U.S. Plans Biggest Terror Drill Ever.

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U.S. Plans Biggest Terror Drill Ever.

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Submitted by Al Czervik on Wed, 10/03/2007 - 3:25pm.

Drills

[People submit alot of entries regarding upcoming terror drills. It is an important public service to post notices of such drills. However, 911blogger does not take a position one way or another concerning whether any of the drills may turn into false flag attacks.]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/03/national/main3323552.shtml

The nation is preparing for its biggest terrorism exercise ever next week when three fictional "dirty bombs" go off and cripple transportation arteries in two major U.S. cities and Guam, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press.

Yet even as this drill begins, details from the previous national exercise held in 2005 have yet to be publicly released - information that's supposed to help officials prepare for the next real attack.

House lawmakers were expected to demand answers Wednesday, including why the "after-action" report from 2005 hasn't been made public. Congress has required the exercise since 2000, but has done little in the way of oversight beyond attending the actual events.

Next week will be the fourth Top Officials exercise - dubbed TOPOFF. The program costs about $25 million a year and involves the federal government's highest officials, such as top people from the Defense and Homeland Security departments.

"The challenge with TOPOFF is not the exercise itself. It's to move as quickly as possible to remedy what perceives to be the problems that are uncovered," former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said in an interview with AP this week.

Ridge, who launched his own security consulting company on Monday, said he's a big fan of the TOPOFF exercises. But he said "it's not acceptable" that the review from the 2005 exercise is still not released publicly.

The House Homeland Security emergency communications, preparedness and response subcommittee was holding a hearing Wednesday on the terrorism exercise program.

This year's TOPOFF will build on lessons learned from previous exercises, according to the Homeland Security Department, which runs the program. The agency said the Oct. 15-19 exercise would be "the largest and most comprehensive" to date.

According to an internal department briefing of next week's exercise obtained by AP, a dirty bomb will go off at a Cabras power plant in Guam; another dirty bomb will explode on the Steel Bridge in Portland, Ore., impacting major transportation systems, and a third dirty bomb will explode at the intersection of busy routes 101 and 202 near Phoenix.

Local hospitals and law enforcement agencies will be involved in the "attacks" by the dirty bombs, which are conventional explosives that include some radioactive material that would cause contamination over a limited area but not create actual nuclear explosions.

"Lessons learned from the exercise will provide valuable insights to guide future planning for securing the nation against terrorist attacks, disasters and other emergencies," according to the department's Web site.

The after action report from TOPOFF 3, which deals with issues that came up in the 2005 exercise, is supposed to identify areas for improvement. That report is still going through internal reviews.

According to a brief summary of the 2005 exercise - marked For Official Use Only, but obtained by AP - problems arose when officials realized the federal government's law for providing assistance does not cover biological incidents.

The exercise involved a mustard gas attack from an improvised explosive device in Connecticut and the release of the pneumonic plague in New Jersey. This caused certain federal disaster programs to be unavailable to some residents suffering from the attack, according to the summary.

A 2005 Homeland Security inspector general report suggested the department start tracking the lessons learned from these exercises.

And a 2006 White House report on Hurricane Katrina criticized the department for not having a system to address and fix the problems discovered in the TOPOFF exercises.

"The most recent Top Officials (TOPOFF) exercise in April 2005 revealed the federal government's lack of progress in addressing a number of preparedness deficiencies, many of which had been identified in previous exercises," according to the White House.

Previously, a more detailed version of lessons-learned from TOPOFF 2, held in 2003 was not released to states for security reasons.

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TOPOFF or OFFTOP?

Thanks Al, I just saw this and was about to post it myself. Several things in this story are worrying. Because our government has given us ample cause not to trust it, something billed as the "Biggest Terror Drill Ever" is de facto cause for alarm. Period. Any statement followed by the words, "according to the White House", is likewise cause for the highest degree of skepticism.
In addition to previous "reports" that continue to go undisclosed, what troubles one here is the stated purpose of the "exercise": responding to "'fictional' dirty bombs."
Now, isn't this the very scenario, "dirty bombs", that the administration has been mouthing off about for so many months?
It's neither irrational nor unreasonable to recall the "drills" of 9/11 and the British "drills" of 7/7 in this context. When "drills" happen simultaneously with the real events they are meant to resemble, what can one do but view such a story with dubiousness that borders on paranoia.
Whether one's fears prove misplaced or not, is not the issue. The real issue is what the F can one do? While our government is busy TOPOFFing itself, we need to OFFTOP our government. Impeachment NOW, is our first, last and best hope.

"The innocence of the creatures is in inverse proportion to the immorality of the Master." Thomas Pynchon

Submitted by Myshkin on Wed, 10/03/2007 - 6:01pm.

» login to post comments | -1 points

Many good sources for background...

www.oregontruthalliance.org

NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/NSPD 51 - http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070509-12.html

Message to the Congress of the United States Regarding International Emergency Economic Powers Act - http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070717-4.html

JFCOM brings virtual world closer to home - http://www.fcw.com/article98147-04-04-07-Web

Bush Directive for a "Catastrophic Emergency...", Prof. Michel Chossudovsky - http://www.globalresearch.ca/PrintArticle.php?articleId=6134

The "Use of the Armed Forces" in America under a National Emergency… - Prof. Michel Chossudovsky – http://www.globalresearch.ca/PrintArticle.php?articleId=6169

Brzezinski Suggests False Flag Event Could Kick-Start Iran War - http://www.nowpublic.com/brzezinski_suggests_false_flag_event_could_kick...

Wake-up Call: Watch for Another 911/WMD Experience, Paul C. Roberts - http://www.vdare.com/roberts/070718_wakeup.htm

Impeach Bush and Cheney Now, Paul C. Roberts -
http://www.vdare.com/roberts/070715_impeach.htm

-------------------------

2. History of Military Exercises Coinciding with live events
Internal Look Simulation of Iraq Invading Kuwait Coincides with Start of Desert Storm
Norman Schwarzkopf: "We went ahead and did an exercise, what's called a command post exercise, which is what Internal Look was to test our ability to deal with this particular scenario ... Just so happened we were in the middle of conducting the Internal Look command post exercise at the same time the crisis developed in the gulf." http://tinyurl.com/yt3v2k
NYC / Washington DC / Pennsylvania on 9/11/01
http://tinyurl.com/bdfsv
London Bombings
http://tinyurl.com/8um9d

3. New 9/11 warnings
Cheney http://tinyurl.com/3bqxq4 (page 8)
Chertoff http://tinyurl.com/2routa
Al Qaeda http://tinyurl.com/2peoqb
Santorum http://tinyurl.com/ypkybx

4. NSPD 51 Grants Martial Law authority
Text of NSPD 51
http://tinyurl.com/yqthor
DeFazio denied access to COG plans
http://tinyurl.com/36snph

5. Scenario Involving Nuclear Attack in Portland
Harvard Study Maps Results of 10 Kiloton Nuclear Blast in Portland, OR http://www.belfercenter.org/files/dayafterworkshopreport_may2007.pdf (Pg. 9)
Ten kiloton nuclear bomb fact sheet http://tinyurl.com/2q48qa

6. Associating terrorist act to revival of GOP
Republican Party of Arkansas http://tinyurl.com/27hgez (3rd para. from end)
Paul Craig Roberts http://tinyurl.com/38wn5v

Portland Connections:
Uncertain future (Portland, Oregon) Oregon gets terror drills http://tinyurl.com/26we5b
Portland Withdraws from Joint Terrorism Task Force http://tinyurl.com/2564to
Swan Island Networks is providing logistical support for Operation Noble Resolve http://tinyurl.com/ytza2a
http://tinyurl.com/2adgch
Mobius & Swan Island http://tinyurl.com/2zsgsa
Maersk Lines now primary US military shipper http://tinyurl.com/23ssy8
Maersk Lines involved with NOBLE RESOVE http://tinyurl.com/2q48qa
SeaSecure & Mobius http://www.seasecure.com/

General Background:
Is America Preparing for Martial Law? http://tinyurl.com/a3ot9
Martial Law is Now a Real Threat: Declaring the US a Battlefield http://tinyurl.com/2zg67l
BAE joins RAINS http://tinyurl.com/2g55y9
London Bombing Drill conducted by Visor http://www.visorconsultants.com/index.html
Guiliani in London on 7/7/05 http://www.prismwebcastnews.com/pwn/?p=969
Giuliani Security & Safety LLC http://tinyurl.com/2f3gke
Dirty Bomb Threat (backstory) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20221065/
New 911-style plot (backstory) http://tinyurl.com/2j7cxu
Al Qaeda cell may be loose in US (backstory) http://tinyurl.com/ytmfdm
Plot would have killed thousands (backstory) http://tinyurl.com/ynl6b8
Doubt cast on 'liquid explosives' threat, Al Qaeda network in UK Identified http://tinyurl.com/2c9654

------------------------------

Oregon citizens must step forward and call for complete transparency and citizen oversight over the military drills to be conducted in Oregon in October 2007, "TOPOFF 4" and "VIGILANT SHIELD 08". These drills can be rehearsals for the real thing or provide cover for covert or false flag operations. Read about AMALGAM VIRGO, the military and civil exercise held a few months before 9/11 that mimicked the 9/11 attacks with an astonishing similarity. Many people are unaware that on May 8, 2001, Bush appointed Cheney to head up all homeland defense preparation in the event of nuclear or other attacks and disasters. Using terror drills, elements inside the military or civilian government, not loyal to the Constitution, can find cover for contrived terror attacks which are later blamed on the desired scapegoat. In recent times, this phenomenon occurred on 9/11 of 2001 and during the London Bombings on 7/7 of 2005.

Submitted by Styve on Wed, 10/03/2007 - 6:18pm.

» login to post comments | -1 points

The Lie behind Terror Drill Justification~~

Biggest terrorism drill...for what?! The War on Terror is a Neocon Wet Dream!

Turns out that it's a ruse...there is no intent to improve preparedness...hell, the Feds won't even share info gathered from an '05 Terror Drill!! Please see my post on Indymedia of an article that just came out, along with a little local commentary...
-----------------------------
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2007/10/366285.shtml

The lie behind the terrorism drill justification~~

author: Styve

When you repeatedly hear city, county, state and federal officials blather on about how important Portland's participation in this multi-million dollar war game is for learning how to respond to emergency situations in a coherent, collaborative manner...realize that it is BS, because the federal government doesn't even release important information from such terror drills in a timely manner.

Realize that your elected officials are just taking in millions of dollars from the Dept. of Homeland Security and offering Portland as a laboratory for this overly politicized, corrupt agency of the treasonous Bush Regime to run an experiment of TERROR, likely involving use of the National Guard and even contractors like Blackwater.

I contacted our City Council members and the Mayor about this just before the City Council Meeting this morning. Please follow up and keep up the pressure. The drill is scheduled to begin on 10/15, not next week, as is being repeated in news coverage.
[...]
------------------
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/03/america/NA-GEN-US-Terror-Exerc...

AP Exclusive:

America's largest terror exercise is set to begin before results of last one are released

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON: America is preparing for its biggest terrorism exercise ever next week when three fictional "dirty bombs" go off and cripple transportation arteries in two major U.S. cities and Guam, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press.

Yet even as this drill begins, details from the previous national exercise held in 2005 have yet to be publicly released ? information that is supposed to help officials prepare for the next real attack.

Wednesday House lawmakers were expected to demand answers, including why the "after-action" report from 2005 hasn't been made public. Congress has required the exercise since 2000, but has done little in the way of oversight beyond attending the actual events.

Next week will be the fourth Top Officials exercise ? dubbed TOPOFF. The program costs about $25 million (?17.65 million) a year and involves the federal government's highest officials, such as top people from the Defense and Homeland Security departments.

continued at the link above~

Submitted by Styve on Wed, 10/03/2007 - 11:39pm.

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U.S. Plans Biggest Terror Drill Ever.

TOPOFF or OFFTOP?

Many good sources for background...

The Lie behind Terror Drill Justification~~