(Compiler's note: Those who fail to appreciate history are doomed to repeat it.)
By: Herb Denenberg , The Bulletin
If you want to know what kind of terrorist attack is most likely to hit the U.S. and perhaps Philadelphia or the city you live in, read on. Whether we like it or not, a sequel to 9/11 is on the way, and it's just a matter of time no matter how diligent we are.
Right after 9/11, one of my first thoughts was about a long series of television investigations I had done on lack of airline security and lack of security in general at oil refineries, hospitals, nursing homes, daycare centers, day camps, schools and other facilities. It was obvious to me that America was security deficient and that was a formula for disaster. That wasn't an insight that had to come from a haymaker genius but something anyone who was paying attention would have come up with. Unfortunately, our politicians and government agencies were asleep, not just inattentive. They missed the obvious, and that omission cost us dearly.
In my investigations long before 9/11, I had on many occasions demonstrated you could get onto a plane loaded with metal (so you could also have your concealed weapon of choice, such as, shall we say, box cutters or pistols) and not be detected by the screeners. We even went back to test the airlines on the very day there was a major story on one passenger who somehow got beyond the screeners with a handgun. As usual, the screeners let us pass on that day, too, loaded with concealed metal. We thought they'd be alert for at least that day, but they slumbered on.
If that wasn't enough, we sent in one of my producers to get a job as a screener at the airport. She got the job with no apparent qualifications. And her references were never checked. You read right: Her references were never checked.
This all came in the context of investigations showing that oil refinery security was virtually nonexistent, as we demonstrated with a camera. We got into refineries without being stopped or detected, and we roamed around. We were able to do about anything we wanted to do, as if we were taking a walk in a park.
All that was shocking enough. But what was more shocking was that we never got a single call from a federal agency, a congressman, or anyone else who should have been paying attention to our findings and doing something to correct the obvious, inexcusable and potentially disastrous security failures. You would think the federal agency in charge of airline security then would have called and at least asked where our undercover screener was working and investigated to find out why references were never checked. But despite dozens of these security stories, we found that no one with legal responsibility for the security in question really cared. Many years later, we're still waiting for the first inquiry. We got the impression the people in charge simply didn't give a damn, and no other reasonable conclusion is possible.
A competent regulator could have corrected the problem almost immediately. I served as a regulator for over three years (Pennsylvania insurance commissioner and Pennsylvania public utility commissioner), and found I could easily get corrective action in a matter of hours, not years or decades. When these security failures were made public, the airline security people - both the regulators and industry - should have taken immediate corrective action. But fast, competent regulatory action is as uncommon as common sense.
Tragically, it takes a catastrophe along the lines of 9/11 to wake up politicians, government agencies and others. And it doesn't take much to put them all back to sleep or into a semi-comatose state within a short while.
So I can understand how Marvin J. Cetron, a futurist and author, felt on the day after 9/11. In 1994, he had prepared a report for the Department of Defense in which terrorism experts warned (among other things) that terrorists were planning to use commercial planes as guided missiles to destroy major landmarks. The report was more specific, predicting that terrorists would hijack commercial airplanes and fly one into the Pentagon. Many years before 9/11, this expert's report on terrorism warned our government that 9/11 was on the way, even down to the location. The report could hardly have been more on target.
What happened to that report? Mr. Cetron writes, 'Tragically, the report was filed and forgotten. Why? The State Department requested that our reference to terrorists using a jet aircraft as a weapon be deleted. They feared that it might give the terrorists an idea they hadn't already thought of.' That was an asinine reason. These terrorists can think of that and all kinds of other ways to attack us. Apparently, the officials at the Department of State were dumb enough to think the terrorists were as dumb as the Department of State diplomats are.
I'm familiar with this argument (don't educate the criminal) because it was often used in investigations I conducted. For example, if we showed how to kidnap a child from a daycare center (which we did on two occasions with permission of the children's parents), our critics said we were educating criminals. If we showed how to burglarize a house, our critics said we were educating burglars on how to do it. That is ridiculous. The criminals know these things. It is the pubic that has to be educated on what is coming and how to prevent it. This goes for daycare centers and houses, and it goes for our country in its attempt to stop terrorists from striking the homeland.
Mr. Cetron argues its not enough for law enforcement agencies to be watching out for terrorists. We all have to have our eyes open and know what to do if we see or hear something that is suspicious. He writes, 'We need to get as many eyeballs on them [the terrorists] as possible. Ordinary citizens need to know where the dangers lie. Every indication is that the terrorists' determination to hurt America is undiminished. According to the FBI and other agencies, Islamic terrorists are constantly evaluating where to strike next.'
Mr. Cetron has done another study for the terrorists and has come up with some of the attacks terrorists may now be plotting. This information may be of value to citizens, who are an important line of defense against terrorism and who should be knowledgeable on the subject and prepared to act when they see evidence that should be reported to law enforcement agencies. Mr. Cetron writes, 'As a citizen, you may never have an opportunity to phone in a tip that heads off a major terrorist attack. But at least by reading what follows, you will be better prepared for what could lie ahead.'
And remember that the experts agree the question isn't if there will be a terrorist attack on American soil. They conclude, writes Mr. Cetron, 'It's only a question of when.'
Attacks on Oil Refineries. Such an attack is rated as one of high probably and high impact. Remember what I found out when I tried to penetrate oil refinery security.
Here's a likely scenario: Four terrorists driving minivans approach the gates of four refineries. They crash the gates and aim for the key catalytic units used to refine petroleum. The crashes set off 500 pounds of dynamite in each minivan. Mr. Cetron writes, 'Eleven workers die in the initial attack and six more perish in the infernos that send plumes of dark smoke miles into the sky. Even before the flames can be extinguished, the price of oil skyrockets to more than $200 a barrel.'
Here are some of the consequences of such an attack on four important refineries: 'We lose 15 percent of [our] ... crude oil processing capability for more than a year.' The Federal Reserve cuts the prime rate by a full point to head off a recession. Gas goes to $4 a gallon.
The critics bemoan our failure to develop more of our oil-processing infrastructure.
Total economic cost: $1.2 trillion (yes, trillion with a 't'). That's just for openers, and that is only one of 30 threats outlined in this report.
Attacks on U.S. Olympic Teams in Beijing. The report rates this as one of high probability but low impact. This is a variation on a theme first played out at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, where terrorists slaughtered Israeli athletes.
At 10 p.m. on Aug. 24, 2008, Olympians gather for the closing ceremony, with Americans ready to celebrate their many triumphs. But as the teams enter the stadium, nine Pakistani terrorists wearing explosive vests (made from components smuggled in from China), approach the American team and explode their suicide bombs.
Twenty-three American athletes are killed instantly. Four die later, and two will never walk again.
This damages the U.S.-Pakistan alliance and brings forth criticism for the Bush administration's failure to protect the athletes. It helps the Democrats, who appear to be headed for a clean sweep in the November elections.
Introducing E. Coli into Fast-Food Restaurants on Wall Street and Capitol Hill. This is classified as one of high probability but low impact.
Here's how Mr. Cetron explains this one: 'Staff turns over rapidly at the chains, and it doesn't take long to plant 'sleepers' in more than a dozen fast-food chains near Wall Street and Capitol Hill. One Wednesday morning, they start misting lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles and even buns with a spray containing E. coli. Because the vegetables and buns are served raw, cooking will not defuse their toxins.'
Within the three- to eight-day incubation period, more than 13,500 customers are sickened. They include four congressmen and two senators. At least 142 die, many of them children and elderly.
The lawyers come in with $250 billion in lawsuits against the food chains. Fast-food sales plummet, leading to a loss of revenue of $57.5 billion.
I've had a little experience in food undercover work, too. One of my favorite targets was lack of proper sanitation in restaurants. We had no trouble getting our undercover people jobs in restaurants (or hospitals, for example), and neither would terrorists. When we confronted some fast-food companies about their lousy food sanitation, they actually used as an excuse that they could hire only substandard employees who were hard to train and were subject to incredibly rapid turnover. This is obviously a weak link in the food chain and one that might be easily exploited by terrorists.
Coordinated Suicide Shootings at Major Tourist Attractions. The report classified this as high probably but low impact. Terrorists get jobs at Disney World, Disneyland, Universal Studios, Sea World and Dollywood. One day they take out their AK-47s and fire away at the tourists.
Before security people can kill the terrorists, 84 vacationers lie dead and another 103 are critically wounded. Theme parks lose business, amounting to a loss of $1.25 billion. With Americans afraid to resume normal lives, the economy teeters on the brink of recession.
If that small sample is not bad enough, consider what Mr. Cetron omitted: 'To make the point that even non-nuclear threats have dire consequences, we intentionally passed on the 'suitcase' nuclear weapon and dirty-bomb scenarios. Instead, we focus on the most diabolical plots for which people are least prepared.' And remember, as the marvelous science of the free world brings miraculous advances every year, the terrorists will enlist new science and new discoveries in their profession of pure evil and their profession of death.
I found Mr. Cetron's important article in a newsmagazine called Newsmax (December 2007). They run the kind of articles that don't appear in the mainstream media, home of dishonest, biased and fraudulent journalism. The mainstream media knows no limits to its bias and doesn't adequately cover the war on terror and the threat to the U.S. and the free world by Islamo-fascists. In other words, they are so fearful of helping the Bush administration by reporting fully on the war on terror that they prefer to endanger our safety and security by ignoring this most important story of our time, the Islamo-fascist threat to civilization. And to be sure no one forgets, the mainstream media I'm referring to includes the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, NPR, PBS, Time, Newsweek and many more. If you read or listen to the mainstream media, you have to spend most of your time sorting out the lies and bias from the truth and reality.
