Fw: Terrorism Intelligence Weekly: The Threat to Refineries

[Guest guest]

Anyone what to have a chart crack at this one? It would be interesting

to see what the chart indications were for those accidents and for those

that were not.

 

Bert W. Fannin

Western Sidereal Astrologer

Location and Timing Astrology

ltastrology

www.ltastrology.com

" Where you should be and when you should be there. "

 

 

______

 

-

<alert

<membership

Friday, July 09, 2004 6:04 PM

Terrorism Intelligence Weekly: The Threat to Refineries

 

 

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> The Threat to Refineries

>

> By Fred Burton

>

> U.S. counterterrorism sources were greatly concerned during the July 4

> holiday weekend about a terrorist threat to refineries in the Houston

area --

> specifically in Baytown, Texas. Trusted sources close to the matter said

> refineries there may have come under surveillance by Islamist militants

> seeking to carry out an attack. According to information supplied to

> Stratfor, domestic terrorism alerts were disseminated to police and

corporate

> security officials, who raised protection levels around their facilities.

>

> Meanwhile, Department of Homeland Security officials believe that one of

> Washington state's five refineries might have come under surveillance

> recently. The department noted that al Qaeda views critical infrastructure

> targets -- particularly businesses involving oil and gas -- as attractive

> targets, given their potentially significant effects on the economy,

public

> health and safety and psychological impacts.

>

> Stratfor long has held the view that refineries likely figure into al

Qaeda's

> target-selection criteria for those reasons, but pulling off such an

attack

> in a way that also yields high casualty counts -- another core targeting

> criteria, at least for major strikes -- is tactically difficult.

>

> Consider the following cases, all of which were determined to be

accidents:

>

> * A 1998 explosion at an oil refinery in Anacortes, Wash. -- one of

the

> facilities that reportedly came under surveillance recently -- killed five

> people.

>

> * A May 25 fire near a chemical supply warehouse in Atlanta, Ga.,

forced

> the evacuation of five square miles and the partial closure of a heavily

used

> interstate highway, but there were no casualties.

>

> * An explosion on March 31 partially destroyed an oil refinery -- the

> country's third-largest -- near Houston, but yielded no injuries.

>

> Considering that most of these facilities are large industrial complexes,

> penetrating them in such a way as to detonate explosives in the most

> sensitive areas would be difficult -- and even then, militants likely

would

> be forced to rely on toxic fallout in order to achieve mass casualties

over a

> large area.

>

> That said, the possibility of a strike against refineries or petrochemical

> facilities cannot be entirely ruled out.

>

> In addition to Houston oil facilities, we believe that refineries in

Newark

> also are a potential target -- in part because al Qaeda has a history of

> operating in the New Jersey and New York areas that dates back to the

first

> World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and Sheikh Omar Abdul-Rahman, also

known

> as " the Blind Sheikh. "

>

> Reports of possible surveillance of oil facilities have surfaced in many

> parts of the country -- and whether they originate from credible sources

or

> panic-stricken security guards and citizens, federal authorities have

little

> choice but to take every report seriously, at least initially. Given the

> large number of industrial targets situated within or very near to major

U.S.

> cities -- for example, the Houston area, California coast, the Puget Sound

> area, cities within the Mississippi Delta and New Jersey -- this has the

> potential to create a drag on law enforcement resources.

>

> One case in point: FBI sources have told Stratfor that they are combing

back

> through their case files and re-interviewing anyone who has been

identified

> as a militant suspect or " subject of interest " in a terrorism

investigation

> during the past three years -- obviously a labor-intensive and

time-consuming

> effort.

>

> Though this could be effective in thwarting some attack plans -- or at

least

> put militants on notice that they are being watched -- it can do little to

> address the issue of greatest concern: sleeper cells.

>

> Our analysis indicates that an operations/militant sleeper cell more than

> likely is present in Houston, with another in the New York City or Newark

> area. Whether these cells will be called upon to carry out the next

terrorist

> strike within the domestic United States is not clear, but it certainly is

> feasible that a cell could be activated to attack an oil facility in

either

> Baytown or Newark.

>

> Operationally, it is our assessment that any attack likely would be

> choreographed to coincide with additional militant strikes in the

Washington,

> D.C., area, which is full of symbolic targets. In our view, however, a

strike

> against the Metro subway or Amtrak's Union Station would be the most

easily

> mounted and yield the highest casualty counts.

>

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