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Politics : America Under Siege: The End of Innocence -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: AK2004 who wrote (19147)	10/13/2002 5:06:21 PM
From: lorne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27734

TERROR WARNING: TARGETS NAMED By SIMON KEARNEY and SARAH BLAKE 13oct02 ENERGY facilities across Australia are on their highest alert ever after being threatened by terrorist Osama bin Laden. For the first time September 11, specific types of sites on Australian soil had been targeted, Attorney-General Daryl Williams revealed yesterday. Electricity, gas, oil and water suppliers yesterday increased security and police patrols were ordered to monitor utilities fixtures. "The information we've been provided with relates to the energy production and distribution infrastructure," Mr Williams said yesterday. "That can include power plants, it might include oil refineries, it might include gas transmission lines." NSW's main power plants are in the Hunter Valley and at Lithgow while the Kurnell oil refinery on Botany Bay is the largest in metropolitan Sydney. Mr Williams said the Government had been warned by the United States that "a number of sources" had indicated Australia and five other countries would be targeted. NSW Police counter-terrorism expert, Deputy Commissioner Andrew Scipione, said yesterday chief executives of the State's utilities had been notified of the warning. "We don't talk about our security arrangements, but we are on heightened security and will remain to be so," Deputy Commissioner Scipione said. "We are treating this very, very seriously, as we do all of these threats." A spokesman for Energy Minister Kim Yeadon said yesterday electricity and gas suppliers had increased security measures. "We have beefed up security and are more than aware of the potential threat," he said. "There are a lot of generators and transmitters in NSW and they have their own security, usually involving surveillance and security guards. "All of those are on full alert at the moment and will continue to be so for some time." The State's two main electricity generators – Macquarie Generation in the Hunter Valley, and Delta Electricity at Lithgow – have upgraded security. A spokeswoman for Telstra said staff at its monitoring Global Operations Centre in Melbourne had been drilled over the past three months on what do in the event of an attack. "The staff have been rehearsing in evacuations to our back-up system (at an undisclosed location) and we are confident we could cope," she said. "With this new warning, it's a case of heightened vigilance and working in cooperation with law enforcement and emergency services." An Australian Nuclear Science and Technology spokesman said yesterday security at the Lucas Heights reactor had been on a heightened level for the past year. The Federal Government yesterday called for Australians to be more alert than ever before. "The Australian Government has been advised by the United States Government that there is the possibility of terrorist attacks in the sector of energy production and transmission," Mr Williams said. "There's a range of facilities that are covered by that description. To give an example, the attack on the French oil tanker in Yemen is believed to be by terrorists and that is consistent with the warning we've been given." Mr Williams called on Australians to report anything they considered suspicious. "What we want people to do is to be aware there is a threat and they should be more than usually vigilant in looking for suspicious activity," Mr Williams said. Overseas posts, particularly in Asia, were reminded to maintain the high alert status they have been on since December last year, when several posts were targeted by Al Qaeda. Mr Williams revealed Osama bin Laden had mentioned Australia specifically on two occasions, the most recent being the Al Qaeda leader's purported statement on October 6. "It's important that the Australian public understands that Australia is not immune from the possibility of terrorist attack, we are part of the war against terrorism, we have seen Australian interests threatened," Mr Williams said. "The arrest in Singapore of Jemaah Islamiyah who were planning an attack on, among others, the Australian High Commission building, is evidence that Australia is not immune. "We've seen Osama bin Laden in two statements refer to Australia specifically. We can't be complacent." The warning comes after terror expert Rohan Gunaratna – who has interviewed Al Qaeda prisoners – said last week that Osama bin Laden had a support cell operating in Australia. Yesterday, CNN was reporting the cell, called Mantiqi 4, also worked out of Papua New Guinea and was linked to the same Jemaah Islamiyah arm of Al Qaeda that had plotted to blow up Australia's High Commission in Singapore last year. Prime Minister John Howard yesterday pleaded with Australians to support the stance of US President George W. Bush on Iraq. "The easy thing to do would be to say 'let's take a risk, lets not do anything'," he told a Liberal party conference in Victoria. "I detect an unreasoned desire to unfairly attack and criticise American behaviour against a background of always assuming that the protection and support of the US will always be there. This issue is not going to go away and cannot go unaddressed." Australia's response to the new threat is being coordinated by the Security Incident Taskforce, staffed by representatives of all Australia's security and intelligence agencies. At this stage local police will increase security around power infrastructure but on site security will remain in the hands of the operators, Mr Williams said. dailytelegraph.news.com.au

To: AK2004 who wrote (19147)	10/13/2002 8:29:34 PM
From: Richnorth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27734

The Russians have agreed to help before. But, rightly or wrongly, I doubt they would agree this time around as the political and economic situation is different now. The US is not the same as before. Its political influence, especially in Europe, has changed. The EU is not very cooperative this time around. An indication of the Russians' reluctance to help was their refusal to agree with Bush on the invasion of Iraq. But maybe some wholesale "bribery" (or secret deals which the US is very good at making) may get them to change their mind. In case you didn't know, the Russians who agreed to help a year or so ago insisted on total control of their airports much to the dislike of the US. Like I said before, I think the Pentagon will ask you to join them. Your great optimism will provide them with a much needed boost. When the US (and coalition) invaded Afghanistan in October 2001, it was thought by most people that the Afghans would be roundly defeated in next-to-no-time and that American boys would be coming home for good by Christmas 2001. In the week before Christmas I heard a lot of talk of taking the glasses out and popping the champagne bottle in anticipation of celebrating the inevitable capture and humiliation of Osama ben Laden. What happened next was laughable! And since then when optimism ran so high about victory, the war against terrorism is not over yet, the faces at the Pentagon ever remain red, and Al-Qaeda is still raising its ugly head again all over the globe despite all the measures taken to curb its activities. Frankly I don't think the Russian's announcement (in 1998 ???) they would go into Afghanistan again the second time to get Osama was serious. Remember they got their butts thoroughly kicked the first time.) To me, it was part of a joint US-Russia ploy to scare Osama into leaving Afghanistan so that it might be easier to get him. When that didn't scare Osama, Clinton tried to kill him with a cruise missile. Then Osama promised spectacular reprisals and September 11th happened. The rest is history.