TERRORISM OUTLOOK Jet bombs may be just the start, security experts warn

Susan Sward, Bill Wallace, Patrick Hoge, Chronicle Staff Writers Thursday, September 13, 2001 ©2001 San Francisco Chronicle

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/09/13/MN173219.DTL

Security experts said yesterday that the United States ignored warnings of the grave threat of terrorism and one said millions of Americans could die unless U.S. intelligence gathering improves.

Until Tuesday, the United States felt immune, said Yonah Alexander, director of the International Center for Terrorism Studies at the nonprofit Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Arlington, Va., and because of that Congress had felt no pressure to improve counterterrorism efforts.

"The seed for Tuesday's operation were planted back in 1993 when the terrorists failed to bring down the World Trade Center" and the bombing claimed only six lives, Alexander said. "The country thought it would happen once and not again, but the terrorists don't take no for an answer. Why? Because God is on their side, and God is always right."

SFgate

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 13, 2001

Answers

This article lends some credence to the grim hypothesis below, posted elsewhere:

The U.S. may be under "blackmail" threat from the terrorist orgainization that executed Tuesday's disaster. There is no "inside" information to support this hypothesis. It is based upon intuitive observations of Bush's appearance on T.V. Bush's facial expresssion gave the appearance of enormous stress and duress. This contrasts sharply with his past facial projection of almost boundless arrogance.

The terrorists may have quietly and anonymously communicated to the U.S. leadership that biowarfare agents will be released if there is any retaliation against (fill in the blank). This puts Bush and advisors in a major bind, if true.

Increased preparation for a biowarfare attack are now warranted. (Antibiotics, herbs, maintaining immunity, improving health habits . . .) Monitor the news, and at the FIRST indication of "mysterious disease outbreaks", increase such preparation efforts immediately.

It is hoped this grim hypothesis is untrue, but the terrorists have shown what they can do. The article does say biowarfare initiation is technically difficult, and it is hoped this is correct. But it may not be true. Tiny vials of deadly germs are undetectable. Technical difficulties arise in getting the germs contained without infecting persons involved in the production process. With so many "suicide" low-level terrorists available, this apparant technical difficulty is substantially reduced.

-- Robert Riggs (rxr.999@worldnet.att.net), September 13, 2001.

I am very worried about the next "round".

I work in the Long Beach/Los Angeles harbor area. Everyday there are thousands of cargo containers moving in and out of the harbor by truck and rail and, of course, by ship.

So far, of those coming from foreign ports, we have had only things such as mosquitos that potentially carry diseases not seen in the US, and illegal immigrants (sometimes alive, sometimes expired) discovered as cargo that was not manifested in incoming containers.

If these containers are "inspected" before being loaded aboard ships bound for America, how do these "items" arrive here?

What else could be packed in one of these containers without notice or by a small gratuity to an inspector to look the other way?

Small nukes with timers?

This would distroy the harbors which handle the majority of shipping from the western pacific (as well as my a**).

Something to think about on the way to work every morning.

-- PHO (owennos@bigfoot.com), September 13, 2001.