RE: 'Dirty Bomb' Was Major New Year's Worry

[Susan L Gawarecki <loc@icx.net>]

 > "Government officials are surprised that people [in the United

 > States] aren't more hyped about all this," said one source familiar

 > with counterterrorism preparations.



The US people were told to continue with their holiday plans.  Besides,

what can the people do?  I went to Washington, DC, over the holidays and

even went downtown via the metro.  I did not tote my full-face

respirator along (although I'd brought it in my car to my parents'

house), not wanting to be burdened with excess luggage that might also

cause a scene when going through security at the Smithsonian Museum of

Natural History (I had to see the new mammal hall).



 > The terrorism crisis began late on Dec. 19, when analysts assembled

 > what they described as extremely specific intelligence, including

 > electronic intercepts of al Qaeda operatives' telephone calls or

 > e-mails. One fear was that al Qaeda would hijack and crash an

 > overseas flight into a U.S. city or the ocean. Another was that

 > terrorists would shoot down an airliner with a shoulder-fired

 > missile.



The public was told only that there was a higher volume of nonspecific

"chatter."  Had the "extremely specific intelligence" regarding downing 

of a plane been made public, there would have been massive cancellations 

of airline reservations.  Oops, I'm about to become cynical again.



In the unlikely event of personal exposure, I'm really scared of a 

chemical attack, fairly concerned about a biological attack, and not too 

worried about a dirty bomb (unless I happened to be in the immediate 

vicinity of the explosion, a vanishingly small probability).  In our 

recent Local Emergency Planning Committee meeting there was a debriefing 

by the hospital on the Knoxville chemical attack exercise.  One 

disturbing finding is that in event of a VX gas or other attack that 

affects lung function, there is a regional shortage of ventilators for a 

mass casualty scenario.  Be aware of the true threats out there.



My own opinions,

Susan Gawarecki

-- 





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