Letter Bomb Injures Two at Swiss Nuke Plant Office

Al Qaeda and other so-called "radicalized Islamist groups" get most of the copy in the media. However, an equally dangerous and radical form of terrorism is the eco-terrorist. Groups such as the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and Animal Liberation Front (ALF) use bombs and other forms of violence to draw attention to their issues.

ELF has set fires to log home mansions to call attention to the use of old growth timber in the construction of these homes.

Media reports have tied Theodore Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, to environmental activists, and say that the 23 injuries and three deaths through letter-bombs were the acts of an independent eco-terrorist.

Earth First! is found of driving railroad spikes (tree spiking) into old growth timber. When lumberjacks go to cut the trees, the spikes will shatter the chains of their chain saws causing gruesome injuries or death.

While most of these groups have focused on preserving the ecology or protecting animal rights, there has always been some groups opposed to nuclear energy. The crisis in Japan has apparently provided the impetus for these groups to turn to violence as well:

GENEVA -- A letter bomb has exploded at an office of the Swiss nuclear power industry in the northern city of Olten, injuring two people, police said Thursday.
The explosion happened shortly after 8 a.m. as staff were opening the morning's post in the fourth-floor office of Swissnuclear


The Unite States has 104 nuclear power plants. The Department of Energy and Department of Homeland Security will need to collaborate on how to best protect the workers as well as the facilities at these plants. We already know we have threats from Al Qaeda, and now probably Gadaffi as well, domestic terrorist groups (including eco-terrorists) and the Mexican drug cartels. The United States may not have to wait for a natural disaster to turn one of our nuclear power plants into the next Chernobyl.
FoxNews.com

Local Task Forces

Last week, four people, including one from Cincinnati, with ties to an eco-terrorism network have been indicted on charges connected to a 1999 fire at Michigan State University genetic research office. The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) claimed credit for the fire claiming the university was conducting research genetic engineering of crops. The story followed the fires set out in California targeting a “green” housing development. Ohio in general, and Cincinnati in particular, are not the first areas one would think of to find an eco-terrorist. Most of the cities in Ohio were founded on heavy manufacturing and industry, not prime areas to target for saving pristine environments. The arrest though illustrates an important point for all of us concerned about the safety and security of our communities.

People will to commit violent acts, terrorists if you will (but this may be too limiting a term), live everywhere and anywhere just like other people who don’t plan to commit violent acts. It makes sense to live somewhere away from where you plan to commit an attack so that you can plan and prepare in obscurity. It is easier to obtain the materials and recruit people for the operation. Training is best conducted in more remote areas as compared to more densely populated areas where the presence of such activities could be discovered. As has been written before on this blog and on other sites, the majority of federal funds to detect and prevent such behaviors is more focused on major metropolitan areas. As a result, smaller cities and rural communities are more appealing to locating a terrorist base of operations. The ready availability of high-speed Internet connections and cellular services even in the most remote areas of the United States makes it more practical than ever to locate a terrorist training camp out in the far flung parts of the nation.

Locating a training camp or base of operations in a remote location does present challenges for funds and logistics. Most support groups for terrorist activity tends to be centered in large cities. Large provide networks and jobs for supporters to provide funds and supplies to the operatives. Creating an elaborative support system may leave telltale signs for federal agencies to detect therefore groups may opt to be more autonomous and operate with only a tacit association to a larger group. The need for autonomy does not negate the need for funding. One of the easiest (and perhaps lucrative) means to fund a small cell operation then is through illegal drugs. Marijuana and methamphetamine are two illegal drugs that can be produce and sold locally providing the terrorist group with ready cash, weapons and other supplies.

The link between terrorist organizations and illegal drug activity dates back to at least the fall of the Soviet Union. The Soviets sponsored a number of terrorist groups that were based on political ideologies counter to the West. Without the Soviet Union to provide funding, terrorist groups based in political ideology began to fall by the wayside. Groups interested in committing acts of violence against the United States needed to find another funding stream. Marijuana and methamphetamine, both of which can be produced locally without depending on outside organizations, became a new way to fund some terrorist groups. During the last part of the 20th Century, many of the militia groups funded their activities through the production and sale of methamphetamine. The combination of a group of well armed paranoids plus a drug which increased violent tendencies, made for an especially dangerous situation. The drug cartels of South America are particularly violent and are well connected with various arms dealers throughout the world. Given the potential for illegal drug activity to fund future terrorist attacks, it seems strange that the Bush Administration would thus cut funding for the Byrne Grants. The Byrne Grants fund drug task forces throughout the United States. Most of these drug task forces consist of various local, county and state agencies focused on a particular region. The drug task forces seem to be ideally suited to assist the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies in identifying possible terrorist activity by drug organizations. Despite the potential to be a force multiplier for homeland security, Byrne Grants by two-thirds. The incredulous rational is that drugs are no longer the threat they once were! I’m not sure what studies were used to draw that conclusion but merely perusing the local newspaper seems to contradict that claim. The reduction in Byrne Grants might make sense if there was a corresponding increase in other federal funds to keep the drug task forces going. So far that does not appear to be the case.

A better solution would be to broaden the focus of drug task forces to include homeland security. The task forces embody the concepts of inter-agency cooperation and communication exposed by FEMA and other agencies. To risk losing these agencies and the incredibly amount of intelligence produce by the task forces is just too great to ignore. As the story at the beginning of this article illustrates, we can never know who or where a terrorist may decide to reside. Reducing the number of local agencies out there to help detect such activities seems to be contrary to our emphasis on increasing homeland security.

Of Distinctive Doctrines, Systems or Theories

According the American Heritage Dictionary, “ism” is a distinctive doctrine, system or theory. Combining “terror” and “ism” we get ‘the unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.’ Adding the prefix ‘eco’ to ‘terrorism’ the FBI defines this as the use or threatened use of violence of a criminal nature against innocent victims or property by an environmentally-oriented, sub-national group for environmental-political reasons, or aimed at an audience beyond the target, often of a symbolic nature."

Eco-terrorism made the news the other day as a result of five luxury homes being sent ablaze (apparently) by eco-terrorists in protest of luxury homes being built in rural cluster developments. The group that claiming responsibility is the Earth Liberation Front (E.L.F.) which, according to the New York Times, is “a loosely organized group that has been linked to multiple bold acts of eco-terrorism across the Northwest and elsewhere for two decades.” These claims are still being investigated at this time.

Eco-terrorism is just the latest “ism” to enter our lexicon even though the group in this particular case, E.L.F., has been active for over two decades. Whenever something like this occurs, it hits the media with a vengeance temporarily even eclipsing the Democratic primaries. On one hand, the fires in Washington state help remind us that “terrorism” takes on many different forms and violent acts committed by wide range of groups, both foreign and domestic. The attacks of 9/11 still has the majority of national counter-terrorism agencies (including DHS and the FBI) looking at foreign terrorist groups. However, this recent act of terrorism in Washington demonstrates that those in the safety and security arena need to have a broader focus.

The likelihood of Al Qaeda attacking a city such as Fayetteville, Arkansas (population 58,000) is virtually non-existent. It is too far inland and located away from major metropolitan centers to make is an attractive target to most foreign terrorist groups. Remember, a foreign terrorist group needs to strike a target their supporters are familiar with and need to maximize the impact of their attack. Therefore a mid-size city such as Fayetteville would fail to make the impact that an attack against Chicago or San Francisco would have. However, this is not to say Fayetteville, Arkansas is free from the possibility of experiencing some type of terrorist attack. Fayetteville happens to be home of the University of Arkansas which means a diverse population of college students and a number of research facilities. Students committing acts of violence recently made the news at both Northern Illinois University and Virginia Tech. As those who work or study at colleges and universities can attest, providing a secure and safe environment while maintaining the open architecture associated with campus life. The research conducted at major universities sometimes is contentious leading to protests which can occasionally become confrontational. In rare cases, it can lead to violence.

Safety and security management experts need to resists the temptation to focus on the next “ism” when developing the response plans and training scenarios. Response plans need to remain focused on those threats and vulnerabilities most likely to be encountered in your community. Unfortunately, the federal agencies that control grants tend to associate funding with a particular threat. Eco-terrorism may become the future nexus for training dollars available through DHS which would be unfortunate. Communities most in need of assistance are the ones least likely to meet the thresholds created under federal guidelines. While eco-terrorism certainly poses a threat for some communities, perhaps a better way to look at the situation in Washington is simply domestic terrorism. Domestic terrorist can target ANY vulnerability that can be exploited within the community. If we change our thinking towards this broader perspective, than a little noticed story from earlier in the month takes prominence over simple eco-terrorism.

According to the American Coalition for Ethanol website, “U.S. ethanol production is reaching unprecedented levels, growing America's ability to supply a portion of its own transportation fuel. Currently there are 142 ethanol production facilities operating in the U.S. and 67 more under construction. Today, about 40% of the nation's ethanol facilities are owned by farmers and other local investors.” The mandate to move towards cleaner burning fuels in automobiles has lead to a boon for corn growers, however the increased number of ethanol plants increases the need for communities to re-assess their vulnerabilities. Most communities have yet to recognize the unique threats posed by ethanol fires. According to a recent AP story, ethanol fires are harder to put out than gasoline fires and require a special type of firefighting foam. Most fire departments, especially those in smaller cities or volunteer departments, don’t carry the foam. Water does not work against ethanol fires and the foam normally used to fight gasoline fires is ineffective against ethanol. Small amounts of ethanol that are used in E85 fuel is not a problem. The real challenge for firefighters is dealing with tanker trucks or ethanol refinery fires. The foam need to fight these fires is expensive and would be hard for smaller departments to justify, yet these may be the same departments dealing with a tanker truck fire on a remote stretch of highway. A terrorist or saboteur at an ethanol plant could create set a fire at an ethanol plant or cause a tanker truck to wreck in a remote area. The increasing number of ethanol plants means more communities could be faced with this problem. It also means that a wider variety of malcontent could use ethanol as a weapon to create fear and panic.

Before we end up putting “ism” behind another word (and thus creating a funding criteria), let’s go back to the basics and use “all hazards” as the criteria.