The Doomsday Memo – Administration Prepares For Worst-Case Terror Scenarios

“In the post-9/11 world, this isn’t just good manners, good government; it’s a national security responsibility,” said outgoing White House chief of staff Josh Bolton.

So this past week, outgoing Bolton and his Obama counterpart Rahm Emanuel took part in something that has never happened before: a mock homeland security exercise for top incoming and outgoing officials.

The premise: In the wake of train and bus bombings in London and Madrid, how would the U.S. government deal with bomb attacks simultaneously targeting transportation and other major systems in numerous American cities?

“We need to train, exercise, and execute as a team,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. “And we built the process based on a lot of some of the tough lessons learned over the last few years that now works.”

But mock domestic attacks, such as one staged in Seattle last year to simulate how rescue workers would respond to a dirty nuclear bomb set off in an American city, are just part of the planning.

Memories of the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa have led the National Security Counsel to create a memo suggesting options for dealing with future attacks on U.S. facilities abroad – just one of about a dozen scenarios dealing with possible overseas crises that could impact the United States.

“As far as I know, this is the first time that policy contingency papers have been created,” NSC spokesman Gordon Johndroe said, adding that his boss, National Security Adviser Steven Hadley, came up with the idea.

via Source – CBS News.

Homeland Security Has Plan If Mexico Drug Violence Spreads To US

If Mexican drug violence spills across the U.S. border, Homeland Security officials say they have a contingency plan to assist border areas that includes bringing in the military.

“It’s a common sense extension of our continued work with our state, local, and tribal partners in securing the southwest border,” DHS spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said Friday. Read more

Obama Inauguration Attractive Target For Terrorists

Although no credible or specific threat is being reported or investigated, the upcoming inauguration of Barack Obama is no doubt an attractive target for both international and domestic terrorists. According to AP sources,  an internal intelligence assessment, says the high visibility of the event, the presence of dignitaries and the significance of swearing in America’s first black president make the inauguration vulnerable to attacks.

What concerns analysts most, the report says, is the potential use of improvised explosive devices, a hostage situation or suicide bombers.

While security will be tight around the U.S. Capitol, the joint FBI and Homeland Security assessment says nearby hotels, public gatherings, restaurants and roads could be vulnerable to some kind of attack.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said security concerns during inaugurations have been elevated since the 2001 terror attacks. “I think it will be the most security, as far as I’m aware, that any inauguration has had,” Chertoff said in an interview .

Chertoff also said there is no specific intelligence pointing to terrorist plots during the event.

“We have scrubbed very hard to look at anything that would suggest a credible, imminent threat or one that was specifically focused on the inauguration,” Chertoff said, though not referring to the intelligence assessment. “We’re not, at this point, aware of a credible, specific, imminent threat that would affect the inauguration.”

The Secret Service, which is in charge of the overall security for the event, announced Wednesday that bridges into Washington and about 3.5 square miles 9 square kilometers of the downtown will be closed on Jan. 20. The security perimeter covers more of the city than previous inaugurations.

via Source – Read Full Article

Obama Faces Drug War At Mexican Border

Cartels’ turf fights escalate and threaten to spread into U.S.

Add another pressing challenge to President-elect Barack Obama’s growing to-do list – tamping down a dramatic rise in violence and corruption that has overwhelmed the U.S.-Mexico border and spread an escalating turf fight between warring drug cartels into the United States.

Near-daily shootouts and ambushes along the southwestern border pose a serious threat, according to separate government reports, which predict a rise in “deadly force” against law enforcement officers, first responders and U.S. border residents.

Even President Bush, during a Dec. 21 interview with The Washington Times, warned that Mr. Obama faced a looming war with drug cartels where “the front line of the fight will be Mexico.” He said the new president will need to deal “with these drug cartels in our own neighborhoods.”

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the agency has begun to make progress against “the criminals and thugs” operating along the U.S.-Mexico border, but “we are beginning to see more violence in some border communities and against our Border Patrol agents as these traffickers … seek to protect their turf.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the investigative arm of Homeland Security, said in a recent report that border gangs were becoming increasingly ruthless, targeting rivals, along with federal, state and local police. ICE said border violence has risen dramatically over the past three years as part of “an unprecedented surge.”
Source -Washington Times

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Terror Threats to Target Economic Losses

The terrorism threat to the United States over the next five years will be driven by instability in the Middle East and Africa, persistent challenges to border security and increasing Internet savvy, says a new intelligence assessment.

Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear attacks are considered the most dangerous threats that could be carried out against the U.S. But those threats are also the most unlikely because it is so difficult for Al Qaeda and similar groups to acquire the materials needed to carry out such plots, according to the internal Homeland Security Threat Assessment for the years 2008-2013. Read more