ERRI Counter-Terrorism Archive Page

A Summary of World-Wide Terrorism Events, Groups, and Terrorist Strategies and Tactics
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Contents (1989 to Present)
Sub-Menu/Index
General Terrorism-Related ArticlesTerrorism-Related LinksGraphics and Related DiagramsTerror Pix/Histories of Terror LeadersTerrorism; N. America - Chronological OrderTerrorism Middle-East - Chronological orderTerrorism - Europe - Chronological Order Terrorism - Latin America - Chronological OrderTerrorism - Africa - Chronological OrderTerrorism - Asia - Chronological OrderSummary of ERRI Terrorist Alerts/Advisories - 1998-2003To Access our exclusive ERRI Usama Bin Laden Page, please click here
Click "View Stats" to Review World-Wide Monthly Terrorist Attack Statistics For 2000
(Graphic Will Open in A Separate Window)
This PageLast Modified 03/16/2006 00:54:15
Javascript Menu of Chemical/Biological Related Terrorism Articles
ERRI Chemical/Biological Related Articles 05/95-Tokyo, Japan Poison Gas Campaign 05/95: Chemical Attack - Are We Prepared 03/96: Senate Hearings Say We‘re Not Prepared... 08/96: Increasing threat of Chem/Bio Attack 11/96: Pandora‘s Box All Too Real, Bio-Attack 12/96: Chem/Bio Training/Funding Battles Ensue 06/97: Chicago Prepares For Chem/Bio Attack 08/97: E.R. Doctors Prepare For Chem/Bio Attacks 02/98: The WMD/Terrorist threat From Iraq Chem Bio Terrorist Attack - Lesson on Line
21 Dec 2003
Current U.S. Threat Level: 
March 11, 2002: HOMELAND SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE-3
(Explanation - Color Alert System)
Breaking Homeland Security News Feed - Constantly Updated --------------->>>>>
25 Dec 2005 - 09:00CST: The Continued Morphing and Spread of Al-Qaeda
05 August 2005  08:00CDT: Chicago Institute Issues World-Wide Terrorism Advisory Following Attacks in England and Egypt:
http://www.emergency.com/2005/thrt_advry_05aug2005.htm
Series of EmergencyNet News "Real-time" Reports Concerning Bombings and Attempted Bombings in London, England- 07 July and 21
July 2005 to present...
01 May 2005
"Are Terrorism Threats Against the United States at the Lowest Level since 9/11?"
Analysis by ERRI about the Washington Post article which reports that the terrorist threat is "lower" than in recent times.
Can be found on the internet at:http://www.emergency.com/2005/ter-threat-low_may05.htm
Please also see:Attorney general refutes recent reports of diminished riskFrom Kevin Bohn; CNN, Tuesday, May 3, 2005 Posted: 9:49 PM EDT (0149 GMT
Chronology of Significant Terrorist Events - 2004, Can be found at: http://www.tkb.org/documents/Downloads/NCTC_Report.pdf
28 Apr 2005
2004 -- Country Reports on Terrorism
State Department Report
WASHINGTON, DC: These reports are submitted in compliance with Title 22 of the United States Code, Section 2656(f) (the "Act"), which requires the Department of State to provide Congress with a full and complete annual report on terrorism for those countries and groups meeting the criteria of Section (a)(1) and (2) of the Act.
NOTE: This report is no longer called "Patterns of Global Terrorism" as it was in previous years; it is now called"Country Reports on Terrorism."
To view the PDF files, you will need to download at no cost, the Adobe Acrobat Reader .
In addition to the individual report files listed below, this report is also available as a single file.
-- Table of Contents
-- Chapter 1 -- Legislative Requirements and Key Terms
-- Chapter 2 -- Overview
-- Chapter 3 -- Global Jihad: Evolving and Adapting
-- Chapter 4 -- Building International Will and Capacity to Counter Terrorism
-- Chapter 5 -- Country Reports A
-- Chapter 5 -- Country Reports B
-- Chapter 6 -- Terrorist Groups
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/45313.pdf   (Caution - large file - will require long download on slow connections)
11 Apr 2005
FEMA Capability Building- Planning for First Responders
State and Local Guide (SLG) 101: Guide for All-Hazard Emergency Operations Planning
This guide outlines the preparedness, response and short-term recovery planning components that FEMA recommends be included in state and local emergency operations plans. It offers FEMA‘s best judgment and recommendation on how to handle the entire planning process. It also encourages emergency managers to address all the hazards that threaten their jurisdictions in a single operations plan rather than stand-alone plans.
Comprehensive HazMat Emergency Response-Capability Assessment Program (CHER-CAP)
CHER-CAP is a comprehensive preparedness program offered by FEMA to local communities and Tribal governments to address HazMat incidents. It is designed to help communities better understand HazMat risks, identify planning deficiencies, update plans, train first responders and identify systemic strengths and needed improvements.
Federal Response Plan
A signed agreement among 27 federal departments and agencies, and the American Red Cross, that provides the mechanism for coordinating delivery of federal assistance and resources to augment efforts of state and local governments overwhelmed by a major disaster or emergency.
CONPLAN - Federal Interagency Domestic Terrorism Concept of Operations Plan
The CONPLAN provides overall guidance to federal, state and local agencies concerning how the federal government would respond to a potential or actual terrorist threat or incident that occurs in the United States, particularly one involving WMD.   All documents can be found at:http://www.fema.gov/fema/first_res.shtm
16 Mar 2005
U.S. Report Lists Possibilities for Terrorist Attacks and Likely Toll
WASHINGTON, DC: The Department of Homeland Security, trying to focus antiterrorism spending better nationwide, has identified a dozen possible strikes it views as most plausible or devastating, including detonation of a nuclear device in a major city, release of Sarin nerve agent in office buildings and a truck bombing of a sports arena.
The document, known simply as the National Planning Scenarios, reads more like a doomsday plan, offering estimates of the probable deaths and economic damage caused by each type of attack.
They include blowing up a chlorine tank, killing 17,500 people and injuring more than 100,000; spreading pneumonic plague in the bathrooms of an airport, sports arena and train station, killing 2,500 and sickening 8,000 worldwide; and infecting cattle with foot-and-mouth disease at several sites, costing hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. Specific locations are not named because the events could unfold in many major metropolitan or rural areas, the document says.
-- Source: Eric Lipton, NYTimes,click here for the report... http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/16/ politics/16home.html?hp&ex=1111035600&en= 083f2bf6b69b9744&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Click here for a list of 15 nightmare terror scenarios, graphic, from NYTimes
Homeland Security Department:http://www.dhs.gov
13 Mar 2005
Zarqawi Planning U.S. Hit?
USA/IRAQ: Two weeks after intelligence officials confirmed thatOsama bin Laden had sent a message to Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi, urging him to plan attacks on U.S. soil, details are emerging from one of al-Zarqawi‘s lieutenants about what the man behind many of the terrorist attacks in Iraq could have in mind.
Intelligence officials tell TIME that interrogation of a member of al-Zarqawi‘s organization, who was taken into U.S. custody last year and has been described as a top aide, indicates that al-Zarqawi has given ample consideration to assaults on the American homeland. According to a restricted bulletin that circulated among U.S. security agencies last week, the interrogated aide said al-Zarqawi has talked about hitting "soft targets" in the U.S., which could include "movie theaters, restaurants and schools."
Want to know more? Visit the Mar. 21, 2005 issue of TIME magazine at:http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1037626,00.html
Additional reference: "Real Time" Coverage of Hostage/Barricade Incident at School in Beslan, North Ossetia, Russia, 01-17 Sep 2004, which can be found at:http://www.emergency.com/2004/Ossetia__school_hostage.htm
05 Mar 2005:"The Rise of Islamic Militancy in the Netherlands (Europe)," Series of Real Time EmergencyNet News Reports From Aug 19, 2004 to Present
16 Feb 2005
CIA, FBI Warn Panel on Top Threats to U.S.
WASHINGTON, DC:  The NYPost and Associated Press are reporting that groups associated with al-Qaeda are at the top of the list of threats to the United States. The information came to light as top government intelligence officials testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, also saying Iran has emerged as a top threat to American interests in the Middle East.
Despite gains made against al-Qaeda, CIA Director Porter Goss, in an unusually blunt statement before the mostly secretive Senate Intelligence Committee, said the terror group is intent on finding ways to circumvent U.S. security enhancements to attack the homeland. "It may be only a matter of time before al-Qaeda or other groups attempt to usechemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons. We must focus on that," Goss said.
FBI Director Robert Mueller said he worries about a true sleeper operative whom he contended has been in place for years to launch an attack inside the United States. "I remain very concerned about what we are not seeing," he said in his prepared remarks.
Mueller, Goss and other intelligence leaders provided these and other assessments at the annual briefing of threats from around the globe. Click here for the whole story from NYPost on-line:http://breakingnews.nypost.com/dynamic/stories/I/INTELLIGENCE_THREATS?SITE=NYNYP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
DCI Porter J. Goss‘s testimony on "Global Intelligence Challenges 2005: Meeting Long-Term Challenges with a Long-Term
Strategy" before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence  --http://www.cia.gov/cia/public_affairs/speeches/2004/Goss_testimony_02162005.html
15 Feb 2005
U.N. Team Predicts Rise in Terror Attacks
UNITED NATIONS -According to the Associated Press and a report appearing today on the Houma Courier website, a U.N. team monitoring sanctions on al-Qaeda predicted Tuesday there will be an escalation of terrorist attacks, saying the network remains determined to strike around the world.
Terrorism involving al-Qaeda and weapons of mass destruction remains among the paramount global threats, the team said in a report.
"The team sees no let up in the determination of al-Qaeda, the Taliban and their associates to continue their campaign of terror. It sees al-Qaeda continuing to spread its message to all parts of the world, and a further escalation in terms of brutality of attacks," the report said.
"Whatever the situation in Iraq, al-Qaeda‘s global terrorism will continue and will remain a challenge to all states," it added.... Click here for the entire article:http://www.houmatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050215/API/502150752
A similar article appears on the USAToday website at:http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-02-15-un-terror_x.htm
LATEST FROM GAO
Homeland Security: Agency Plans, Implementation, and Challenges Related to the National Strategy for Homeland Security. GAO-05-33,
January 14. http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-33
Highlights -http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d0533high.pdf
16 Jan 2005
Limousine Terror?
Concerns Surface of Al-Qaeda VBIED Attacks During Inauguration
From the Jan. 24, 2005 issue of TIME magazine
DC: As Washington gears up for the first Inaugural of the post-9/11 era, one potential security threat has emerged as a particular focus of concern: vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, or VBIEDS, possibly disguised as limousines. The fears were prompted in part, say U.S. intelligence sources, by a 39-page document seized from al-Qaeda last year, titled "Rough Presentation for Gas Limo Project." It lays out a scenario for using limousines to deliver bombs equipped with cylinders of a flammable gas. Though the Inauguration is not specifically mentioned, parts of the document began circulating among senior U.S. intelligence authorities on Jan. 5. In response, barriers have been set up to block any vehicle bent on destruction.
The document is believed to have been written by Issa al-Hindi, an al-Qaeda operative captured in Britain last year. It recommends concealing bombs in limos because the vehicles "blend in" and "can transport larger payloads than sedans ... and do not require special driving skills." The limos can "access underground parking structures that do not accommodate trucks" and "have tinted windows that can hide an improvised explosive device from outside." The document calls for the deployment of three limos, each carrying 12 or more compressed-gas cylinders to create a "full fuel-air explosion by venting flammable gas into a confined space and then igniting it." It suggests painting the cylinders yellow to falsely "signify toxic gases to spread terror and chaos when emergency and haz-mat teams arrive." Article continues at:http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1018032,00.html
ERRI analysts say that they are told by government sources that there are "no specific threats concerning VBIEDs at this time." But, officials say that they are monitoring a number of possible scenarios and/or other indicators at the time of this report. One DC official told EmergencyNet News, "security is very tight and we will use an abundance of caution during this coming week...everything that can be done to prevent an attack is already underway."
Additional ERRI reference/briefing on VBIEDs can be found at:
http://www.emergency.com/2004/Potential_Indicators_VBIEDS_files/frame.htm
11 Jan 2005
New DHS Head Named...
WASHINGTON, DC:  President Bush has chosen federal appeals court judge Michael Chertoff to be his new Homeland Security chief.
Judge Chertoff has been a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit since June 2003. Prior to that, he was Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he directed the national prosecution effort against terrorism, as well as major prosecutions of corporate fraud. From 1994-2001, he was a partner at the law firm of Latham & Watkins. From 1983-1990, Judge Chertoff was a federal prosecutor in New York City and New Jersey, and from 1990-1994, he served as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey.  Watch this space for more official information...
Emergency Response Resource Locator:
The U.S. National Response Plan is now available from DHS.  The documents are as follows:
National Response Plan and Annexes
December 2004
(PDF, 114 pages, 2MB)
http://www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/NRPbaseplan.pdf
National Response Plan
December 2004
Full Version (PDF, 426 pages, 4MB)
includes all annexes, "Emergency Support Function Annexes", "Support
Annexes", and "Incident Annexes."
http://www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/NRP_FullText.pdf
31 Dec 2004
Radical Iraqi Groups Threaten ‘Un-Islamic‘ Election in Iraq
According to Mujahedeen "Democracy is Apostasy"  (What its really all about...)
IRAQ: According to a report by ABCNews (Australia) and AFP (Agence France Presse),  radical Islamist groups in Iraq said in an Internet statement Thursday they considered democracy "farcial and un-Islamic" and warned that no-one who took part in next month‘s polls would be safe.
"Those who participate in this dirty farce will not be sheltered from the blows of the mujahedeen," said a statement posted on an Islamist website signed by the Al Qaeda linked "Ansar Al-Sunnah," the "Islamic Army in Iraq" and the "Army of the Mujahedeen."
US-led forces and the Iraq security apparatus are boosting their numbers across the country fearing attacks by insurgents aimed at derailing the January 30 elections in Iraq, the first since the downfall of former president Saddam Hussein last year.
"Democracy is a word of Greek origin meaning the sovereignty of the people... this concept is considered apostasy, contrary to the doctrine of one God and Sharia (Islamic law)," the statement from the three groups said.
"Democracy is a farce created by our enemies to confer what they call legitimacy on the new government which is subservient to the crusaders and executes their orders."
"To try to ensure these elections succeed would be the greatest gift to America, the enemy of Islam and the tyrant of our time," it added.
-- Source:http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200412/s1274882.htm
[ERRI analysis by Sr. analyst C. L. Staten: "This report, in a nutshell, points out a fundamental part of the problems we must face. Radical Islam is trying to force a confrontation based on "religion as politics." They can‘t seem to understand (or they just reject) the concept of separation of church/state and this appears to be a deep "sticking point," with the militants. Unless the Western Democracies are willing to give up this basic premise (unlikely) and allow theocracies and the establishment of a "state religion" in Iraq and elsewhere (more unlikely), there will always be a conflict with this more militant and fundamentalist wing of Islam."]
20 Dec 2004
2004 & Beyond: Madrid, Beslan Show Terror War Far From Won
Prague (RFE/RL) A year ago, Madrid was best-known for its art, nightlife, and world-class soccer team.
Beslan was hardly heard of at all outside the small Russian republic of North Ossetia.
Yet in 2004 both entered a growing lexicon of places that have suffered horrific attacks.
In the Spanish capital, 192 people were killed in simultaneous train bombings in March that appeared timed to influence the country‘s general elections. The attack was blamed on Islamic militants with ties to Osama bin Laden‘s Al-Qaeda terrorist group.
In Beslan, six months later, Chechen militants with possible international involvement seized a primary school and took hundreds hostage. At least 340 people, including many children, died in a botched rescue effort by security forces.
The past year also saw deadly attacks in Uzbekistan, Moscow, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Indonesia, among other places.
Peter Bergen is a terrorism expert and author of the book "Holy War, Inc." He told RFE/RL that 2004 could rival 2003 for the most terrorist attacks in a single year. "The good news is that the organization [Al-Qaeda] has been damaged," he said. "The bad news is that the wider ideological movement has remained fairly vibrant and has been energized by the war in Iraq."
The United States justified the Iraq war as part of the fight against terrorism. But in Bergen‘s opinion, the war aggravated anti-U.S. sentiment in the Muslim world and could spawn a generation of new terrorists. "There‘s no doubt that even if the Iraq war ended tomorrow, the foreign fighters who entered Iraq are not going to go home and open coffee shops and falafel stands," he said. "They are going to be part of an international jihadist movement, similar to the movement that emerged out of Afghanistan in the ‘80s and ‘90s."  -- Source:http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/ library/news/2004/12/sec-041217-rferl01.htm
16 Dec 2004
DHS v 2.O:
Rethinking the Department of Homeland Security
WASHINGTON, DC: Co-authored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Heritage Foundation, was the product of a task force of experts from academia, research centers, the private sector, and congressional staff. The evaluation used 4 criteria to evaluate whether DHS could meet its mandate from the Homeland Security Act of 2002: management, roles and missions, authorities, and resources.
Key recommendations include:
-- creating an Undersecretary for Policy, to improve policy making
-- a "flattened" organizational structure, consolidating agencies with overlapping missions, eliminating directors of border and transportation security, preparedness and response, and information analysis and infrastructure protection (with those agencies reporting directly to the secretary via the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security)  eliminating wasteful spending by a "risk-based mechanism for department-wide resource allocation and grant-making and by developing pre-determined ‘response packages‘ to respond to catastrophic terrorism." "Clarifying authorities and national leadership roles for bio-defense, cyber-defense, and critical infrastructure protection."
-- Improving departmental oversight by having the DHS report to a single permanent oversight committee in the House and the Senate rationalizing congressional committee structure and establishing (vs. the nearly 80 committees that now have their fingers in the pie).
The report issues yet another call to change the formulas used to allocate spending to one based on risk (Congress has deferred action on that contentious issue until the next session. Overall, it said "Congress and the Administration should develop a comprehensive plan to restructure the department, including establishing a nonpartisan commission to review the performance of the department and assess its capacity to fulfill the missions outlined in the Homeland Security Act in the areas of management, missions, authorities, and resources and to report back within six months."
Reference: http://www.csis.org/hs/041213_dhsv2.pdf   (requires Adobe .pdf reader/plg-in to review this file)
Can also be found at:http://www.emergency.com/pdf/041213_dhsv2.pdf
09Nov 2004
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
601 South 12th Street
Arlington, VA 22202
Stolen Crop-Duster - TSA Advisory
On November 1, 2004, a crop dusting aircraft was stolen from Ejido Queretaro, near Mexicali, Mexico. Although there is currently no indication that this has any connection to terrorist activity, the theft is cause for concern. Past information indicates that members of al-Qaeda may have planned梠r may still be planning梩o disperse biological or chemical agents from crop dusting aircraft.
The stolen aircraft has been identified as a Piper PA 25, Pawnee, and is similar to one depicted below. It is registered in Mexico and bears the tail number XBCYP.  If you see the aircraft described above, you should immediately contact the TSA General Aviation Hotline at (866) 427-3287.  (Seehttp://www.eaa.org/communications/ eaanews/advisory.pdf  for picture of aircraft type)
Advisory ?Security Information for Aerial Application Operators/Airports
Law enforcement agencies continue to investigate suspicious incidents and inquiries involving crop dusters and spray equipment. In September 2001, the National Agricultural Aviation Association issued an advisory to its members. The advisory warned members to 揵e vigilant to any suspicious activity relative to the use, training in or acquisition of dangerous chemicals or airborne application of same including threats, unusual purchases, suspicious behavior by employees or customers, and unusual contacts with the public.?The advisory also instructed individuals to report any suspicious circumstances or information to local FBI offices.
TSA wants to remind aerial application operators and airport operators to review the security measures contained in the TSA Information Publication, Security Guidelines for General Aviation Airports (available athttp://www.tsa.gov/public/interapp/ editorial/editorial_1113.xml ), and the National Agricultural Aviation Association security measures (available atwww.agaviation.org). For example, aerial application operators and airport operators are encouraged to consider the following:
Store aircraft and crop protection products in locked hangars with electronic security systems when not in use.
Park and disable loader trucks, forklifts, or other equipment to block aircraft.
In cases where the aircraft must be left outdoors, use propeller locks, propeller chains or tiedowns on aircraft.
Remove batteries from planes and disassemble engines from unused aircraft.
Install hidden security switches to prevent unauthorized startup of the aircraft.
Outdoor security lighting around hangars and operations is encouraged.
Establish contact with Federal and local law enforcement agencies to coordinate responses to security breaches at agricultural aviation facilities. Encourage operators to list the appropriate law enforcement agency telephone numbers in a prominent place within their operations.
Persons should report any suspicious activity immediately to local law enforcement and the TSA General Aviation Hotline at 866-GASECUR (866-427-3287).
30 Oct 2004
SEEKING INFORMATION
WASHINGTON, DC: The FBI is urgently seeking information on the identity of the person pictured here--a self-proclaimed American jihadist using the alias ‘Azzam the American, aka ‘Azzam Al-Amriki
He may currently be located outside the United States.
To give you as much information as possible on this person, we are attaching clips from the video interview he recently gave, and the transcript of those clips. We hope you might recognize him from his voice, his body language, or the style and content of his speech.
Streaming video of the video clip  (RealVideo)
MPEG of the video clip
Transcript of the video clip
If you have any information that might lead to identifying and/or locating this person--or his interviewer-- please contact the USG immediately.
Use ourSubmit a Tip form located on this website.
In the U.S.,contact the Joint Terrorism Task Force at your nearest FBI office or contact your closest law enforcement agency.
Overseas, you may contact your closest U.S. Embassy.
Source for announcement:http://www.fbi.gov/
[Asst. webmaster note: Also please see 28 Oct 2004, ADAM YAHIYE GADAHN below.  An Imam in California says he identified the man pictured above as the man pictured below. This has NOT been officially confirmed by U.S. government sources. Please also seehttp://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,137087,00.html for additional reference]
28 Sep 2004
Record Oil Prices Caused by Conflicts/Insurgencies
NYC: Crude oil hit $50 per barrel in after-hours trading in New York due to concerns about possible supply disruptions in Nigeria, where rebels have threatened to wage war against oil producers, and because of ongoing supply concerns in Iraq and Russia. Analysts said instability in the Middle East, political unrest in Nigeria, Africa‘s top oil exporter, and damage to U.S. production from the Caribbean‘s hurricanes were keeping traders on edge about world supplies.Get the whole story from Forbes.com, click here
In related news, insurgents in Nigeria抯 southern Niger Delta reportedly will begin 揳 full-scale armed struggle?to wrest control of the region抯 oil riches from the government on Friday, a rebel spokesman said today. Fears of disruption in Nigerian oil supplies has already sent world prices spiraling beyond 50 US dollars a gallon.
Moujahid Dokubo-Asari, leader of the Niger Delta "People抯 Volunteer Force," also warned that all oil company employees would be legitimate targets and advised foreign embassies to pull their nationals out of the oil region.
揥e will target government infrastructure and oil company personnel,? Dokubo-Asari reportedly said. 揙il facilities will not be targeted since it will endanger the environment.?(Ed. informal note: Yeah right, like the guerillas care about the ecology... mostly they are worried that such attacks will destroy oil that can be stolen and sold)
ERRI crisis analysts have previously reported on several occasions about a "rising insurgency" in Nigeria...and suggested that it could even be part of a larger plot to increase world oil prices and engage in a kind of "economic warfare" against the United States and her allies.
Reference: Please see: 24 Sep 2000, ERRI To Examine Oil as A "Weapon of Asymmetric Warfare" on the net at:http://www.emergency.com/2001/2000_topten.htm)
03 Aug 2004
The Department of Homeland Security has raised the threat level to orange for the financial services sector in New York City, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C.
Raising the threat level to orange allows for increased protection in and around buildings that require it and will also raise awareness for employees, residents, customers and visitors.
Residents in these areas might expect to see special buffer zones to secure perimeters of buildings from unauthorized cars and trucks, restrictions to affected underground parking, security personnel using identification badges and digital photos to keep track of people entering and exiting buildings, increased law enforcement presence, and robust screening of vehicles, packages and deliveries.
This latest threat information serves as a reminder that terrorists still strive to harm the United States. There are, however, some basic steps people can take to prepare themselves and their families to handle emergencies of all kinds: Make a family emergency plan, Get an emergency supply kit, and Be Informed.
To access local preparedness information: New York:http://www.nyc.gov/html/oem/ New Jersey:http://www.state.nj.us/njoem/ Washington, DC:http://emergencycenter.dc.gov/eia/site/default.asp
To find out more information about latest threat information, please visitwww.dhs.gov.
Reports That Led to Terror Alert Were Years Old, Officials Tell NYT
WASHINGTON, DC: Much of the information that led the authorities to raise the terror alert at several large financial institutions in the New York City and Washington areas was three or four years old, unnamedintelligence and law enforcement officials reportedly told Douglas Jehl and David Johnson of the New York Times on Monday. They reported that they had not yet found concrete evidence that a terrorist plot or preparatory surveillance operations were still under way.
But, the officials continued to regard the information as significant and troubling because the reconnaissance already conducted has provided Al Qaeda with the knowledge necessary to carry out attacks against the sites in Manhattan, Washington and Newark. They said that history has shown that Al Qaeda has often struck years after its operatives began surveillance of an intended target.
Taken together with a separate, more general stream of intelligence, which indicates that Al Qaeda intends to strike in the United States this year, possibly in New York or Washington, the officials said even the dated but highly detailed evidence of surveillance was sufficient to prompt the authorities to undertake a global effort to track down the unidentified suspects involved in the surveillance operations.
"You could say that the bulk of this information is old, but we know that Al Qaeda collects, collects, collects until they‘re comfortable,‘‘ said one senior government official. "Only then do they carry out an operation. And there are signs that some of this may have been updated or may be more recent.‘‘
President Bush said the alert issued on Sunday reflected "a serious business.‘‘ He said at a White House news conference, "We wouldn‘t be contacting authorities at the local level unless something was real.‘‘
April 29, 2004
D.O.S. Patterns of Global Terrorism -2003
Released by the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2003/c12108.htm -- Html format
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/31912.pdf -- .PDF format (7MB)
15 Mar 2004: ERRI/EmergencyNet News Special Report; Terrorist Bombing in Spain can be found at:http://www.emergency.com/2004/Madrid_bmb031104.htm
02 Mar 2004: Profile/Backgrounder: Abu Musab Zarqawi
Current and Projected National Security Threats to the United States, 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Testimony of Mr. George Tenet, Director of Central Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency
Mr. Robert S. Mueller, III, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Vice Admiral Lowell E. Jacoby (USN), Director, Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)
http://intelligence.senate.gov/0402hrg/040224/witness.htm
11 March 2004: Series of "Real-Time" Reports Concerning Multiple Train Bombings Madrid, Spain
09 Feb 2004
IMPORTANT REFERENCE FOR EMERGENCY SERVICES
FEMA: "Fire and Emergency Services Preparedness Guide for the Homeland Security Advisory System" -- First Edition - January 2004 --click here to view/download copy  (Note: Requires Adobe Acrobat plug-in/viewer to read)
03 Dec 2003
Communication Deficiencies Hamper Homeland Fight Against Terrorism
By Paul Anderson, EmergencyNet News Correspondent
UNITED STATES: The Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the Information Age has released a report on Tuesday saying that the U.S. Government has not taken advantage of the technology expertise available to it in relation to fighting the war on terrorism. The 168-page report entitled "Creating A Trusted Information for Homeland Security" said the nation抯 system for analyzing and sharing intelligence purportedly has a number of gaps in it.
The report alleges major deficiencies in communications between state and federal agencies, between intelligence and law enforcement and between public and private sector arms of government. It proposes that a System-wide Homeland Analysis and Resource Exchange (SHARE) network be created to allow multi-agency access to information, extending the anti-terrorism capabilities through intelligence of agencies in the United States.
According to the Markle Foundation, the SHARE network would need to distinguish useful signals about terrorist activity from "noise" and maximize the ability for agencies to make sense of the information. The full report can be found online at:
http://www.markletaskforce.org/Report2_Full_Report.pdf  (caution, large file, probably difficult on slow internet connections - Requires Adobe .pdf reader/plug-in to view)
ERRI analysts have previously reported on and advocated better information sharing between local, state, federal and military agencies. They believe that this is only viable option to be able to "connect the dots" and prevent further vulnerabilities within the continental United States. See:http://www.emergency.com/intelops.htm andhttp://www.emergency.com/2002/intel_11Sep01.htm
22 Nov 2003
Evolving Terrorist Threats; Chicago Analyst Explores "Two Terror Tracks"
Chicago, IL: Terrorist threats has evolved, into a much broader and more diffuse situation than ever before, with a new strategy of attacks by loosely affiliated groups against highly vulnerable (soft) targets.ERRI senior national security analyst, Clark Staten, said on Friday that he believes that there may actually be "two tracks of terror attacks."
One track is a more centralized path and of larger magnitude, probably coming with direction, specially personnel, and financing from the remaining leadership of Al-Qaeda, and involving potentially long-term planning. The second track seems to involves more opportunistic attacks and less sophisticated planning and execution. These lesser attacks are carried out by Al-Qaeda motivated local cells, are generally of a limited significance, and essentially self-directed.  ERRI continues to look for additional evidence to support these hypothesis‘ and will provide additional details if/when they emerge.
21:00CST - 09 Nov 2003
Chicago Institute Issues World-Wide Terrorist Alert
By Paul Anderson
Chicago, IL (EmergencyNet News) -- Clark Staten, executive director of the Chicago-based Emergency Response & Research Institute (ERRI) this evening issued a world-wide terrorist warning concerning an increased possibility of terrorist attacks against American and allied embassies, military facilities, businesses and citizens...worldwide. "Given the current tactical circumstances in the Mid-East and the ever escalating rhetoric by various militant organizations, we feel that we must urge additional caution and awareness for Americans everywhere at this time," Staten said.
"Although we have no information about specific targets at this time, various threat indicators and warnings -- including at least two recent messages purportedly from Usama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri  -- would seem to indicate that it is only reasonable and prudent to increase the overall U.S. defense posture at this time," Staten added.
In keeping with advice from the U.S. State Dept., ERRI reminds U.S. citizens to maintain a high level of vigilance and to take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness and to lessen their vulnerability, particularly in the Mid-East and Far-East. Americans should maintain a low profile, vary routes and times for all necessary travel, and treat mail from unfamiliar sources with additional suspicion.  During an assessment meeting held earlier Sunday, ERRI analysts said that they also could not exclude the possibility of an attack in the continental United States in the near term.
EmergencyNet News continues to monitor events worldwide and will provide additional advisories and alerts as circumstances dictate...
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Office of the Press Secretary
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 3, 2003
DHS ANNOUNCES $2.2 BILLION FOR STATE AND LOCAL
FIRST RESPONDERS
States Apply Through One Form in Streamlined Online Process
Today, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced the allocation of over $2.2 billion dollars in grant funding from the Office for Domestic Preparedness demonstrating the Administration抯 commitment to enhance the abilities of our first responders to prevent, respond and recover from potential acts of terrorism.
For the first time, states can apply online for their allocated grants using one form that will serve as a 搊ne-stop-shop?application for three different programs that benefit first responders and will provide additional resources to state and local government counterterrorism efforts.
揘o longer will our state and local partners have to go to different places within the department to apply for terrorism-related funding. It ensures that nationwide, Homeland Security officials have one place where they can tap into the resources as well as the information they need,?said Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge. 揝tate and local communication and coordination, after all, reflects the very nature of homeland security, the federal government working with the home towns of America to keep our country safe and free.?
Since March 1, DHS will have allocated or awarded over $6 billion dollars in grant funding for first responders from the FY ?3 Budget, the FY ?3 Supplemental and the FY ?4 Budget to help first responders across the country enhance their capabilities and provide additional resources for state and local governments to protect their citizens and critical infrastructure.
The $2.2 billion dollars allocated to DHS from the FY ?4 Budget will be distributed as part of three programs that provide significant resources to the state and local governments in different areas. These three programs are the State Homeland Security Program, the Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program and Citizen Corps.
Under the new system, the State Administrative Agencies apply with one application form online as part of the Homeland Security Grant Program, streamlining the process with which DHS distributes the funds through the state governments. In addition to the single application, DHS is launching an interagency grants and training website on the DHS website atwww.dhs.gov/grants.
The website provides information on homeland security and public safety grant opportunities offered by the Department of Homeland Security and other federal Departments and Agencies including HHS, DOJ and the EPA and a link to the Compendium of Federal Terrorism Training for State and Local Audiences, an interagency site for training opportunities available to state and local emergency personnel.
ERRI Monthly Briefing -- August 2003
The ERRI Monthly Briefing is now available for download athttp://www.emergency.com/2003/ERRI_Aug03.pdf
Included in this edition:
-- Military Mutiny in Manila
-- Iraq Delivers Warning to the Western World
-- Australian Network Says it will Aid Terrorists
-- Warnings and Advisories
-- U.S. Intelligence Accused of not Understanding Pre-9/11 Terrorist Threat
25 July 2003
Report Says U.S. Intelligence Failed To Grasp Pre-9/11 Terrorist Threat
WASHINGTON, DC: According a congressional report released on Thursday, U.S. intelligence agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, share the blame for failing to "disrupt" the 9/11 attacks by keeping would-be terrorists out of the country or trying to unravel their plot. Those agencies possessed a wealth of information stretching back years about terrorist leader Usama bin Laden, his associates and their activities. Still, none of the intelligence indicated the exact time, location and method of the 9/11 attacks, the report says.
According to the nearly 900-page joint House-Senate document, which is the most exhaustive account to date about what the government knew and when about bin Laden and his plans to attack the United States, congressional investigators concluded that the intelligence agencies, including the FBI, "too often failed to focus on that information and consider and appreciate its collective significance in terms of a probable terrorist attack."
Also, the agencies didn抰 "demonstrate sufficient initiative in coming to grips" with the terrorist threat. According to the report, "some significant pieces of information in the vast stream of data being collected were over-looked, some were not recognized as potentially significant at the time and therefore not disseminated, and some required additional action on the part of foreign governments before a direct connection to the hijackers could have been established. For all those reasons, the intelligence community failed to fully capitalize on available, and potentially important, information."
The committee抯 report is a narrative of how 19 Middle Eastern hijackers commandeered four commercial aircraft and flew them into U.S. landmarks and a field in Pennsylvania. It documents specific pieces of information intercepted by a number of agencies, including the CIA, FBI and National Security Agency, that the committee deemed relevant to the 9/11 attacks.
The report抯 authors also blamed both the administrations of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The report said: "Between 1996 and September 2001, the counterterrorism strategy adopted by the U.S. government did not succeed in eliminating Afghanistan as a sanctuary and training ground for bin Laden抯 terrorist network." The government, the report found, was too dependent on law enforcement as a means of combating terrorism, and didn抰 rely enough on military or intelligence actions abroad. This judgment is also consistent with anassessment made by ERRI analysts after the bombings of the two U.S. embassies in Eastern Africa.
Intelligence officials have reportedly largely dismissed the congressional report in private, saying it offers few conclusions about intelligence lapses that haven抰 already been heard. Some current and former intelligence officials have defended the agencies, particularly the CIA, as having paid attention to the terrorist threat since the mid-1990s. One senior intelligence official, who asked to remain anonymous, noted that CIA Director George Tenet was one of the few senior federal officials drawing attention to bin Laden抯 role in financing global terrorist operations in the 1990s.  Decide for yourself...click the link below to download your own copy of the the report (be advised...multi-megabyte file - over 800 pages)...
Congressional Reports: Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities before and after the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001
WASHINGTON, DC: February 2002, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence agreed to conduct a Joint Inquiry into the activities of the U.S. Intelligence Community in connection with the terrorist attacks perpetrated against our nation on September 11, 2001. This report (available as both S. Rept. 107-351 and H. Rept. 107-792) consists of 832 pages that presents the joint inquiry抯 findings and conclusions, an accompanying narrative, and a series of recommendations.Click the link for access to the entire report: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/serialset/creports/911.html
ERRI Monthly Briefing -- 06 July 2003
The ERRI Monthly Briefing (Vol. 2, No. 5) is now available for download athttp://www.emergency.com/2003/ERRI_Jul03.pdf
Included in this edition:
-- U.S. Says High Probability Al-Qaeda will use WMD
-- Resistance Group Claims Responsibility for Iraq Attacks
-- New Lab in Richmond Assigned to Bioterror
-- SL May Have Killed 60,000
-- Threats and Advisories
-- Al-Qaeda Gains African Footholds Amid Weak Security in the Region
06 July 2003 -- TODAY‘S CENTRAL FOCUS:
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
The following fact sheet was released by the White House July 1, 2003
Fact Sheet: Progress in the Global War on Terrorism
"As long as terrorists and their allies plot to harm America, America is at war. We did not choose this war. Yet, with the safety of the American people at stake, we will continue to wage this war with all our might.
"From the beginning, we have known the effort would be long and difficult, and that our resolve would be tested. We know that sacrifice is unavoidable. We have seen victories in the decisive defeat of two terror regimes, and in the relentless pursuit of a global terror network. Yet the war on terror goes on. We will not be distracted, and we will prevail."  -- President George W. Bush, July 1, 2003.
Defeat of Two Terror Regimes
Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan:
-- Eliminated the repressive Taliban regime
-- Denied al-Qaida safe-haven from which to plan, train, and conduct operations
Operation Iraqi Freedom:
-- Ended a regime that possessed weapons of mass destruction, harbored and supported terrorists, suppressed human rights and defied the just demands of the United Nations and the world
-- Stopped Ansar al-Islam, an al-Qaida affiliate, from operating in northeastern Iraq
-- Eliminated from Iraq the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi network, which had established a poison and explosives training camp in northeastern Iraq
-- Shut down the Salman Pak training camp where members of al-Qaida had trained
Pursuit of Global Terror Network:
-- Since September 2001, over 3,000 al-Qaida suspects have been detained in over 90 countries
-- Almost all of those directly involved in orchestrating the September 11th attacks are now in custody or confirmed dead
-- Of the senior al-Qaida leaders, operational managers, and key facilitators we have been tracking, 65 percent have been captured or killed
In the global war on terrorism, the United States and its allies have:
-- Denied al-Qaida its sanctuary in Afghanistan
-- Removed the Taliban regime which supported and provided sanctuary to al-Qaida
-- Disrupted al-Qaida‘s finances
-- Dismantled entire al-Qaida cells throughout the world
-- Captured or killed many of al-Qaida‘s top leaders from the 9/11 period, including
9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaykh Muhammad,key plotters Ramzi bin al Shibh, Abu Zubaydah and Muhammad Atef, USS Cole attack planner Walid Ba‘Attash, and Abu Yasir al-Jaz‘iri, top al-Qaida facilitator
-- Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Hong Kong have all been strong partners in the War on Terrorism, arresting dozens of terrorist leaders with al-Qaida ties
-- Pakistan has taken into custody more than 500 terrorist suspects, including Ramzi bin al Shibh and Khalid Shaykh Mohammad
-- The U.S. is working closely with the Afghan and Pakistani governments to deny sanctuary to terrorists moving into and among their border areas
-- The United Kingdom along with Spain, Italy, Germany, France and other European nations have disrupted al-Qaida cells
-- Many Middle East and North Africa nations have sought and arrested al-Qaida members
-- Yemen has taken action against numerous al-Qaida members. It was in Yemen that al-Harithi was found and killed
-- Jordan arrested two individuals with links to al-Qaida who were responsible for the murder of USAID employee Laurence Foley in Amman
-- Saudi Arabian authorities have uncovered terrorist operations in the holy city of Mecca
-- Saudi Arabian security services captured Abu Bakr al-Azdi, who is believed to be a central figure in the Riyadh bombing of May 12, 2003
-- Security services also killed a major al-Qaida operational planner and fundraiser, known as "Swift Sword"
-- Morocco arrested al-Qaida operatives planning attacks against U.S. shipping
-- Djibouti is hosting the U.S. military as they pursue al-Qaida and others in the Horn of Africa
-- Since 9/11, the U.S. and other countries have frozen over $137 million, much of which was supporting al-Qaida operations
-- We have developed partnerships with both Canada and Mexico to stop illicit border crossings and facilitate legitimate trade and travel.
-- In the United States, al-Qaida associated cells were dismantled in Buffalo, New York, and Portland, Oregon and arrested individuals charged with supporting the Egyptian-based Al-Gamat Al-Islamiyya.
Terrorist Tracking and Threat Integration
To improve intelligence sharing and coordination, the President directed the establishment of the Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC), whose partner agencies include CIA, FBI, DHS, DOD, and State.
-- The FBI established the National Joint Terrorism Task Force and we have expanded FBI-led interagency Joint Terrorism Task Forces investigating terrorist activity around the country to 66.
-- The Attorney General established the Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force to identify and locate terrorists.
-- The State Department has developed tamper-resistant visas and new digital passports.
03 July 2003
Erroneous Information About ERRI 2002 Annual Terrorism Report Circulating on the Internet
CHICAGO, IL -- According to reliable sources in Washington, someone has circulated an erroneous and potentially libelous report on a well-known security mailing list, suggesting that ERRI (the parent of this website) was engaging in some sort of "surreptitious propaganda," directed at smearing the U.S. military headquarters in Washington, DC.  Upon hearing about the posting, ERRI CEO and U.S. Army veteran Clark Staten said in response, "Nothing could be further from the truth...the poster‘s apparent confusion concerns a Muslim terrorist/criminal organization called "The Pentagon" which has been active in the southern Philippines for several years," Staten added.
On page 9 of 16 pages of the ERRI 2002 Annual Terrorism report (see download link immediately below), there is, in fact, a listing for "The Pentagon," which actually is a force of between 100-200 Muslim separatist rebels, who have carried out kidnappings, bombings, and other violent acts in the Mindanao region of the southern Philippines. This group is also believed affiliated with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and/or may have ties to Al-Qaeda. Both the Philippine and U.S. government have designated "The Pentagon" a terrorist organization.
While we sincerely regret any misunderstanding about this issue, we also must suggest that whomever posted this criticism of our 2002 terrorism report is not very familiar with the identification of international terrorist organizations, or they had some other (unknown) motive for making such allegations in a public posting. Further questions or comments about this issue can be be directed to:webmaster@mail.emergency.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Staten, Chief Executive Officer
Telephone: +1 773-631-3774
Internet E-Mail:sysop@mail.emergency.com
Or alternatively, Analyst Jeremy Zakis: +61 41 620 5005
jzakis@mail.emergency.com
Download Full Report:http://www.emergency.com/2003/ERRI_2003_Ann.pdf
Islamic Terrorists Conduct 56% of 2002 Attacks, But Colombia Still The Most Violent Country (Annual Terrorism Report)
CHICAGO, IL -- Jun. 18, 2003 -- Islamic terrorism accounted for 56 percent of all terrorist attacks in the world during 2002, but Left Wing Rebels ensured Colombia remained the most dangerous country in the world. The Emergency Response and Research Institute (ERRI) today released the ERRI Annual Report into International Terrorist Activity 2002 with a warning that the 33 percent decline in terrorist attacks compared with the previous year was more an "aberration" rather than a lasting "trend".
Clark Staten, Senior Analyst and CEO of ERRI, says that successes in the U.S.-led war on terrorism played a significant role in breaking up the Al-Qaeda network, but warned that the major terrorist organizations were now reorganizing and adapting to the current world climate.
"The nature of global conflict is changing. It is the considered opinion of the ERRI that there is a general paradigm shift underway in regard to how future conflicts will unfold," Staten says.
The terrorists of the 90‘s and 21st century seem less interested in public opinion about themselves, as those of previous decades did and are now more interested in "larger body counts of their perceived enemy," Staten adds.
According to the annual report, Islamic terrorism remained the most dominant making up 56 percent of all attacks in 2002, compared with left and right wing terrorist attacks which made up only 36 percent. Colombia was again the most dangerous country where terrorism is concerned, recording a total of 37 major attacks for the year.
The ERRI Annual Report into International Terrorist Activity 2002 reports monthly terrorism statistics and charts the trends between 2001 and 2002.
Copies of the ERRI Annual Report into International Terrorist Activity 2002 are now available online athttp://www.emergency.com/2003/ERRI_2003_Ann.pdf or can be obtained by e-mailing Jeremy Zakis, ERRI Counterterrorism Analyst, atjzakis@mail.emergency.com
ERRI June Counter-Terrorism and National Security Briefing
In This Issue...
-- What the World Must Understand About Terrorism - Page 2
-- Morocco Bombing Investigation Update - Page 3
-- Terrorism Alerts Guided by Threat Matrix - Page 4
-- Logan Increases Security - Page 4
-- Warnings and Advisories - Page 5
-- Terrorism Statistics - Page 5
-- Pentagon Considers Overseas Military Shift - Page 6
June 2003, Volume 2, Issue 4, Click here to download/read. (Please note: Requires Adobe Acrobat reader/web plug-in to view)
Apr 30 2003
Ambassador Cofer Black, Coordinator for Counterterrorism
Remarks at On-the-Record Briefing on the Release of the Annual Patterns of Global Terrorism 2002 report
Washington, DC
April 30, 2003
AMBASSADOR BLACK: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. There were 199 international terrorist attacks during 2002. That represents a significant drop from the previous year ?44% fewer attacks. In fact, it is the lowest level of terrorism in more than 30 years. The last time the annual total fell below 200 attacks was in 1969, shortly after the advent of modern terrorism. This is a remarkable achievement...
Click here to review the entire report:http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/20177.pdf (requires Adobe Acrobat .pdf reader/plug-in to view)
Html version: http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2002/html/
The FREE ERRI Monthly Counter-Terrorism and National Security Briefing for March, 2003 is now available for download athttp://www.emergency.com/2003/erri_Mar03.pdf
Included in this edition:
-- FBI Warns that Al-Qaeda Remains Biggest Terrorist Threat to CONUS
-- Report That Iraq‘s Chemical and Biological Capabilities Are Stronger
-- California Identifies 624 Possible Terrorist Targets
-- Pentagon Reports That Iraq Deployment is Combat Ready
-- February 2003 Terrorism Statistics
-- More News From Iraq and Afghanistan
-- Warnings and Advisories
(Requires Adobe .pdf viewer/plug-in to open - available for free from Adobe)
Radio interview w/ERRI‘s Clark Staten, Topic: Homeland Security - WBEZ Public Radio (NPR)
http://www.wbez.org/audio_library/ram/848/848_030321b.ram   (Requires RealAudio Player)
29 Mar 2003:Urban Warfare Considerations; Understanding and Combating Irregular and Guerilla Forces During A "Conventional War" In Iraq
23 Feb 2003
U.S. Officials Warn Of Attacks By Lone Terrorists
WASHINGTON:According to a report by the New York Times, law enforcement and intelligence official say that the possibility of war with Iraq could unleash acts of anti-American violence in the United States or overseas by individual crazed extremists who do not belong to al-Qaeda or other Middle Eastern terrorist groups but sympathize with their perceived grievances. A classified FBI intelligence bulletin, issued on Wednesday to state and local law enforcement agencies throughout the country, warned the authorities to be on the alert for lone terrorists who are not directed by organizations like al-Qaeda. The bulletin said: "Lone extremists represent an ongoing terrorist threat in the United States. Lone extremists may operate independently or on the fringes of established extremist groups, either alone or with one or two accomplices."
Law enforcement and intelligence officials said in interviews with the newspaper that they believe the threat of such attacks by individual extremists is growing because of the possibility of a U.S.-led war against Iraq. The officials said a war would inflame anti-American sentiment throughout the Arab world, adding to a litany of causes that have stoked hatred of the United States. One of the main issues expressed by many Arabs is their belief that the United States has supported Israel in its effort to put down the Palestinian uprising. And some people may decide to strike against American targets almost on the spur of the moment.
The Times said in its report that analysts regard the new taped message believed to be from the fugitiveUsama bin Laden as a summons to his followers, and perhaps to new sympathizers, to conduct actions against the American targets in response to the possible war in Iraq. Counter- terrorism officials have long feared that a solitary terrorist with an automatic weapon or one committed to a suicide bombing could inflict heavy casualties in the United States.
April 8, 2002: Change in Terrorism Tactics Reported; Suicide Bombers Could Have Major Implications
Click here to review: June 23, 1998: SOME COUNTERTERRORISM EXPERTS FEAR SMALLER GROUPS IN A BIO ATTACK
April 24, 1998: U.S. INTEL OPERATIONS SAID INADEQUATE; LONE EXTREMISTS RATHER THAN RADICAL ORGANIZATIONS BIGGEST THREAT IN U.S.
11:30CST - 20 Feb 2003
Ashcroft Announces New Terrorism Arrests
Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the arrest of several individuals allegedly associated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The arrests reportedly took place in Miami, Chicago, and other unspecified locations in the past 24 hours.
Click here to review official 20 Feb 2003 USDOJ news release: MEMBERS OF THE PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD ARRESTED, CHARGED WITH RACKETEERING AND CONSPIRACY TO PROVIDE SUPPORT TO TERRORISTS
EmergencyNet News first reported about Palestinian Islamic Jihad fund-raising activities in the United States, and about their involvement in S. Florida in 1997.Click here to read that report...
Homeland Security - Citizen Preparedness Information Announcement
"The threat of terrorism forces us to make a choice: We can be afraid or we can be ready," Ridge said. "Today, America‘s families declare we will not be afraid and will be ready."
View and print a copy of the new citizen preparedness brochure fromwww.Ready.gov: "Preparing Makes Sense. Get Ready Now." Download PDF or call 1-800-BE-READY for more information.
 
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Planning & Prevention; National Security Emergencies
What Citizens Should Do in the Event of a Terrorism Event...
URL:http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?theme=14&content=446
27 Feb 2003 - Terrorism Alert Level Lowered
WASHINGTON, DC: The national terror alert is expected to be lowered from orange to yellow, administration officials said Thursday.  "Today‘s decision to lower the threat level was based on a careful review of how this specific intelligence has evolved and progressed over the past three weeks as well as counter-terrorism actions we have taken to address specific aspects of the threat situation," Attorney General John Ashcroft and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said.
March 11, 2002: HOMELAND SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE-3  (Color Alert System)
ERRI/EmergencyNet News Counter-Terrorism and National Security Monthly Report, February 2003, Volume 2, Issue 2 ( large file: 265KB, requires Adobe .pdf reader/plug-in to review)
Tom Ridge Assumes Command of New Cabinet Agency
Executive Order: Amendment of Executive Orders, and Other Actions, in Connection with the Establishment of the Department of Homeland Security
Department 0f Homeland Security Website --http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/
21 Jan 2003
NEW YORK CITY/UNITED NATIONS: The world‘s major powers met on Monday to give new urgency to the global war on terrorism and seek greater controls on nuclear, chemical and biological materials that could fall into the hands of terrorists. United Nations Secretary- General Kofi Annan opened a Security Council meeting of foreign ministers with a statement that the world faces a "grave and growing threat from international terrorism" and a call for greater efforts to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Foreign ministers from 13 of the 15 U.N. Security Council members attended the open council meeting on terrorism. As it seems is often the case with such multinational organizations, some counter-terrorism experts say they would welcome "greater efforts" to battle terrorism, and they contend that the U.N. has frequently been "long on talk" and "short on meaningful action" when it comes to the "world-wide war on terrorism."
ERRI Terrorism and Nation Monthly Security Report Jan. 2003, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Reader Note: Requires Adobe .pdf reader/plug-in to review...238KB file, may require long download time on slow internet connection)
26 Nov 2002
POTUS Signs Law Creating Department Of Homeland Security
WASHINGTON: POTUS on Monday signed into law newly enacted legislation that establishes a cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security, and announced he was nominating Tom Ridge, former Governor of Pennsylvania, as secretary of the new department. Ridge currently heads the White House office of homeland security. The new department, the President said, will combine 22 existing federal agencies and employ 170,000 workers, the most sweeping federal reorganization since the Defense Department‘s birth in 1947 during the Truman presidency.
Speaking at a signing ceremony in the East Room of the White House, POTUS said he would nominate the secretary of the navy, Gordon England, as deputy director of the new department, and former Arkansas representative Asa Hutchinson as the department‘s under secretary for border and transportation security. Hutchinson currently heads the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). All three nominations are subject to approval by the Senate...
President Bush Signs Homeland Security Act
Remarks by the President at the Signing of H.R. 5005
The Homeland Security Act of 2002
The East Room, 13:30EST
Click here to review President Bush‘s remarks...
Click "View Chart" to Review the Organizational Chart of the New Homeland Defense Department
(Graphic Will Open in A Separate Window)

25 Oct 2002
New Hart/Rudman Report: U.S. Commission on National Security
"A year after 9/11, America remains dangerously unprepared to prevent and respond to a catastrophic terrorist attack on U.S. soil," says the report, which was sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations. "In all likelihood, the next attack will result in even greater casualties and widespread disruption to our lives and economy."
"The need for immediate action is made more urgent by the prospect of the United States going to war with Iraq and the possibility Saddam Hussein might threaten the use of weapons of mass destruction in America."Click here to read the New York Times story...
Click here to download the .pdf report from the Council on Foreign Relations.
Now Available....

ERRI/EmergencyNet News Special Report on the Attacks of 9/11
Click here to access "One Year After; 9/11 First Anniversary Special Report," compiled by ERRI and EmergencyNet News... (Review requires Adobe .pdf reader or plug-in -- large file, 556kb, users with slow internet connections may require extended download times.
Click here for our original coverage of the 9/11 Disasters
19 Sep 2002
US Intelligence Said To Have Failed To Heed Terror Warnings
WASHINGTON: A congressional investigator said US intelligence services had been warned that Usama Bin Laden was considering attacking US targets with aircraft three years before the 9/11 attacks. Eleanor Hill, head of the investigation into how US intelligence failed to stop last year‘s attacks, said officials never looked closely at the potential threat of hijacked air- liners flying into buildings. She concluded that US intelligence agencies had made mistakes, failing to put enough resources into tracking operatives of the al-Qaeda network...
ERRI‘s Clark Staten said of the hearings this morning, "This Congressional inquiry can not be simply an attempt at ‘finger-pointing‘ or engaging in ‘political recriminations‘." "This issue is too important for that...and any political operative, regardless of party, who tries to exploit the tragedy of 09/11 for political advantage should be put out of office at the next election," Staten continued. "What is needed is actual change in the mind-set and actions of all who protect, defend, and govern our great nation...America can no longer allow continued political game-playing, ‘cold-war‘ mentality,  nor operational planning and staffing left over from a decades long struggle with the former Soviet Union," Staten added.
"We must move faster, plan better, be more innovative, and train harder than our adversaries, if we are to hope to defeat them...that should be what these hearings are all about...finding immediate solutions to long developing problems that have been all but ignored by at least part of the government in the past," the veteran analyst continued. "To do less will potentially result in hundreds or even thousands of deaths or injuries to American citizens...we CAN NOT allow that to happen again," Staten concluded.
18 Sep 2002
U.S. Officials Say Terror Cells Can Strike At Will
WASHINGTON:U.S. officials tell the Washington Times that intelligence obtained from self-professed 9/11 organizer Ramzi Binalshibh indicates al-Qaeda has decentralized its leadership structure, making it more dangerous. This report is in concurrence with a previous ERRI assessment. The report in Wednesday‘s edition of the newspaper says terrorist cells now have more autonomy to conduct attacks around the world. One U.S. intelligence official told Times reporter Bill Gertz: "The decentralization means the danger from this group is growing..."
30 Aug 2002
THREAT MATRIX:
Guidelines On How To Spot Bombers Given To Israelis
ISRAEL: Police in Israel on Friday will issue guidelines to the public on how to spot a Palestinian homicide or car bomber. Citizens are being urged to look out for clues such as individuals behaving suspiciously, wearing unseasonable attire or displaying bulges in their clothing. Members of the public are also being advised on what to do if they identify a possible bomber.
More than a hundred Israelis have been killed in scores of Palestinian homicide attacks over the past few years. The information is produced in a free pamphlet, entitled "Only Together Will We Stop Terror." According to the pamphlet, the signs of spotting a bomber are:
-- Wearing unseasonably warm attire.
-- Protruding bulges in clothing.
-- Sweating, mumbling or fidgeting.|
-- Avoiding police.
-- Trying to fit into crowds.
As Israelis have become more vigilant in recent months, homicide/suicide bombers have employed new tactics to avoid detection, such as dying their hair to look more European and by dressing in Israeli army uniforms or as Orthodox Jews.
The pamphlet says that in looking out for car bombs, people should be suspicious of mismatched license plates, vehicles parked in unusual locations or if the car is weighed down at the back, because of explosives in the trunk. Citizens who suspect a homicide attacker or car bomb are urged to stay calm, inform police immediately and keep the suspect in sight but at a safe distance.
ERRI counter-terrorism analysts said that the clues for identification of bombers may be just as applicable in other parts of the world as they are in Israel, and that similar tactics may be employed elsewhere by Al-Qaeda or other associated terrorist organizations.
30 July 2002
AFGHANISTAN: A top Afghan intelligence official reported on Tuesday that a would-be homicide bomber with more than a half-ton of explosives packed into his car was just 300 yards from the U.S. Embassy on Monday when he was stopped by a chance traffic accident. Foreign intelligence information indicated the alleged terrorist, who was captured by Afghan authorities after a car chase through Kabul, is a foreigner and a member of the al-Qaeda terror group. -- *Assessment by ERRI‘s C. L. Staten: Our most current assessment at ERRI suggests that lower level Al-Qaeda associates are in the midst of undertaking a series of small or medium strikes on "easier" targets to retain public attention...and to include car bombings and assassinations. See above. These acts are being undertaken by "independent cells" with motivation by (and funding?), but little direction from top leadership of Al-Qaeda. It would be our estimate that we will see this trend continue and that there is a greater than even chance of an attack of much greater magnitude (possibly involving Weapons of Mass Destruction) during August or September. We are particularly concerned about a major "anniversary attack" on Sept. 11th, 2002, in the continental U.S.
ERRI Terrorism and Nation Security Report, July 2002, Vol. 1, No. 4, (Note: Requires Adobe .pdf reader/plug-in to review...264KB file, may require long download time on slow internet connection)
Download your FREE Copy today...ERRI Monthly Counter-Terrorism and National Security Briefing, June 2002, Volume 1, Issue 3 (241KB -Requires Adobe Acrobat reader/plug-in to review)
ERRI Annual Report Of International Terrorist Activity: 2001  (Statistics, analysis, charts, terrorist groups, etc. -- requires Adobe Acrobat reader/plug-in to review. Caution is urged for those with slow internet connections, this is a large 626kb file)
ERRI Monthly Terrorism and National Security Report, May 2002, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Download requires Adobe .pdf reader/plug-in to review this document...Free download available from link in right column of this page)
11 June 2002
Resource Notification
CSIS Addresses The Threat of a "Dirty Nuclear Weapon"
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) developed a terrorist attack scenario and a one-day workshop to address a plausible - large - cross-jurisdictional crisis in Washington, DC. The overall purpose of the workshop was to help frame the planning requirement (end state), for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) led crisis-planning effort, by identifying some of the key issues and friction points to be resolved in the event of a detonation of a Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD) in downtown Washington, D.C. To review the report, click below: http://www.csis.org/features/crisisreport.pdf  (Note: requires Adobe .pdf reader/plug-in)
09:40CDT - 10 June 2002
"Dirty Bomb" Plot Thwarted Says Attorney General
By Paul Anderson
MOSCOW, RUSSIA: Attorney General John Ashcroft announced a short time ago that the U.S. government had thwarted a radical plot to engage in the use of "dirty bomb" within a U.S. city. Secondarily, Ashcroft‘s announcement indicated that the plot, allegedly included a U.S. citizen of Hispanic descent, who "converted" to Islam. the suspect was identified by authorities as Abdullah Al-Mujahir, aka Jose Padilla.
ERRI‘s Clark Staten said "ERRI has warned on several occasions about the possibility of the use of conventional explosives, piggy-backed with radioactive materials...it looks like, had the ‘bad guys‘ had their way, that concern was to have become frightfully true." "These are not real nuclear bombs, but rather, access-denial and fear-mongering weapons," Staten added.
Ashcroft said that the information concerning Al-Mujahir‘s plot came from "multiple, independent, and corroborating sources." Padilla is reportedly being transferred to military custody. Few other official details were made immediately available, and EmergencyNet News is monitoring the implications of this statement and will provide additional details as more becomes available...
Additional References:
(1)http://www.emergency.com/2002/suicide_implications.htm
(2)http://www.emergency.com/2001/binladen_nuke.htm
(3)22:00CDT - 22 Apr 2002: Zubaydah Says Al-Qaeda Can Build a Dirty Bomb...
Outside Reference:
(1)Dirty Bombs: Response to a Threat; FAS Public Interest Report
(2)The Reality of Dirty bombs; useful MSNBC Macromedia Flash Presentation of Scenarios in New York city and Washington, DC
06 June 2002
Homeland Defense Restructuring

In what is being called the biggest government restructuring since 1947, President George W. Bush addressed the nation to unveil the creation of a new Homeland Defense cabinet agency. Federal sources say the president will ask Congress to pass legislation to implement the new plan by year‘s end. The new agency will reportedly directly oversee:
(1) Border and transportation security
(2) Emergency preparation and response
(3) Chemical, biological and nuclear countermeasures
(4) Further analysis of intelligence from the FBI and CIA...
Click below to review 29 page White House report on the proposed creation of the Department of Homeland Security.http://www.whitehouse.gov/deptofhomeland/book.pdf  (note: requires Adobe .pdf reader, which is available for free download by clicking on the Acrobat Reader link in the right column)
Suspected Planner Of 9/11 Terror Attacks Named By U.S.
WASHINGTON: In what could be the first direct link between last year‘s hijackings and an earlier plot to blow up U.S. arliners, U.S. officials have identified top al-Qaeda leader Khalid Shaikh Mohammed as one of the militant leaders behind the 9/11 attacks. One unnamed official reportedly said: "He‘s part of the brains of the plot. He‘s also a major player in the al-Qaeda organization. He helped planned this whole operation. We would like to locate, arrest him and bring him to justice."
A second unnamed U.S. official said the Kuwaiti-born Mohammed was believed to have played a key role in the 9/11 attacks and is currently believed to be in either Afghanistan or Pakistan. The official described Mohammed as a top lieutenant to Usama bin Laden. Mohammed was indicted in the United States in 1996 for his alleged role in a plot to blow up U.S. civilian airliners over the Pacific. The U.S. government is offering a reward of up to $25 million for information leading to his capture and conviction. One of the U.S. officials said Mohammed is a relative of Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, believed to have been the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in which six people were killed.Mohammed was previously named to a list of individuals linked to terrorism by the U.S. government.
Preliminary Summary of Emergency Response and Research Institute (ERRI) Terrorism Statistics: 2000 and 2001 (requires Adobe .pdf plug-in and/or reader to view -- available free, see link in right column) Full 2001 report to be made available soon...watch this page for notification.
U.S. State Dept. Report: 2001 -- Patterns of Global Terrorism
COMPLIMENTARY SAMPLE:ERRI April Monthly Report on Terrorism and U.S. National Security (in .pdf format, requires Adobe reader/plugin to read)...Download it now!!
17 May 2002
Congressional Inquiries About Hijacking Warnings
WASHINGTON: The White House on Thursday defended POTUS for not disclosing intelligence before the 9/11 attacks that Usama bin Laden wanted to hijack U.S. airplanes. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said that threat information at the time was not specific and that disclosing the generalized information could have risked crippling the nation‘s civil aviation system. Some Congressional members pressed the White House to hand over the top-secret CIA analysis and release an FBI memo written even earlier that warned FBIHQ that many Middle Eastern men were training at U.S. flight schools. President Bush said today of the alleged furor, "In Washington, second guessing has become second nature with some people."
ERRI‘s Sr. National Security analyst, Clark Staten, said today that the real issue probably doesn‘t relate directly to the White House, but within other government agencies. "The primary problem would appear to involve a lack of integrated and synthesized analytical capability within the intelligence community, that would rapidly and comprehensively gather and make sense of a multitude of threats...thus better enabling decision makers to take the appropriate action," Staten added.  "This is not a time for ‘finger-pointing,‘ but rather for better preparedness...it is also long past time for any sort of a sense of denial, from any quarter, about the capabilities of our enemies...it is obvious that they will use whatever means possible to spread terror and wreck mayhem on our country," Staten concluded.
16 May 2002
U.S. Intelligence Reportedly Warned Of Plane Hijackings
WASHINGTON: US security agencies were reportedly placed on alert last summer after receiving intelligence reports that Usama bin Laden was planning to hijack US aircraft. The alert was revealed by the White House that said that the information was passed to POTUS during routine intelligence briefings and the "appropriate agencies" were notified. Reportedly, POTUS was provided a range of options that could be undertaken by terrorist groups, including Bin laden & Al-Qaeda. The US intelligence community has already been heavily criticized by the press and some members of Congress for its failure to detect warning signs of the 9/11 homicide attacks on New York and Washington.
The attacks, which saw hijacked aircraft flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, are believed to have been carried by bin Laden‘s al-Qaeda terror group. However, the White House said the information received by the President dealt with conventional hijackings -- not the use of planes as missiles to attack buildings. Alerts of this nature are commonly included in daily intelligence briefings to the White House, officials said.
Observers in Washington say the timing of this admission is significant, as a congressional committee is about to start hearings into intelligence failings before 9/11. The White House apparently did not want to be put on the defensive with leaks about what might have POTUS known or when. Meanwhile, the White House has denied that a memo last July from the Federal Bureau of Investigation‘s Arizona office could have prevented the attacks had it been acted on. Several intelligence observers say that the memos lacked specificity that would have been cause for action. Others inside the beltway told Emergencynet News that the emergence of these issues at this time may be the result of "political maneuvering" on the part of some members of Congress
The memo is reported to have warned that groups like al-Qaeda might have sent students to flight schools in the US, but none of the people identified in the document had any connection with the attacks. Even though the memo was reviewed, the FBI did not take any action on its central recommendation -- that flight school records and visa applications by foreign students be cross-referenced. Additionally, the agency apparently did not connect the memo with the case of Zacharias Moussaoui, a French national of Moroccan descent who was arrested in August after seeking flight training in Minnesota -- and saying he was not particularly interested in learning to land airplanes. Moussaoui is facing trial, accused of conspiring with bin Laden, the hijackers and others to commit the 9/11 attacks.
Related documents:Summary of ERRI Terrorist Alerts/Advisories - 1998-2002
U.S. Intelligence Didn‘t Catch 9/11 Clues?
29-31 May 2001: African Embassy Bombers Found Guilty; ERRI Terrorism Advisories Issued
Asymmetric Warfare, the Evolution and Devolution of Terrorism;The Coming Challenge For Emergency and National Security Forces
EMERGENCY SERVICE INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS; THE PURSUIT OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE
"Strategic Knowledge; Preventing the Bombing of the Bridge to the 21st Century"
07 May 2002
CHICAGO, IL: ERRI counter-terrorism analysts today said that they are becoming increasing concerned that the American public may be developing a "complacent attitude" towards terrorism directed against the USA and her interests overseas. "We are concerned that as each day passes without another major incident within the U.S., that memories of 9/11 fade from everyone‘s consciousness," ERRI national security analyst Clark Staten said. "Our on-going analysis of the available evidence would suggest that this is not a good time for the American public to let down it‘s guard...in our considered opinion, there is still danger on the horizon," Staten added. Staten urged continued vigilance and awareness on the part of the American public and a fresh exploration of all U.S. efforts to better prepare for the possibility of a future terrorist event.
01 May 2002
FBI Unable To Find Specific Trail Of Terror
WASHINGTON: In the most detailed account so far of the investigation, US intelligence officials have admitted they failed to discover any sort of paper trail leading to the 9/11 terror attacks. The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said that after seven months of relentless work investigators had found no hard evidence mentioning any aspect to the attacks on New York and Washington. FBI Director Robert Mueller said his agents had followed up on literally hundreds of thousands of leads and checked every record they could lay their hands on, from flight reservations to car rentals to bank accounts.
Investigators have searched through caves in Afghanistan and credit card bills in the US but so far the very best of US intelligence has been thwarted by 19 al-Qaeda hijackers, revealing just how little the US knows about the 9/11 terror attacks. Mueller said the hijackers hid communications by using hundreds of different pay phones and cell phones, along with hard to trace pre-paid phone cards. They did not use laptops and stored nothing on computer hard drives.
Investigators described the terrorists‘ "tradecraft‘ as excellent. The hijackers made sure that all money sent to fund the operation was wired in small amounts to avoid detection. They also dressed and acted like Americans and when four of them were stopped for speeding in the days before 9/11, they kept calm, avoiding suspicion. What investigators do know is that the attacks on Washington and New York were in the pipeline for as long as five years and so officials said, it was very very possible that a similar attack was being plotted right now...(article continues in ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT, Vol. 8, No. 121)
27 Apr 2002
CIA Official Warns Next Terror Attack Is "Unavoidable"
WASHINGTON: Despite the fact that the Central Intelligence Agency is acquiring more secrets and terrorism information than ever before, a senior official is warning Americans that a new terrorist attack is almost "unavoidable." CIA Deputy Director for Operation James Pavitt told an academic conference earlier this month: "Now for the hard truth. Despite the best efforts of so much of the world, the next terrorist attack -- it‘s not a question of if, it‘s a question of when. With so many possible targets and an enemy more than willing to die, the perfect defense isn‘t possible." Pavitt said mounting countermeasures against terrorism would require sacrificing many civil liberties, which make American society great, and, as a result, would produce a system that, in his view, "is not worth defending."
The aforementioned warning was contained in an address delivered by Pavitt, who is in charge of all clandestine operations conducted by the agency, at an 11 April conference at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. The CIA released a transcript of the speech over this weekend.
Pavitt disputes charges the CIA was caught unaware by the 9/11 homicide attacks in the United States that killed some 3,000 people. He said the CIA knew the network led by master terrorist Usama bin Laden was planning a major strike. But he argued that because al-Qaeda carefully screened its recruits and sharply limited the number of people privy to vital operational details, learning about the coming attacks was next to impossible.
Pavitt said: "Against that degree of control, that kind of compartmentalizing, that depth of discipline and fanaticism, I personally doubt...that anything short of one of the knowledgeable inner circle personnel or hijackers turning himself in to us would have given us sufficient foreknowledge to have prevented the horrendous slaughter that took place on the 11th..."
13:00CDT/14:00EDT - 17 Apr 2002
Another Portion of Bin Laden Compilation Released on MBC
According to international press services, another portion of a composite tape featuring Usama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri, has been broadcast today by the Middle East Broadcasting Corporation (MBC).  Preliminary analysis of this latest tape would suggest that it is another portion of a tape released by the Al-Jazeera network on Monday.
The significance of the portion released today would seem to suggest that Mr. Bin Laden is most cognizant of the potential effect of terrorist attacks on Western economies, according to ERRI‘s Clark Staten. "In the tape, Bin Laden reportedly trumpeted the negative effect that the attacks on the World Trade Center had on the U.S stock markets," Staten said. "This statement by Bin Laden is consistent with theories and concerns of asymmetric warfare that we have put forth previously," Staten added.
"More enlightened terrorists have discovered (maybe already in some countries), or will discover soon, that the path to the fear and chaos that they crave most may be more easily achieved by a wide-scale attack on infrastructure/economic targets..."Staten reported in a ground-breaking 1998 report on "Asymmetric Warfare, the Evolution and Devolution of Terrorism."
"The time has come for U.S. business and industry to realize that ‘bad guys‘ also like ‘soft targets‘ and that as our military and government facilities become more ‘hardened,‘ that terrorists are increasingly likely to undertake attacks on commercial concerns," the veteran counter-terrorism analyst continued. "Both the public and private sector must work together to build a defense that encompasses all of the vital infrastructure that makes America the premier superpower of the world," Staten concluded.
08 Mar 2002
Many Fire, Police, EMS Responders Lack Even Basic Levels of Terrorism Training/Equipment
According to a report on March 6th from GovExec.com, a national training standard should be established and maintained by the federal government for first responders who are poorly prepared and equipped to recognize or respond to a weapon of mass destruction attack, emergency officials told a congressional subcommittee yesterday.
揊ar too many departments across the nation lack even the most basic levels of training, equipment and manpower,?said Peter Gorman, a New York Fire Department captain who represents the International Association of Firefighters. 揟he needs are tremendous and can no longer be borne solely by local jurisdictions. The federal government must help shoulder this burden.?
At a bare minimum, every firefighter, police officer and emergency medical provider (EMT) should be trained in the basics of an attack involving a weapon of mass destruction, said Plaugher, chief of the Arlington County Fire Department in Virginia. Firefighters in particular need to undergo such training because their current training for fires and other emergencies sometimes conflicts with how they should respond to a terrorist incident, he added. Such training should also not leave smaller municipalities out, officials said.
揟here have been millions of dollars allocated for the training, equipping and exercising of response teams in our largest cities, however, little has reached rural and suburban America where the threats are as real and as dangerous,?said William Jenaway, chief of fire and rescue services of King of Prussia, Pa.
Interestingly, many of the same deficiencies were noted by ERRI‘s Clark Staten in a speech on Homeland Defense that he gave at the National Press Club on 21 Oct 2001.Click here to review Staten‘s comments...
29 Feb 2002
WASHINGTON: A senior government official said the White House has activated Cold War-era plans for a so-called "shadow government" consisting of 75 or more senior officials who live and work secretly outside Washington, ready to go to work in case the nation‘s capital is crippled by a terrorist attack. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, Thursday said the operation has been in effect since the first hours after the 9/11 terrorist attacks but has evolved over time.
The "continuity of government" operations have been a long-standing planning process that provides an alternative "command post" in order to ensure that U.S. government can continue operations after facing an attack on the capital. "This appears to be pretty much a routine matter," ERRI‘s Clark Staten said, "people in the military and national security establishment are always engaged in contingency planning and ensuring that essential operations can go on...whatever may happen." "The American people would expect nothing less," Staten concluded.
09:00CST - 14 Feb 2002
State Department Calls For Better Information Sharing
WASHINGTON: In the aftermath of Monday‘s FBI announcement of a pending terror attack on targets at home and in Yemen, the U.S. State Department urged the U.S. Justice Department to better coordinate dissemination of threats against Americans at a meeting at the White House on Tuesday. The DoS has suggested a number of steps for the newly created Office of Homeland Security to manage the government‘s internal flow of information regarding terrorist threats to American citizens abroad.
One State Department official said: "We have been working with the Office of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice to try to improve the process and system by which these post-9/11 warnings have been issued. We have provided those other agencies extensive background -- both written and orally -- on how we go about assessing threats overseas and have emphasized to them that the State Department has primary responsibility for the well-being of Americans outside of the United States. They need to coordinate with us in a way that they have not done to date."
ERRI‘s Senior National Security Analyst Clark Staten, said today that  communications issues concerning threats and alerts could be resolved by creating what he calls an overarching and secure "network of networks," that could be managed by Director Ridge and the Office of Homeland Security. Staten said that ERRI had envisioned such a concept several years ago when they conducted a nation-wide survey and issued a proposal concerning what was then called a"virtual disaster network."  Modifications of this proposal could be used to communicate directly with multiple agencies simultaneously and assure the accuracy, inclusiveness, and interactivity of important terrorism threat information that needs to be shared in a timely manner.
An FBI official in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Monday evening sent a fax message informing the U.S. Embassy in Sana‘a, Yemen, that U.S. law enforcement agencies were on the lookout for one Fawaz Yahya Al-Rabeei, 23, a Yemini man born in Saudi Arabia, who the bureau said may be involved in a potential attack on either American assets in Yemen or in the United States.
The controversy is arising because it is reported that the FBI did not clear the new information through an interagency group that normally handles the assessment and dissemination of credible terror threats on Americans. This procedure requires U.S. intelligence agencies to cable the U.S. State Department Diplomatic Security, who then make an assessment whether the information is credible and specific enough for U.S. embassies to warn Americans in their host countries. On Monday no such cable was reportedly sent.
U.S. officials on Wednesday said that the U.S. Embassy in Yemen did conduct an "emergency action committee" meeting to discuss the latest threat. One U.S. official familiar with the information on the threat said that it differed from many threats against Americans in Yemen because it was verified by two different sources of information, and offered specific information about identities of suspects. Nonetheless, the embassy did not send out a warning to Americans in their host country until later that afternoon, despite the fact that the FBI warned that the attack would occur on 12 February.
10 Feb 2002
Four Terror Groups With No Ties to Al-Qaeda Could Become U.S. Targets
WASHINGTON, DC: CIA Director George Tenet this past week identified terrorist groups in Lebanon, Turkey and Colombia, that have no apparent ties to al-Qaeda, and which could become possible future U.S. targets because they have displayed anti-U.S. sentiments. In a report to Congress on Wednesday, Tenet appeared to broaden the U.S. definition of international terrorist groups to include organizations that have threatened, but not yet acted against U.S. facilities, personnel, or interests overseas. It would appear to be an effort to be more proactive in preempting terrorism, rather than simply being reactive to it.
Tenet named as one threat the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a leftist organization that has not so far attacked targets inside the United States, though they have been known to participate in the anti-capitalist/anti-globalist movement. Another group identified as a possible target in the terrorism war is the Revolutionary People‘s Liberation Party/Front in Turkey. Tenet said the group "has publicly criticized the United States and our operations in Afghanistan." Intelligence sources added that U.S. intelligence facilities and air bases in Turkey "have been mentioned as being possible terrorist targets."
The DCI also identified Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and HAMAS. These groups traditionally have focused their attacks on Israel. He said: "If these groups feel that U.S. actions [against world-wide terrorism] are threatening their existence, they may begin targeting Americans directly."
Quotes from President George W. Bush‘s
2002 State of the Union Speech:
WASHINGTON, DC: "As we gather tonight, our nation is at war, our economy is in recession and the civilized world faces unprecedented dangers, yet the state of our Union has never been stronger," Bush said.
"All nations should know that America will do what is necessary to ensure our nation‘s security," he said. "I will not wait on events while dangers gather. I will not stand by as peril draws closer and closer. The United States of America will not permit the world‘s most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world‘s most destructive weapons," POTUS continued.
The president said U.S. discoveries in Afghanistan "confirmed our worst fears." U.S. intelligence experts have discovered diagrams of American nuclear power plants and public water facilities. They also discovered detailed instructions for making chemical weapons and surveillance maps of U.S. and other cities.
"What we have discovered in Afghanistan," Bush said, "is that far from ending there, our war against terror is only beginning." Terror organizations are around the world and states still offer safe haven and money to these organizations, he said.
He said tens of thousands of "dangerous killers" trained in Afghanistan‘s terror training camps. He said the terror school graduates are "now spread around the world like ticking time bombs set to go off without warning." He said the terrorists view the world as a battlefield, "and we must pursue them wherever they are."
"We are protected from attack only by vigorous actions abroad and increased vigilance at home," he said. The budget will double the money devoted to homeland security.
Bush said his administration will focus on four key areas: bio-terrorism, emergency response, airport and border security, and improved intelligence. He said the war has gone well, but it has only just begun. "While the war on terrorism may not end on out watch, it must be waged on our watch," he said.
Bush said the effort is expensive, but worth it. "While the price of freedom and security is high, it is never too high," he said. Whatever it costs to defend our country, we will pay," President Bush added.
A full text of the President‘s speech is available at: http://foxnews.com/story/0,2933,44293,00.html
 
24 Jan 2002
WASHINGTON, DC: The White House wants to nearly triple the amount of money the government spends on preparing for and preventing domestic terror attacks, with a special emphasis on bolstering the "front-line soldiers" who would respond -- police, firefighters and emergency medical teams. POTUS today was to propose spending $3.5 billion on what he calls the first responders, a more than tenfold increase. The overall domestic security budget would almost triple from $13 billion. Officials declined to provide more specifics on the new money.
Wanted Terrorist Pictures; FBI Needs Your Help!
Visit:http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/seekinfo/temp011702.htm to view pictures
THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT IS SEEKING INFORMATION REGARDING THE IDENTITIES AND WHEREABOUTS OF THE INDIVIDUALS SHOWN ABOVE.
IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION CONCERNING THESE PEOPLE, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL FBI OFFICE OR THE NEAREST AMERICAN EMBASSY OR CONSULATE, OR SUBMIT A TIP VIA THE FBI TIPS AND PUBLIC LEADS FORM.
ROBERT S. MUELLER, III
DIRECTOR
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20535
TELEPHONE: (202) 324-3000
Click here to review EmergencyNet News Coverage of Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda from 1997 to Present -- ERRI/EmergencyNet news was warning about them long before the tragedy of Sept. 11th...
From: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-Friday, January 18, 2002 Vol. 8, No. 018
TODAY‘S CENTRAL FOCUS:
After Crippling Al-Qaeda, Danger Continues
By Steve Macko, ERRI Risk Analyst
WASHINGTON, DC: It was only September when Usama bin Laden and his infamous al-Qaeda terror network had the organization and resources to carry out the deadliest terrorist attack ever against the United States, killing about 3,000 people in an airline hijacking plot that took nearly two years to devise at locations around the globe. Four months later, sustained bombing by U.S. forces in Afghanistan has reduced al-Qaeda‘s training camps to rubble, and al-Qaeda‘s leaders are either dead or on the run. Hundreds of fighters linked to the group and its allied Taliban militia have been rounded up by U.S. forces, and governments and banks around the world are working in concert to cut off the group‘s financial resources.
Senior U.S. officials and leading counterterrorism experts say the result is a severely crippled organization that no longer has the capability to plan or launch a new operation on the scale of 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington. Yet, authorities in the United States and Europe remain deeply concerned about the possibility of more terrorist attacks of smaller scope, either by al-Qaeda itself or by sympathizers to bin Laden‘s supposed cause.
Even more alarming is the possibility that bin Laden and his closest minions may have preapproved another spectacular act of terrorism on the magnitude of the 9/11 hijackings. At least a half-dozen alleged terrorist plots connected to al-Qaeda have been uncovered since 9/11, including plans to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Paris and to attack U.S. interests in Singapore and Yemen.
Deputy national security adviser Stephen Hadley said: "We don‘t know how much they have in the can. What we worry about is that there are operations already trained, populated, planned and funded, and they are simply waiting for an opportunity."
Only two of al-Qaeda‘s top ten leaders have been confirmed dead by U.S. intelligence officials, leaving open the possibility that bin Laden and most of his key lieutenants -- including men suspected of helping to train and fund the 9/11 hijackers -- remain alive and able to direct significant terrorist missions.
A senior U.S. law enforcement official said: al-Qaeda "has been crippled in Afghanistan and crippled in Pakistan, but it hasn‘t been put out of business by any stretch. They are still capable of doing a lot of damage."
U.S. officials and terrorism experts are concerned that even the elimination of al-Qaeda would not halt the growth of militant Islamic extremists bent on attacking Western countries and installations. Those fears were bolstered by the apparent bombing attempt on 22 December by British national Richard Reid, who tried to ignite his sneakers, filled with explosives, on a jetliner bound from Paris to Miami. Reid, a petty criminal and recent convert to militant Islam, raises the unnerving possibility that independent or wannabe terrorists may be plotting attacks with minimal support or direction from organized networks such as al-Qaeda.
Eric Davis, a terrorism expert at Rutgers University, explained his theory that al-Qaeda "is a classic cell organization that is very decentralized worldwide, and that leads to a lot of confusion and uncertainty about their scope. People can indicate they are part of al-Qaeda when in fact they are not, which gives the illusion that they are stronger than they really are. The important point is that there are a significant number of people who subscribe to the same views as al-Qaeda and may choose to act on those views."
Law enforcement officials and other experts inside and outside government acknowledge that most of the al-Qaeda members that have been captured so far are low-level functionaries with limited information about the group‘s broader goals and objectives. The detainees have been unable or unwilling to provide information that would allow U.S. forces to locate bin Laden or Taliban leader Mohammad Omar.
The 9/11 suicide hijackings, along with previous attacks on the USS Cole in Yemen and on U.S. embassies in East Africa, are believed to have been inspired and funded by a small group closely allied with bin Laden. Yet counterterrorism experts say al-Qaeda is a network of cells that owe loyalty to a charismatic leader, not a conventional hierarchy.
Magnus Ranstorp, deputy director of the Center for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, said: "It is directed from the bottom up as much as the top down. The typical pattern before September 11th was of local al-Qaeda cells initiating reconnaissance of potential targets, planning and then going back to the al-Qaeda leadership for approval and possible funding. The foot soldiers are self-initiating and self-sustaining."
Many of the terrorists who took part in the 9/11 and other attacks passed through training camps established by bin Laden in Afghanistan. Pakistani intelligence officials estimate that about 20,000 people traveled through Pakistan over the last decade en route to the camps, with roughly 5,000 completing all stages of training and swearing an oath of allegiance to bin Laden. Officials fear that as many as half of those loyalists may be living in Middle Eastern, European, Asian and North American cities as sleeper agents, awaiting an opportunity to wage their jihad.
Well-respected Robert Blitzer, a former FBI counterterrorism official, says, "I don‘t care how many of bin Laden‘s henchmen go down. This network is so organized and broad, it won‘t take them that long to get re-tooled."
Even if bin Laden and his top deputies are dead or incapacitated, many counterterrorism analysts and U.S. officials believe, a shadow leadership already exists outside Afghanistan. As one U.S. expert said: "Much of the initiative and brains and membership and resources of what we know as al-Qaeda is already outside Afghanistan."
ERRI‘s Sr. National Security Analyst Clark Staten said, "It is likely that the remnants of the Al-Qaeda network will move to one or more other failed or failing nation-states, where they can re-organize themselves, lick their wounds, and build new training and indoctrination facilities." "There are probably already foundations and support for such a reorganization in several countries...thus the need for a intensive, but dispersed, campaign against the various terror cells in a number of countries other than Afghanistan," Staten added.
Concerns about missing al-Qaeda commanders have prompted the United States and its NATO allies to step up military activities and surveillance of such countries as Somalia, which has been identified by U.S. intelligence officials as an al-Qaeda haven and as a likely destination for fleeing members of the network. Intelligence and law enforcement officials said the climate for such U.S. efforts has improved dramatically with new support since 9/11 from previously reluctant governments in Europe and the Middle East. But experts said the warmer relations may not last, and they warned against complacency after successes in Afghanistan.
The Washington Post was reporting on Friday that U.S. intelligence is increasingly concerned that future attempts by terrorists to attack the United States may involve Asian or African al-Qaeda members, a tactic intended to elude racial profiles developed by U.S. security personnel. With law enforcement focused on the threat from Middle Easterners, intelligence officials believe that "the next face of this is not going to be an Arab face, but possibly Indonesian, Filipino, a Malaysian face, or even African." One senior official said: "They understand the security profile we are operating on."
Officials cited the 22 December attempted bombing of a jetliner by Richard Reid -- a British national whose father is black and whose mother is white -- as an example of a terrorist act by a non-Arab. According to one high-ranking official, information gleaned from interrogations of al Qaeda prisoners in Afghanistan and intelligence analysis suggest that planning was underway before the 9/11 attacks to strike a U.S. city using terrorists from non-Arab countries.
An increasing number of FBI investigators have reportedly been diverted to Asian countries since 9/11 as plots were unmasked by local authorities. But several officials said they were not aware of any special security steps related to threats from Asia-based terrorists.
12 Jan 2002--Major Terrorist Plot in Singapore Discovered; al-Qaeda Believed Well Established in the Asian Region
20 Dec 2001: The Global War on Terrorism - The First 100 Days, Report from U.S. President George W. Bush (Print version, .pdf also available on site)
07 Dec 2001 -- Al Qaeda Training Manual, Provided by U.S. Dept. of Justice -Manual was located by the Manchester (England) Metropolitan Police during a search of an Al Qaeda member‘s home. The manual was found in a computer file described as "the military series" related to the "Declaration of Jihad." The manual was translated into English and was introduced earlier this year at the embassy bombing trial in New York.
Update: 05 Dec 2001: Designation of Terrorist Groups under the "USA PATRIOT Act," U.S. Dept. of State, and Presidential Executive Order 13224 by President George W. Bush
01 Dec 2001
The World‘s Oceans Could Be The Next Target In The War On Terrorism
The world of maritime shipping could be the next frontier in the United States‘ war on terrorism. Industry analysts say that it is rapidly becoming apparent that any measure of real security has probably been sacrificed in the quest for speed and economy on the world‘s oceans.
As one maritime security expert put it: "Shipping is the unprotected belly of America." That sentiment is also shared by the U.S. Coast Guard. (USCG) Commandant Admiral James Loy told a meeting this week at the United Nations‘ International Maritime Organization (IMO): "We must change our assumptions underlying maritime security. What we saw on September 11 was new ... hijackers taking over commercial flights for the sole purpose of turning them into human guided weapons of mass destruction. We must translate that thought pattern and recognize the vulnerability of our maritime environment."
The USCG is providing the thrust -- and some of the finance -- for negotiations to tighten global maritime security, and as with the broader war on terror it has been strongly backed. Maritime security experts warn that U.S. coastal cities are wide open to attack from the sea. Fuel-laden tankers could be seized and used as floating missiles, or any one of tens of thousands of shipping containers shuttled into the country each day could contain a terrorist chemical, biological, or nuclear device.
The United States relies heavily on shipping to import almost 50 percent of the 19.5 million barrels of oil it consumes each day, and to carry nearly all of the 90 million tons of grain it exports each year. Since 11 September, the USCG has increased its patrols of "critical national infrastructure", such as ports, oil terminals and coastal nuclear power stations. Approaching ships must give 96 hours notice and are often boarded and escorted into port.
Ships‘ crews themselves are screened as a potential threat. The Philippines, which is home of the Abu Sayyaf militant group, is the world‘s biggest crew supplier, while Indonesia is home to numerous radical Muslim groups and is the world‘s second biggest crew supplier.
On 10 September, the day before the terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon, the U.S. Coast Guard spent one percent of its operating budget on maritime and port security. Today, it spends 57 percent. That‘s a fundamental change.
To be totally secure, the whole maritime industry may have to undergo a radical overhaul. Security experts point to reports that an associate of terrorist master-mind Usama bin Laden had been found entering Italy in a shipping container as proof that security needed to be beefed up not just in the U.S, but all across the world. Containers are rarely inspected on their journey and provide easy cover for smugglers to transport drugs, weapons and people.
Shipping experts say just two percent of shipping containers entering the U.S. are inspected. The weakness of inspection regimes is illustrated by U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency estimates that about 90 percent of cocaine shipments to the U.S. get through undetected. The U.S. Coast Guard seized a record 138,393 pounds of cocaine this year, but estimates it was "just the tip of the iceberg" that was getting through.
According to security experts, the U.S. is well down the road toward sealing its sea borders, but some initiatives will take longer than others. In particular, the U.S. wants to introduce a global "chain of custody" for the world‘s 15 million shipping containers, so someone somewhere can always be held responsible for their contents.
26 Oct 2001: Summary of ERRI Terrorist Alerts/Advisories - 1998-2001
Public Education/Information on Terrorism
02 Oct 2001
Terrorism - Preparing For The Unexpected
The American Red Cross has developed a brochure that lists many things people can do to prepare for a terrorism attack. It‘s called "Terrorism--Preparing for the Unexpected."
You can find it at ARC‘s website here:
http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/keepsafe/unexpected.html
A PDF version, as well as a Spanish language version, are supposed to be forthcoming....
Public Information, webposted 27 Sep 2001:
Guidance For Citizens: What Can You Do To Prepare For Terrorism?
Public Information -- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) FACT SHEET ON TERRORISM
Series of EmergencyNet News "Real-Time" Reports Concerning Multiple Plane Hijackings & Terrorist Attacks in New York City and Washington, DC: 11 Sep to 01 Oct 2001 (updated 09:00CDT - 29 Sep to 01 Oct  2001
24 Sep 2001: WAR ON TERROR-2001; What We Expect in The Coming "War on Terrorism" (Includes numerous related references)
July 18, 2001
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
Arabian Peninsula
The United States Government has strong indications that individuals may be planning imminent terrorist actions against U.S. interests in the Arabian Peninsula. In the past, such individuals have not distinguished between official and civilian targets. As always, we take this information seriously. U.S. Government facilities remain at a heightened state of alert. American citizens in the region are urged to remain vigilant with regard to their personal security and to exercise caution. We have no further information on specific targets, timing, or method of attack.
This Public Announcement supplements the Worldwide Public Announcement of June 22, 2001 and expires on October 17, 2001.
Source:http://travel.state.gov/arabianpeninsula_announce.html
23 June 2001
WORLD-WIDE/MIDDLE-EAST
Threat Against US Troops In Persian Gulf; Ships Sent to Sea
An apparent threat in the Persian Gulf against Americans has the U.S. military on a heightened state of alert. A U.S. Marine Corps contingent in Jordan cut short its training session and returned to its ships, while the U.S. 5th Fleet sent its ships out of port in Bahrain. U.S. military forces throughout the Persian Gulf were put on alert Friday as a precaution, although, according to U.S. officials, the threat picked up by U.S. intelligence agencies was not specific about an intended target.
One official said the threat was against Americans but not necessarily the U.S. military. Another official said the intelligence warning suggested that a terrorist attack was imminent. The alert came a day after indictments were laid against 13 Saudi nationals and one Lebanese, charging them with killing 19 US servicemen at a military base in Saudi Arabia in 1996. US officials linked Iran to the 1996 bombing, an accusation that, as expected, Iran has strongly rejected.
NBC News reported on Friday there had been at least three threats of attacks on U.S. forces in the Gulf on 25 June, the fifth anniversary of the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers bombing which killed 19 U.S. servicemen. A number of extremist groups consider anniversaries of past events to be significant and often undertake other acts on those dates.
The US embassies in Senegal and Bahrain have been closed and the US State Department is expected to issue a worldwide travel advisory shortly, warning Americans traveling overseas to be on their guard. The DoS said: "The US government has learned that American citizens and interests abroad may be at increased risk of a terrorist action from extremist groups." US officials say the threat is non-specific, in other words they are not sure precisely who or what the target would be.
One official said it was possible the threat was related to Thursday‘s announcement of indictments for the 1996 bombing. And over the last two weeks there has also been heightened concern over a reported plot to bomb the US embassy in Yemen. Although the US has not identified the source of the threats, analysts say the US intelligence community suspects one source of any attack might be master terrorist Usama bin Laden. In the past few weeks, videotapes have been circulating in the Middle East which appear to show bin Laden threatening to attack US interests in the region.
Meanwhile, in a separate development, Spanish authorities have arrested a suspected Islamic militant who may have links to bin Laden. The man, Mohammed Bensakhria, had been sought by Interpol and US authorities since last December.
The United States Embassy in Saudi Arabia said on Saturday it was warning its citizens to be on guard. A spokesman for the embassy said that a message urging vigilance would be posted on the embassy website and pre-recorded phone lines on Saturday afternoon. The warden message said: "Americans should maintain a low profile, vary routes and times for all required travel, and treat mail and packages from unfamiliar sources with suspicion. Vehicles should not be left unattended, if at all possible, and should be kept locked at all times. In addition, U.S. government facilities have and will continue to temporarily close or suspend public services as necessary to review their security posture and ensure its adequacy." The U.S. embassy in Qatar said it was preparing a similar warning.
*****
12:00CDT - 22 June 2001
American Forces in Persian Gulf Go To Highest State of Alert; Possible Terrorist Threat
Chicago, IL (EmergencyNet News) -- EmergencyNet News is receiving reports from both media and military sources that indicate that all U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf area have been upgraded to "Threat Condition Delta," as the result of what are being called "imminent and credible terrorist threat." It is believed that all U. S. naval vessels in the Gulf area are being scrambled and sent to sea as the result of the alert. Few other officials details are currently available, but EmergencyNet News will bring you additional details as they become available...
18 May 2001
TERRORISM --WORLD-WIDE:
CHICAGO INSTITUTE ISSUES WORLDWIDE SUPPLEMENTAL TERRORISM ADVISORY
Chicago, IL (EmergencyNet News) -- Due to a dramatic increase in terrorist attacks in the past 24-48 hours, the Emergency Response & Research Institute (ERRI) has issued a supplemental terrorism advisory that warns of the possibility of additional terror events in the near term. This secondary advisory supplements an ERRI advisory issued on 05 March 2001.
In the earlier advisory, ERRI analysts warned retaliation for "U.S. support for the nation of Israel, even duringthe continuing "intifada," and involving a potential for revenge by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, PFLP, or other associated extremist organizations."Events of the past 36 hours would seem to indicate a major escalation of the conflict in Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, and other locations in the area, with talk of "all-out war" being discussed in the popular press.
U.S. citizens living or traveling abroad are cautioned to use extra caution when traveling and to alter normal routes, avoid crowds and protests, be suspicious of unexpected packages, and stay appraised of local security situations. This advisory is particularly directed towards those visiting or traveling in the Mid-East, but due to the diverse and distributed nature of America‘s adversaries -- terrorist events may occur elsewhere as well.
On-Line Reference: http://www.emergency.com/2001/ter-advisry-03-05-01.htm 
17 May 2001
WORLDWIDE:
NUCLEAR MATERIALS-TERRORISM
The World Tribune is today reporting that as many "as 100 organizations around the world have succeeded in obtaining elements for the construction of a nuclear bomb." The Tribune article goes on to say that "A United Nations report said the organizations have obtained the material from nuclear reactors in the former Soviet Union." Further, the UN said, more than 100 terrorist groups are now capable of developing an atomic bomb. The report, first disclosed by the London-based Guardian daily, said worldwide smuggling of radioactive materials has doubled since 1996, Middle East Newsline reported.
ERRI CBRN analysts said the World Tribune article may be "a bit of an overstatement" and that it is more likely that a number of terror organizations could have the capability to build a RDD (Radiation Dispersal Device) or so-called "dirty bomb," which combines conventional explosives with some sort of a radioactive agent. "The proliferation of nuclear waste and other isotopes continues to be a matter of extreme concern...we believe that the Russian mafia and other elements in the former Soviet Union may be selling some nuclear materials...but, having low level radiological materials and building an actual thermonuclear bomb are two entirely different issues,"ERRI‘s Clark Staten said in an interview today.
19 Feb 2001: Click here to review "Anticipating the Nature of the Next Conflict," By Wilson, G.I., Bunkers, F. and Sullivan, J. -- An ERRI/EmergencyNet News Exclusive Article on the Nature of Newly Emerging Threats and Recommendations Concerning What America Can Do About Them...
ERRI Counter-Terrorism Archive Page -- Summary and Chronology of Reports: 04 Feb 2000 to 08 Feb 2001
18 Dec 99-08:55 CST-Summary of EmergencyNet News Articles Concerning  Arrests of Middle-Eastern Individuals Associated With  Plots to Carry Out Year2000 Transition-related Violence - 12 Dec 1999 to 17 Dec 1999
13 Nov 99-09:30CST- Chicago Emergency Institute Issues Worldwide Terrorism Advisory
Summary of ERRI/EmergencyNet News Reports Concerning World-WideTerrorism Threat Advisories and Alerts -- 23/24 Oct 2000
11:30CDT - 12 Oct 2000: Chicago Institute Issues World-Wide Terrorist Alert
09/21/99-10:00CDT--NEW WORLD COMING: AMERICAN SECURITY IN THE 21ST CENTURY MAJOR THEMES AND IMPLICATIONS;The Phase I Report on the Emerging Global Security Environment for the First Quarter of the 21st Century (.pdf document - requires reader)
07/14/99-08:30 CDT-EmergencyNet Exclusive: Questions and Answers On Bio-Warfare/ Bio-Terrorism (Q & A) with Dr. Ken Alibek
02/10/99-09:30CST-- Terrorism and  Millennium Madness?
09/08/98-10:00CDT--Tips To Lessen Your Chances Of Becoming A Victim Of Terrorist Attack
08/31/98-08:00CDT--International Terrorism; Where Do We Go From Here?
08/24/98- 22:00CDT--Series of EmergencyNet News Reports; U.S. Strikes on Terrorists (Osama bin Laden Organization) in Sudan and Afghanistan - 20 Aug 98 to 24 Aug 98
07/29/99-09:30CDT-Chicago Institute Issues Impending Terrorism Threat Advisory
05/01/98-09:30CDT--U.S. State Department Releases 1997 Terrorism Report
04/276/98--Asymmetric Warfare, the Evolution and Devolution of Terrorism; The Coming Challenge For Emergency and National Security Forces
02/25/98--Testimony of ERRI‘s Clark L. Staten, Before the Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism and Government Information, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, February 24, 1998; Foreign Terrorism in the United States, Five Years After the World Trade Center
07/11/97-09:30CDT--Terrorism; Being Passive Never Got Anyone Anywhere...(ENN Editorial)
05/03/97-10:30CDT--State Sponsored Terrorism; EmergencyNet Summary
04/18/97-09:15CDT--Terrorism Alarm Bells Ringing in Several Countries; ERRI Advisory
04/09/97-09:30CDT--Strategic Knowledge; Preventing the Bombing of the Bridge to the 21st Century
03/21/97-09:00CST--The Emergence and Employment of Strategic Ultraviolence in the Management of Criminal Enterprise; by Denny and Lee
11/30/96-14:00CST--Response to Emerging/Devolving threat by Cmdr. Ken Campbell
11/29/96-15:00CST--Emerging, Devolving Threat of Terrorism, By Col. G.I. Wilson and F. Fuller
11/29/96-16:00CST- A Possible New Role For Intelligence Agencies?
10/28/96-15:00CST--WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION IN TERRORISM; The Emerging Threat Posed by Non-State Proliferation - By Cmdr. James Campbell
10/15/96-15:00CDT--Human Intelligence Most Important in Combatting Terrorism
09/24/96-23:30CDT--Terrorism in A New World; The Evolution in Revolution (Emerging Information Warfare)-- By Michael Wilson, Nemesis Group
09/14/96-14:00CDT--Statistical "Blip", Coincidence, or Information Warfare?? - ERRI Special Report on A Decrease in Terrorism
09/12/96-14:00CDT--Testimony; Combatting International Terrorism; By Phillip Wilcox, US Dept. of State
08/18/96-15:00CDT--World Terrorism Review/Summary; 08/96
08/14/96-13:00CDT--ENN Editorial: Terrorism; We Can‘t Let The Bad Guys Win!!
06/29/96-14:00CDT--"Bomb Blast Deflection Device" Offered in Late 70‘s Might Have Been Useful in Dhahran
02/17/96-16:30CST--ERRI Special Report; The "Islamic Domino Theory"
01/10/96-14:00CST--Olympics 2000; Security Review Meeting in Australia
10/02/95--The Threat Increases
09/05/95-What if it Happened Here?; Media Management and Terrorist Acts
09/03/95--1995;Year of the Bomb-Announcement and Review
07/93--Terror Threat Increases
Developing a Local Counter-Terrorist Plan-An Outline
1991-The Future of Terrorism in the 90‘s; After the USSR Report
1990-U.S. Postal Service Warning; Bombs By Mail
1990-FBI Report; Confronting the Terrorist Hostage Taker
1989 - Integrated Incident Command Structure; Diagram from ERGTT

Click here to go to the Counter-Terrorism Page II:

24 Apr 2002
TODAY‘S CENTRAL FOCUS:
IRA Said Part Of Global Terror Network
By Steve Macko, EmergencyNet News Managing Editor
WASHINGTON, DC: According to a report by the US Congress, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) has formed part of a global terror network based in Colombia where it helps train guerrilla groups. The report said American lives were being put at risk by Provisional IRA activity in Colombia, and that both Colombian democracy and US national security is threatened. The document was prepared after three Irish nationals were arrested in Colombia last August suspected of helping to train FARC rebels.
The report will form the basis of a House of Representatives‘ International Relations Committee hearing into the matter due to begin in Washington on Wednesday. The report said that, according to Colombian authorities, not only had the IRA operated on behalf of the FARC, but also the Iranians, Cubans and possibly the Basque separatist movement ETA. Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams was asked to appear before the committee, but has reportedly declined.
Counterterrorism analysts say the report confirmed the IRA was part of an international terrorist and drug-running network. One analyst said: "This will be confirmed by senior members of the Colombian police and the army, as well as the US State Department." The committee is expected to hear evidence from at least one key Colombian security figure, who will offer a view as to what the three Irishmen were doing in a demilitarized zone in Colombia. The administrator of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, just back from a visit to Colombia, will also give evidence as well as a representative from the counterterrorism section of the US State Department.
Clark Staten said that ERRI counter-terrorism analysts have been following a "guns for drugs" connection in the Colombian region for a long period of time and that it is increasingly evident that drug sales are often a funding mechanism for revolutionary and terrorist movements. Additionally, Staten said that there is evidence to suggest that Mid-East militants have been using S. America as a "rest and recreation area" and that they may go there in an attempt to avoid investigation or apprehension in their home countries.
Instant22:00CDT - 11 Apr 2002
Coup Underway in Venezuela? -- Military Says Chavez "Abandoned Control"
CARACAS, VENEZUELA (EmergencyNet News) --  According to National Guard Gen. Alberto Camacho Kairuz, the military has taken control of the government in Venezuela. The situation in Venezuela is described as "chaotic and fluid." The whereabouts of President Hugo Chavez are presently unknown. A group of 40 military officers have reportedly declared themselves "in rebellion" against Chavez "for violating democratic principles, guarantees and the human rights of Venezuelans." Many local television stations were ordered off the air by Chavez earlier and details of the developing tactical situation are sketchy. EmergencyNet News is monitoring events in Venezuela closely and will bring you updates as the situation dictates...
*****
21:00CDT - 11 Apr 2002
Crisis Escalates in Venezuela; Rioting and General Strike Grip Country
CARACAS, VENEZUELA (EmergencyNet News) -- Sporadic reports are coming in to EmergencyNet News about clashes between police and protestors outside the presidential palace of President Hugo Chavez.  Press reports from the region say that as many as 150,000 people are involved in the protests. Additional information coming in within the past hour suggests that several tanks have taken up a defensive position around the palace. Tear gas and some gunshots have reportedly been fired and demonstrators are said to be calling for the immediate resignation of President Chavez.
Caracas Mayor Alfredo Pena told the Associated Press that government snipers were seen firing on on the crowd. One report coming from the region says that at least ten people have been killed an almost 100 others wounded in running street battles between authorities and protestors. Tonight‘s violence erupted on the third day of a general strike called at the state oil monopoly Petroleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA.
21 Mar 2002
TODAY‘S CENTRAL FOCUS:
Car Bomb Explodes In Lima
PERU: At least nine people were killed and 30 others were wounded when a powerful car bomb exploded near the United States embassy in the Peruvian capital, Lima. It went off at about 22:45 hours Thursday (03:45 GMT Friday), outside a shopping center near the embassy, in a residential area to the east of the city. A secondary device at the scene failed to explode.
The blast reportedly left a large crater in the ground and the street littered with wrecked cars. Authorities are describing the explosion as a terrorist attack aimed at disrupting -- or even prompting the cancellation -- of a forthcoming visit by President George Bush. Witnesses said there was damage to a hotel and bank across the street from the embassy, but the embassy itself appeared not to be damaged.
One of those killed was a police officer who had been checking one of the suspicious vehicles. Interior Minister Fernando Rospigliosi said at least one of the other victims was reported to be a private security guard at the U.S. embassy. The security guard was not immediately identified. A US State Department official did said, however, that no American citizens had been hurt.
President Bush declared that "two-bit terrorists" who exploded a car bomb and killed nine people outside the U.S. Embassy in Peru would not deter him from visiting Lima later this week. "You bet I‘m going," Bush told the Reuters news service this morning.
There has been no immediate information on who planted the device. The US President‘s scheduled visit will be the first to Peru by a serving US president. President Bush is due to arrive in Lima on Saturday afternoon. The President will meet Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo as well as three other Andean heads of state -- from Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador -- before leaving on Sunday. Peruvian authorities, who had already been tightening security ahead of the visit, say there will now be even further measures.
22:00CST - 19 Dec 2001
Emerging Crisis -- Rioting, Looting Hit Argentina; At Least Four Dead
Buenos Aires, Argentina (EmergencyNet News) -- At least four people have been killed and dozens of others injured in clashes with police during the past 48 hours in Argentina. Rioting, looting, and arson are reportedly spreading across the country, in the worst civil unrest to hit Argentina in more than a decade. Looting, particularly of supermarkets, was reported in several cities. Looters vocally decried government austerity policies and told reporters that they were stealing "because they were hungry."
The Argentine government has declared a "state of emergency" which authorizes government forces to use special powers to quell the unrest. The decree is expected to be in force for at least a month. The authorization also allows the use of military troops to assist police in riot control and to stop looting and arson of government buildings.
According to long-time Argentine observers, the unrest is largely as the result of an on-going economic crisis. The protests appear aimed at growing poverty, government-induced wage cuts, ever-increasing unemployment, and government measures implemented by Argentine President Fernando de la Rua, in an attempt to reduce an expansive amount of public debt and end a four year recession in Argentina. Witnesses say that the unrest appears to be spreading and increasing in intensity, since it began this past weekend. EmergencyNet News is monitoring events in Argentina closely and will provide additional updates as circumstances warrant...
20:00CDT - 04 Sep 01
Allegations that Colombian Rebels Used "Gas" in Attack on Police Station
BOGOT? COLOMBIA (EmergencyNet News) -- ERRI analysts are currently examining preliminary reports that Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerillas have used some kind of "toxic gas" in an attack on the police station in the town of San Adolfo, in Huila province.
According to National police chief Gen. Ernesto Gilibert, four police officers were killed after the rebels threw some sort of device into a police bunker. Witnesses said that a "dark gray smoke," which caused almost immediate blindness and shortness of breath, engulfed the bunker. Although Colombian police said that the gas may have been CN or CS tear-gas, which can cause serious symptoms in a confined space, tear-gas usually is not lethal.
Colombian authorities said that autopsies and toxicology tests are being carried out on the remains of the deceased police officers to ascertain the exact nature of the gas that was used. Both Colombian and U.S. experts say that if the FARC guerillas actually used poison gas in their attack, that it is a new and dangerous escalation of the conflict in Colombia. EmergencyNet News is monitoring this story closely and will provide additional details if/when they become available...
07 Apr 2001
SOUTH AMERICA:
Embassies Said Closed Because Of Bin Laden Threats
According to U.S. intelligence officials on Friday, the threat of attack by militants linked to terrorist mastermind Usama bin Laden caused the United States to close three of its embassies in South America. The embassies closed were in the capitals of Uruguay, Paraguay and Ecuador. One U.S. government official reportedly told the United Press International (UPI): "There was a certain level of huffing and puffing" being intercepted between cells of known and suspected bin Laden operatives, and U.S. security specialists had the "feeling we should take certain precautions."
According to another  source, the information on bin Laden came from Argentine intelligence. He added that bin Laden operatives had been arriving "over a period of time," apparently for the purpose of carrying out "special missions." Local Shiite Muslims in the tri-border area between Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil, have allegedly put up these operatives in their homes, helped them move around, furnished them with maps and diagrams of various target areas...
05 Mar 2001: ERRI Issues World-Wide  Terrorism Advisory
05 Jan 2001
CENTRAL/SOUTH AMERICA:
U.S. Officials Warn Of Security Threats In Central America
U.S. and regional officials warn that powerful organizations that control smuggling, auto theft and arms trafficking in Central America are using those established networks to smuggle illegal drugs. The infusion of drug money is allowing criminal enterprises to become a parallel force that can threaten national security, worrying military and government authorities.
In Guatemala, officials warn that narcotics traffickers aligned with local organized crime are turning the country into a virtual warehouse for Colombian cocaine bound for the United States and Europe. Five years ago, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency estimated that 50 tons of cocaine passed through Guatemala each year. Now, some anti-narcotics officials believe, that quantity has quadrupled. The most recent U.S. State Department report on international anti-drug efforts predicted: "Cocaine transshipment through Guatemala is expected to continue to increase, with no letup projected in the foreseeable future."
Drug profits have strengthened organized crime to the point that smugglers are ready to engage in combat with government authorities. In early 2000, a tractor-trailer rig headed to western Guatemala from the Caribbean port of Puerto Barrios, an established narcotics transshipment hub, drove through a customs roadblock. When customs officials pursued the truck, the driver first tried to run them off the road. Then the truck stopped and several men scrambled out, submachine guns drawn. The out-gunned customs officials gave up the pursuit.
Guatemalan Defense Minister Brig. General Juan de Dios Estrada said he has become so concerned about the threat from organized crime that he is working with customs officials, police and private businesses to try to fight smugglers.
ERRI counter-terrorist (CT) analysts said that in addition to the obvious health and safety dangers associated with drug abuse and the violent criminality associated with drug trade -- all too frequently these days -- there are also ties between drug traffickers and "revolutionary" or extremist groups, who use drug profits to finance arms purchases or support terrorist acts.
While U.S. drug enforcement efforts focus on sea routes for drug shipments, U.S. customs officials have worked to organize their foreign counterparts into multi-agency, anti-narcotics task forces. Edward Moriarty, who runs the project for U.S. Customs, says drug traffickers are looking for ways to smuggle relatively small amounts of narcotics with a minimal threat of getting caught.
05/12/99-09:43CDT-Police Study Shows Colombian Rebel Attacks On The Increase
03/29/98--U.S. Hostages Still Being Held in Colombia by Rebels
12/22/97-10:30CST--The MRTA: One Year Later
06/24/97-10:00CDT--Latin American Guerrilla Groups Come And Go; MRTA and Beyond
04/30/97-10:00CDT-- ENN Special Report - Kidnapping; A Latin American Growth Industry
04/22/97 to 04/27/97-10:00CDT-- ENN Series of Reports (including editorial); Peru Hostage Incident Ends in Assault
01/24/97-10:00CST--Psy-Ops Begin in Peru Hostage Stand-Off; Assault Drawing Closer?
12/27/96-15:00CST--Continuing Reports; Peruvian Hostage Incident (15:00CST-12/24/96 to 15:00CST-12/27/96)
12/23/96-12:00CST--Continuing Series of Reports; MRTA Hostage Take-Over of Japanese Ambassador‘s Residence in Lima, Peru (16:40CST-12/19 to 12:00CST-12/23)
12/18/96-12:47CST--Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement Takes Over Japanese Compound in Lima, Peru; ENN Series of reports (22:47CST-12/17 to 15:30CST-12/18)
07/19/94-Buenos Aires Israeli Commercial Bombing

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Significant Terrorist Incidents A Chronology: 1997-2001, Dept. of State Office of the HistorianSignificant Terrorist Incidents A Chronology: 1961-1996, Dept. of State, Office of the HistorianIllinois Homeland Security WebsiteCenter for Technology and National Security Policy (CTNSP)Oklahoma City National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of TerrorismSouth Asia Terrorism Portal, Institute of Conflict Management
The Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence, University ofSt Andrews, Scotland
US Government Spending to Combat Terrorism: Chart and Analysis
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; EPA‘s Role in Counter-Terrorism
Internet Roadmap to Antiterrorist Sites - From Force Protection: Antiterrorism, 1997; U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (Schematic)
ICT-Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism.
International Association of Counterterrorism & Security Professionals (IACSP)
Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Vantage Security Systems Piracy Page; Maritime Crime/Terrorism
Terrorism and Islamic Fundamentalism; Israeli Foreign Ministry Gopher Site
Terrorism Research Center (Non-commercial)
National Security Institute; Terrorism Legislation and Executive Orders List
Israeli and Mid-East SNS News Service (Non Govmnt.)
Fight Terrorism; The Proteus Security Group Homepage
Central Intelligence Agency
US Intelligence Community
International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism
Federal Bulletin Board - DoS Reports on Terrorism
U.S. State Department - Arms Control, Counter-terrorism and Military Affairs
U.S. State Department - Bureau of Diplomatic Security
U.S. State Department - Office for the Coordination for Counter terrorism
U.S. State Department - Response to Terrorism
International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism (Israel)

Graphics and Diagrams
1999 -- Graphic: Miscellaneous Explosives Used As Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDS)
1996 Industry Report:Tomahawk Cruise Missile Profile and Technical Specifications
July, 1996 ERRI Report;Shoulder-Fired Infra-Red Guided Missiles; Graphics and Descriptions
Story and Graphic/Diagram;06/29/96-14:00CDT--"Bomb Blast Deflection Device" Offered in Late 70‘s Might Have Been Useful in Dhahran
Graphic-Brief on:Soviet/Chi-Com RPG-7 Rocket Propelled Grenade
Graphic-Package Bomb Indicators; from U.S. Postal Inspector‘s OfficePackage/Letter Bomb Indicators
Graphic-Unabomber‘s Caam‘s Computer Store Device- Salt Lake City, UT, 1987:FBI Drawing; Tire Destruction Device/Pipe Bomb

Ayman al-Zawahiri: The Man Behind Bin Laden, by LAWRENCE WRIGHT, 2002-09-16 Issue of the New Yorker
June 30, 1998 -- Usamah Bin Mohammad Bin Laden (Osama bin-Laden)
10/10/94--Carlos "The Jackal" Captured; Brief Personal History
Leaders of Hamas and Islamic Holy War, Brief Histories
A personal history of Saddam Hussein
A personal History of Mohammar Qaddafi

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