← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Hilaire Belloc
Thread ID: 9123 | Posts: 4 | Started: 2003-08-18
2003-08-18 02:50 | User Profile
[url=http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=518&e=3&u=/ap/20030818/ap_on_re_eu/world_terrorism]http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...world_terrorism[/url]
Study: 9/11-Style Attack on U.S. Likely
By AUDREY WOODS, Associated Press Writer
LONDON - Another Sept. 11-style terrorism attack is "highly likely" in the United States, which ranks fourth in an index assessing the risk to 186 countries, a research company said Sunday.
The London-based World Markets Research Center ranked Colombia, Israel, Pakistan, the United States and the Philippines, in descending order, as the five countries most likely to be targeted in a terrorist attack in the next year, said Guy Dunn, author of the company's World Terrorism Index.
The index, to be published Monday, assesses the risk of terrorism to the countries and their interests abroad, he said. The country least likely to be attacked by terrorists is North Korea (news - web sites), Dunn said.
The assessments used five criteria: motivation of terrorists, the presence of terror groups, the scale and frequency of past attacks, efficacy of the groups in carrying out attacks and how many attacks were thwarted by the country.
The categories also were weighted differently. For example, 40 percent was given to motivation and 10 percent to prevention.
"Another Sept. 11-style terrorist attack in the United States is highly likely," the report states. "Networks of militant Islamist groups are less extensive in the U.S. than they are in Western Europe, but U.S.-led military action in Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Iraq (news - web sites) has exacerbated anti-U.S. sentiment."
In terms of motivation, Dunn said, "The United States, as a global superpower, is considered a legitimate, high-profile target."
But in terms of the presence of terrorist cells, the United States has relatively few, "although it is probably the most open society in the world," he said.
Terrorists also consider American interests in other countries legitimate political targets, he said.
Dunn said the United Kingdom, tied at 10th place with Sri Lanka, is a target partly because of its close relationship with the United States; its key roles in wars on Iraq, Afghanistan and terrorism; and the presence of sophisticated militant networks.
But Britain also "probably has the strongest counterterrorism capabilities in the world" because of years of fighting the Irish Republican Army (news - web sites) in Northern Ireland, he said.
The company, specializing in country risk, has hundreds of clients in 45 nations. Approximately 80 percent are multinational companies and banks, Dunn said.
The remaining 20 percent are mostly governments, but also universities and charities. They include foreign ministries, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Terrorism has moved from being a peripheral threat before Sept. 11, 2001, to being a key risk to business, and no longer is isolated in the targeted countries, Dunn said.
In a client survey, 72 percent said they considered terrorism when making international location decisions, he said.
"What changed with 9-11 was that the threat was internationalized. .... All countries were at some risk. In essence terrorism has become a key risk to business. Companies have to take a much more specific interest in terrorism," Dunn said.
2003-08-18 02:54 | User Profile
**"Another Sept. 11-style terrorist attack in the United States is highly likely," the report states. "Networks of militant Islamist groups are less extensive in the U.S. than they are in Western Europe, but U.S.-led military action in Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Iraq (news - web sites) has exacerbated anti-U.S. sentiment." **
** No this can't be truth. Bush and his most trusted advisors said that these operations were going to curtail Terrorist operations against us. No, No, No, No this absolutely cannot be true. I refuse to believe it! We're beating Al-Qaida, we're perfectly prepared to defend against terrorists, all those reports about FBI/CIA/NSA screwups are just plain old Satanic(uh I mean Liberal) propaganda, just as Ann Coulter tells us to believe in her books. Israel is safe at last and we must defend them at all costs!
Thank you Mr. Bush, thank you so much for making America a safer country! :th: :th: **
WARNING: The previous exhange was a typical Neo-conservatice rant. Since it contained inappropiate and just plain stupid ramblings, it may not have been be suitable for children. Viewer Discretion should've been advised. Guess I should've told you that earlier. OOPS! :P
2003-08-18 03:08 | User Profile
War on terror causing more terror? Who would have thought? Perhaps a better prevention would be catching zhids mediating sales of anti-aircraft missiles to terrorists?
2003-08-21 01:41 | User Profile
They used to manipulate criminal gang to reach their goal. They have informants everywhere, and penetrate every organization and company. Terrorist attack such like OKC bombing and 911 attack were allowed to happen, if not conducted by them. With whcih they got more police power.
The typical story is the missile smuggling case. In which the buyer is an FBI informant and supplier is the secret police of Russia. If they only tipped that British weapon agent to a potential terrorist, (you can imagine FBI have a bunch of them in black list of those Islamic fanatics whom are eager to revenge) allow him to shot down an aeroplane. Then there will be a third Mid-east war or a new "Patriot Act 3".
That is how terror attack taking place.