) to strategic bridges over wide rivers or narrow gorges, ignite the gasoline (or diesel or crude), block the approaches with other incendiary or chemical releases, and make the structures extremely dangerous and impassible to highway traffic? Gotcha!
There are many variations of these themes. You probably have or can make up many more plausible, novel, and easily implemented rural-specific attack scenarios. Design exercises around them. If you want to stop terrorist events you must think like a terrorist and quit fighting last year's war!
Peace, thanks, Fred
Please check out my website at fredcowie.com
To find recent presentations, Google (with quotation marks) "Fred Cowie"
Frederick J. (Fred) Cowie, Ph.D. E-mail: fredcowie@aol.com Phone: (24 hr cell) 406-431-3531 Website: fredcowie.com
[a post for study and research, no url with this article]
Church recalls 'Prophet' magazine
BBC
March 21, 2006
Y Llan
The cartoon was used with an article about shared religious ancestry
The Church in Wales has recalled 500 copies of its magazine featuring a
cartoon caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad.
The editor has resigned after the image was published in the Church's
Welsh-language magazine Y Llan.
A series of cartoons sparked violent demos after appearing in European
papers earlier in the year.
The Archbishop of Wales has apologised to the Muslim Council of Wales,
which
accepted the "unfortunate mistake".
International protests over cartoons, first published in a Danish paper
last
autumn, escalated after the images were republished in Norway, France,
Germany, Italy and Spain earlier this year, despite complaints by
ambassadors from Islamic countries.
Dr Barry Morgan
Archbishop of Wales Dr Barry Morgan has personally apologised
There were protests at Danish embassies in Europe and the Middle East,
while
those in Syria and Lebanon were attacked and at least five people died
in
Afghanistan.
The Church in Wales printed the cartoon to illustrate an article in the
February edition of Y Llan - or Church in English - about the shared
ancestry of Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
The drawing - which was from the French magazine France Soir - shows
the
Prophet Muhammad sitting on a heavenly cloud with Buddha, and Christian
and
Jewish deities.
He is being told "don't complain... we've all been caricatured here".
I've unreservedly apologised to my Muslim colleagues and they've been
very
gracious and I've said to them this in no way reflects the policy or
attitude in the church of Wales
The Archbishop of Wales Dr Barry Morgan
The Archbishop of Wales Dr Barry Morgan told the BBC: "The article was
perfectly OK, but for some reason, the editor decided to print one of
these
cartoons which was a gross error of judgement.
"It no way reflects the policy of the church in Wales and when I saw it
I
was totally horrified.
"We recalled all the papers, I personally picked up some from some
churches
and they have all been pulped.
"I've unreservedly apologised to my Muslim colleagues and they've been
very
gracious and I've said to them this in no way reflects the policy or
attitude in the Church in Wales."
Dr Morgan also personally contacted Saleem Kidwai, the Muslim Council
of
Wales' general secretary, to apologise and to assure him that no
offence had
been intended.
'Unfortunate mistake'
Mr Kidwai said he regarded the latest publication as simply an
"unfortunate
mistake" and said inter-faith relations were very good in Wales and
need not
be jeopardised by the incident.
In a statement, the Church said it was "thoroughly investigating" how
the
cartoon came to be reproduced.
The Bishops of the Church in Wales have already made it clear that
"they
regret the publication of the cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad
in
various European publications, and the offence that these have caused
the
Muslim community", the statement added.
Last month, a Cardiff University student union newspaper was withdrawn
after
it printed a different cartoon.
Gair Rhydd - Welsh for Free Word - recalled 8,000 copies, suspended its
editor and issued a public apology.
It was thought the paper was the first UK publication to use any of the
controversial cartoons.
Google Alert for: RDX
4 Babbars held in Chandigarh
The Tribune - Chandigarh,India
The Chandigarh Police today claimed to have arrested four members of the Babbar
Khalsa International (BKI) along with 1 kg of RDX, one AK 47 rifle with 15 ...
Rewards stalled to maintain morale in force
Mumbai Newsline - Mumbai,India
Mumbai, March 21: THIRTEEN years ago, a handful of Mumbai police officers made the
world’s biggest RDX haul, at Mumbra. A week ...
Both stories links below:
http://news.google.com/news?client=googlet&q=RDX&sa=N&tab=wn
Now they are in for it, every one knows that jeans are sacred in the U.S., what an insult to the cowboy, green seams.........they will be the rage.
Laura, Good job on the article.
granny......
Al Quds Jeans Help Muslim Men Avoid
Sponge Bob Syndrome
Apparently some of the devout Muslim brothers in the west,
who like to dress in western-styled men's clothing instead of the
traditional Islamic
robes, have been experiencing "Sponge Bob Syndrome".
Sponge Bob Syndrome, or the premature separation of the
seams on their pants, is colloquially expressed by the cartoon
character, who
frequently claims "I ripped my pants".
But Italian designer Luca Corradi has come to the rescue
with a line of jeans called Al Quds Jeans, or Jerusalem Jeans, designed
specifically for Muslim men,
According to the website of the designer at www.alqudsjeans.com
the jeans are
designed to make it easier for men to pray in.
The
precious stimuli and suggestions that come from the sacred Arab World
and from
ordinary, every day life are captured and brought to fruition in AL
QUDS jeans
satisfying the needs of a couture fashion line which arises from the
most
"cultural" gesture of the street: jeans made to pray in, jeans for
those who choose a different path. It is a wider concept because it is
a step
made for the World, seductive original and distinguished
Corradi said that he realized that Muslims would find
western jeans uncomfortable. He came up with a design for pant that are
looser
and have a higher waist. He said that because
Muslims usually take off their watches, glasses and other personal
objects
during prayer, he also designed larger pockets.
He even made the seams are made in green, a sacred colour in the
Islamic
world.
The jeans sell for 18 Euros.
>>>>>I call that being on the ball, I should have been checking the messages, you beat the local radio on the airplane crash.
LOL, that's what happens when "plane crash" is in the google alerts.
March 21, 2006 PM Anti-Terrorism News
(Afghanistan) Apostasy Case Raises Questions About Islamic
Constitutions
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=\ForeignBureaus\archive\200603\FOR20060321a.html
Pakistan clamours for same US nuclear deal as India
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/March/subcontinent_March803.xml§ion=subcontinent
"Vital Ally" Pakistan seeks American nuclear know-how
(UK) Seven 'planned terror campaign'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4829538.stm
Seven accused of conspiring to cause life-endangering explosions
between January 2003 and April 2004
U.K. Terror Plot Was Thwarted at Last Stage, London Court Told
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=aIalLubAxNGU&refer=canada
Palestinians recruited for Al-Qaeda
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3230691,00.html
Indictment says 2 men attempted to set up al-Qaeda in Nablus and
recruit suicide bombers - money for attacks received from al-Qaeda's Jordan
branch
Updated: Police intercepted 7 men planning to detonate deadly bombs
just before final targets selected
32 Indicted in Spain for Courthouse Plot
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060321/ap_on_re_eu/spain_terror_indictment_3
32 people indicted for alleged 2004 plot for massive truck bombing of
Madrid's National Court, hub of Spain's anti-terror investigations
Roommate told FBI of Moussaoui's interest in jihad
http://www.wkyt.com/Global/story.asp?S=4659429&nav=4CAL
'U.S. could wipe out Iran nukes in 2 days'
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1139395642558
Ex-CIA operative says bunker-buster bombs, other weapons could do job
Blair wants battle of ideas with terrorists
http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?id=2006032108290002436521&dt=20060321082900&w=RTR&coview=
In speech, calling for global, interventionist approach
Islamic Group Spokesman Charged in Denmark
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5698840,00.html
A radical Islamic group spokesman has been charged with threatening the
government for distributing a leaflet urging Muslims to "eliminate"
rulers that prevent them from joining the Iraq insurgency
Chertoff: Chemical plants cannot 'freeload' on security
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/03/21/chemicalplant.security.ap/index.html
Plants that resist costly security measures can no longer expect to be
"free riders" among the 15,000 privately operated chemical facilities
Pakistan test fires nuclear-capable cruise missile
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/March/subcontinent_March797.xml§ion=subcontinent
The terrain-hugging Hatf VII Babur missile has a range of 500
kilometres (310 miles) and can carry all kinds of warheads
Report: Islamic preacher ripped for reform push
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/03/20/reform.preacher.ap/index.html
CNN states that popular Egyptian televangelist Amr Khaled tries to
bridge Islam and West
Pakistani Taliban take control of unruly tribal belt
http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1735772,00.html
Shopkeepers can't sell music or films - barbers can't shave beards -
militants collect taxes at new checkpoints - Islamic court replaces
elders' council
Azeri spies 'planned energy terror attack'
http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20060320-015236-7232r.htm
Azerbaijan authorities say that 3 men reached secret agreement with
Armenian intelligence services to plot terrorist attacks against energy
installations
Chapel Hill crash suspect will not face terrorism charges
http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/031606cckrWcncTopmohammed.3199b6a8.html
Taheri-Azar will not be charged because North Carolina doesn’t have
terrorism statute
Some U.S. Officials Fear Iran Is Helping Al Qaeda
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iranterror21mar21,0,6266532.story
Evidence from highly classified satellite feeds and electronic
eavesdropping cited for belief that Iranian regime helping Al Qaeda's remaining
brain trust
(Philippines) Military steps up campaign against Abu Sayyaf terrorists
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/mar/21/yehey/top_stories/20060321top10.html
Government troops last week captured two prominent Abu Sayyaf members
The Will of Al-Qaeda Commander in Saudi Arabia Fahd Al-Farraj
http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD112006
Fundraising for Pentagon Memorial Approaches Halfway Milestone
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2006/20060321_4566.html
DOD press release: Fundraising for memorial to 184 people killed in
9/11/01 Pentagon attack nears halfway point
Hamas reiterates refusal to recognise Israel
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=114020
Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal: "We can do so but we will not, because that
would lead to a double loss and would achieve nothing."
India, Bangladesh agree (on) joint anti-terrorism fight
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060321/wl_nm/india_bangladesh_dc;_ylt=AlBd6_buQLtz5A_V7jlRoEis0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b3JuZGZhBHNlYwM3MjE-
Hizbollah vows to free detainees, land from Israel
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L20657235.htm
Hizbollah chief Nasrallah rails against Israel as "this enemy"
Iraq Operations Update
http://billroggio.com/archives/2006/03/iraq_operations_upda.php
Bill Roggio's "Fourth Rail" post on results of recent U.S. and
coalition operations
Charles attacks Muhammad cartoons
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2095925,00.html
Prince Charles, in Egypt, criticises publication of Muhammad cartoons
LOL, there've been many days I've wished for a body double.
Then I could freep all day and she could do everything else.
GRAAAAANNNY you rode motorcycles?
so did I, until I tried to climb a tree. Right leg was bruised from my rear end to my foot. I was in bed for a month.
These bomb scares for Las Vegas, plus the several casinos in
Laughlin.....sure a lot of threats.
They say they have the man from Laughlin, at least they arrested someone.
Is this the new sport?
granny........
Google Alert for: bomb scare in Las Vegas
Venetian hotel casino @ ExtraCAsinos.com
The parking garage at The Venetian hotel-casino was closed for about three hours
Tuesday while a police investigated a possible bomb scare. Las Vegas police ...
FOX5 Las Vegas - KVVU FOX5 - Police Say Bomb Scare a Hoax
Police Say Bomb Scare a Hoax ... (AP) -- North Las Vegas police say a bomb left
in the north part of the city is a fake. ...
FOX5 Las Vegas - KVVU FOX5 - FOX5 Video Headlines
Parking Garage Closed During Bomb Scare ... A man shot and killed by Las Vegas
police early Monday has been identified as 43-year-old John Frank Jackman. ..
http://news.google.com/news?client=googlet&q=+bomb+scare+in+Las+Vegas+&sa=N&tab=wn
I think we missed a few bomb threats:
http://www.google.com/search?client=googlet&q=bomb%20threat%20casino
More missed bombs:
http://www.google.com/search?client=googlet&q=bomb%20was%20defused%20USA
Bomb on a plane in Colorado....
http://www.google.com/search?client=googlet&q=bomb%20was%20disabled%20USA
Interesting post!
Do you think riding motorcycles, is what has us stuck in
googles?
We rode to be free.
We google to see what is out there.
Play with the ones I just posted, your mind may not be as tired as mine is tonight.
Maybe it was all the bugs in the face that taught us how to chase the evil ones.
Only special people ride motorcycles.
Bill had a 1963 Honda Dream, it was too big for me, but he
sure liked it. (I think it was 1963, I recall the 63.)
Wednesday, March 22, 2006. Issue 3376. Page 3.Assailants Beat Kasparov's Aide
By Carl Schreck
Staff Writer
Lenta.ru
Marina Litvinovich attending a rally during Khodorkovsky's trial last year.
A top aide to Garry Kasparov, the former chess champion turned opposition politician, was beaten unconscious and lost two teeth in an attack that Kasparov's office on Tuesday called politically motivated.
Marina Litvinovich, a 31-year-old political activist and public relations specialist, was walking to her car from the office of Kasparov's United Civil Front on Ulitsa Makarenko at around 9:15 p.m. Monday when she was attacked from behind, Kasparov spokesman Denis Bilunov said.
Litvinovich was unconscious for 20 to 25 minutes before she came to and called Kasparov's office, which in turn called an ambulance, Bilunov said. She escaped serious injury, but two of her teeth were knocked out, he said.
Litvinovich was carrying a laptop computer and money, but nothing was stolen, he said.
"It's quite obvious that this was connected with her political activities," Bilunov said.
Bilunov said the attack had been reported to police and that a criminal investigation had been opened. A police source told RIA-Novosti that investigators were looking into the incident.
Litvinovich is also the editor of a web site called Truth of Beslan (www.pravdabeslana.ru), and she said Tuesday that she believed an investigation into terrorism might have been the primary motive behind the attack.
"I think it's very likely that it was connected with my activities in investigating the terrorist acts at 'Nord Ost' and in Beslan," Litvinovich said Tuesday on Ekho Moskvy radio. "Some new and very interesting facts -- sufficiently serious and important -- have emerged. I think this is the most painful thing that someone perhaps wouldn't like."
She did not elaborate. A total of 331 hostages died after fighters seized the Beslan school in 2004, and held it for three days. A total of 129 hostages died after Chechen rebels seized Moscow's Dubrovka theater in 2002 and held it for three days.
Litvinovich had planned to take part Tuesday in the submission of more than 9,000 signatures calling for the resignation of Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov over a brutal hazing on New Year's Eve that led to the amputation of a conscript's legs and genitals.
Calls to Litvinovich went unanswered Tuesday.
In a posting on her web log, she said she was limping badly and that her ribs ached. "My face is smashed everywhere, but my forehead is fine. It will go away in three weeks," she wrote. "But it's a shame about the teeth."
Litvinovich began her career in politics under Kremlin spin doctor Gleb Pavlovsky and worked on several web sites, including Strana.ru, a news site founded to improve the Kremlin's image in cyberspace.
But she later moved into the liberal-leaning camp, running campaigns for the Union of Right Forces and Irina Khakamada when she ran for president in 2004, as well as working with Mikhail Khodorkovsky's Open Russia foundation. Litvinovich became Kasparov's adviser in May. Kasparov, a fierce critic of the Kremlin who once publicly compared President Vladimir Putin to Caligula, has been caught up in a series of odd incidents that he has blamed on political persecution, including one in which he was bashed over the head with a chessboard while signing autographs.
Hello, welcome to our collection of news.
If you follow the trials, sooner or later, the attacks that appear as terrorist to us, but the Government says is not, will suddenly show up as an arrest and be tried as a terrorist.
Or as I posted the link above this post, in the post of several links, the man who tried to kill all the people at the University of North Carolina a couple weeks ago and said
he did it to us, for the rest of the muslims, is not going to be charged as a terrorist.....
North Carolina does not have that law on the books.....
So we have a terrorist, who has freely confessed and no law
to cover it.......
Glad to see you posting, join in, we miss a lot of the news,
there isn't time to get it all.
Litvinovich had planned to take part Tuesday in the submission
of more than 9,000 signatures calling for the resignation of
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov over a brutal hazing on New
Year's Eve that led to the amputation of a conscript's legs and
genitals. <<<<<<<
More than likely the source of her beating.
The truth about the school and theater, will be so well
covered, that there will be no fear of her getting any place in her investigation.
They are now in the class of the JFK murder, no way to find the 'real' truth.
But to pick on a big shot, that will get you a beating.
I laughed out loud at the thought of Putin being hit in the
head with a chessboard.
If I remember correctly, the liberals are different than our liberals here? Are they the good guys?
Thanks for posting the article, interesting and very sad that beating a woman is how they conduct themselves.
The Colorado plane with bomb, appears to have been in 1955.
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:DqjHpE0pWEEJ:www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/mass/jack_graham/13.html+bomb+on+plane+Colorado+2003&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=5&ie=UTF-8&client=googlet
Aw Granny, I'm so very tired tonight.
No googles for me.
See you tomorrow.
Thanks!
Sounds interesting. Is there a ping list or anything?
I'm not fully familiar with all of the "technicalities" of these boards.
The other two links are in this one, as well as a chlorine truck explosion in Australia.
http://news.google.com/news?client=googlet&q=explosion&sa=N&tab=wn
Google Alert for: explosion
Pipe bombs caused explosion that injured Tucson man, investigators ...
Arizona Daily Star - Tucson,AZ,USA
An explosion that left a Tucson man with severe burns was caused by two pipe bombs
that had been planted under the driver’s seat in his pickup truck ...
Explosion Rocks Owerri Centre •MASSOB Disrupts Exercise In ...
Nigeria Daily Independent - Ikeja,Lagos,Nigeria
... of politicians. There was an explosion at one of the centres in Owerri which left the
enumerators running for dear lives. A group ...
Crane Workers Hurt in Explosion
WFIE-TV - Evansville,IN,USA
Three employees of the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center were hurt Tuesday when
detonators they were unpacking detonated prematurely. ...
See all stories on this topic
http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.14wfie.com/Global/story.asp%3FS%3D4662707%26nav%3D3w6o
I have to ask if they were faulty, or if someone wanted them to explode when not expected?
Guess I am thinking of the airplane mechanics.....
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