For a number of years there has been a great deal of terrorism taking place throughout the world. It has been call it "Over Seas," or outside of the United States. Now it is starting to affect us in the U.S. The Presidential Decision Directive 39 (PDD-39) was issued from the White House in June of 1995. It directed a number of measures to reduce the Nation's vulnerability to terrorism. Then in 1997 the Defense Authorization Bill provided funding to provide training to first responders.
I have personally taken five courses on Domestic Terrorism or Emergency Response to Terrorism from a variety of agencies. They have tried to relate current world activities on why we need this training. These programs use recent examples and past examples to help us understand that the threat is real. I feel they haven't made a complete connection to the every day first responder. This is my goal in this article. Below are the examples they normally use:
Past Terrorist Examples Used in the Courses
- World Trade Center Bombing - 6 killed and approximately 1,000 injured (1993)
- Tokyo Subway Nerve Agent Attack - 12 killed and thousands injured (1995)
- Oklahoma City Bombing - 168 killed and hundreds injured (1995)
If we take another look at other activities we can actually increase their listing some more. Below are some other examples of terrorist activities that I have compiled:
More Past Terrorist Examples
- Flight 182 - Blew up off the coast of Ireland. The deadliest act of aviation sabotage, killed 329 people. (1995)
- Saudi Arabia - Bombing of the Khobar Towers a U.S. Military Apartment Complex, killed 19 and injured 500 people. (1996)
- Olympic Park Bombing - A bombing in Atlantic City, Killed 1 and injured more than 100 people.
- U.S. Embassies - In Africa two cities the same day, Kenya and Tanzania. Killed 224 people and injured thousands (possible estimate of 5,000 injuries). (1998)
Let us change our thought process to activities that have occurred in recent years that relate to us more directly. I want to preempt the next examples with a couple of comments; it has been said approximately 70 % of our terrorist attacks involve explosives. Beware the FBI is investigating a theft of 25 tons of ammonium nitrate (10 times the amount used in the Oklahoma City Bombing) from West Virginia. Therefore, we must consider every bombing incident an act of terrorism. Below are some examples that more directly relate to us as first responders:
Recent Terrorist Activities Involve the Following:
- Abortion Clinics and Hospitals
- Collection Agencies
- Utility Companies
- Military Installations
- Government Facilities
- Churches
Another is "Environment Terrorism" which is becoming more active. In Vail, Colorado a group of terrorist set seven separate fires at 4:00 AM at remote facilities. This caused the most expensive act of eco-terrorism in the history of the United States (Estimated at $12 Million).
The proliferation of these types of incidents are occurring everyday. The use of explosives is an ever present danger now. The use of Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical (NBC) is a real threat today. The use of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) can involve any of us as first responders now.
The North American Research is an organization that has documented eco-terrorism crimes over the past decade. These crimes have escalated from 6 in 1986 to about 300 a year now. The FBI has indicated the credible domestic threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction has increased significantly this year. Last year, in 1997 there were 68 investigations opened on terrorist incidents. This year there has been 86 in the first nine months.
I hoped to link the major incidents that everyone associated with NBC/WMD from the past to the more current activities taking place today. I believe that terrorism is a real threat and will only increase and is not going away. The federal government is providing training to several first responder agencies now. This threat requires all first responders to be trained to handle an "Emergency Response to Terrorism."
Reference:
- Counterterrorism Programs, International Associations of Fire Chiefs, IAFC Weekly Information Reports
