Counterterrorism in the United States

 

It is quite common in the United States and in most European countries to see extra security at airports, plainclothes officers at public events, and even rapid response teams to deal with terrorism threats that may occur. After 9/11 the United States has significantly vamped up its counterterrorism policies. Emergency managers have found that their services are sorely needed and that they have to be capable of planning and preparing for always changing situations. They must be able to gather the proper intelligence from our three-lettered agencies and transfer that into training and developmental opportunities for their teams. Creating terrorism deterrents can be difficult especially having to deal with some of the intelligence issues that we have in the United States. But from an emergency manager’s perspective, they must overcome those issues so that they can detect, deter, and prevent terrorism before it happens.

The most important component of any effort to fight terrorism is public education. It is this sort of education, carried out by police departments and other civic organizations around the nation that is believed to have contributed to the dramatic drop in burglaries nationwide by making the American public more security conscious. A perfect vehicle for public education on terrorism is the privately run Crime Stoppers program. There are approximately 1,000 Crime Stoppers programs nationwide. All of these use the media to advertise rewards for information that solves crimes. Over the last two decades, Crime Stoppers has helped clear more than 250,000 felony cases while handing out millions of dollars in reward money. The Crime Stopper programs should be effectively empowered to increase their area of operations that would include terrorism. (Freeh, 1997)(Williams, 1996)

Before an emergency manager can begin his/her plan of execution they havet o rely on the intelligence community to get their information. The intelligence cycle in the United States is the continuous process by which intelligence priorities are set based off of the current threat, raw information is collected in the form of tracking individuals and watching groups and gathering phone calls and emails, this information is then analyzed and disseminated to those who need it. The cycle is designed to continue repeating itself so that we are always getting better information. Part of the problem that we have with the current intelligence community, is that fact that it is terribly understaffed. They are in need of significantly more analysts and raw data collectors. It is often recognized that most three-letter agencies need to double in size and capacity. Gathering and analyzing information is where the United States will be able to prevent terrorism from happening long before it even has a breath of success. (Lynch, 2008)

While there are many methods of detecting and deterring terrorism that emergency managers utilize. Inevitably there will terrorism plots that will fall through the cracks and are actually successful even on a small scale. The only way to be able to adequately respond to an attack is to have a solid rehearsed plan of action that deals with worst case scenarios. Everyone who could be affected by a large scale tragic event like 9/11 should be in on the training. This includes but is not limited to, first responders, firefighters, EMT’s, police, hospitals and even the National Guard. All of these units should practice full scale simulated reactions, coordination and evacuation rehearsals. This obviously requires massive amounts of coordination and planning, but it is the key to being bogged down during a large scale terrorist attack. Most of the smaller plots are prevented because they are not capable of coordinating, training and preparing to the extent that we saw on 9/11. A radical group that is thrown together with only a small amount of time given to the planning and training will often be caught in the act if they are in the United States. However, our biggest threat comes from actual planning and coordination that is capable of thwarting our defenses. (Palin,2011)

Even with the changes that the U.S. and European countries have made concerning the safety of their people from such attacks, we still find that there is still much to do before the threat of terrorism is no longer a viable issue. With the lack of personnel, and the red tape involved to coordinate with all of the first responder groups the task is quite daunting to emergency managers. And when we throw in the fact that they have to wait on their information to be disseminated from our inadequate intelligence community we see that our emergency managers truly have their hands full. The United States should give those men and women as much cooperation as possible because their task is so vast. Emergency managers are the most uniquely qualified individuals who have to be able to make decisions and plans that are designed to save American lives on a daily basis.

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Freeh, L. (1997). Counterterrorism. Retrieved from http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1997_hr/ss970513f.htm

Lynch, P. Intelligence, (2008). A complex organization united under a single goal: National security. Retrieved from U.S. Government website: http://www.intelligence.gov/about-the-intelligence-community/structure/

Palin, J. Homeland Security, (2011). Deterrence; retrieving the full spectrum. Retrieved from website: http://www.hlswatch.com/2011/12/08/deterrence-retrieving-the-full-spectrum/

Williams. (1996). American society for industrial security. Retrieved from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Can security measures stop terrorism?-a018451756

 

Liberal Media Rants

Liberal Media Claiming to be Independent: The Los Angeles Independent Media Center

The Los Angeles Independent Media Center website covers many left and single issues throughout the entire page. They strongly support protests, marches and demonstrations. And by reading the pages and articles it is very possible to find a sense of radicalism that could very easily be moved from somewhat peaceful protests to a much more destructive stand. The website addresses twenty-four specific issues and offers many examples of articles within those groups. The links that are provided on each page seem to be up to the discretion of the writer and not controlled by the website. Many of the links will direct you to a specific extremists group that supports the story being told, while others show the escalation of crime and public disorder in a positive or humorous light. While looking at these individual issues on the site are beneficial, a quick analysis of the left wing issues would also help to fully understand how the Los Angeles Independent Media Center website is set up.

Some of the issues covered by the website are actually good, controversial issues to talk about. Some of them like their anti-war page hits closer to home than some of the other pages. On that page several articles talk about how much they enjoyed making the Department of Defense (DOD) employees upset to the point of yelling at them or getting violent. Several articles recounted how entertaining it was when they could get one or two of them and verbally attack them as a group until they lost their cool and got upset at the protests. The class wars were entertaining seeing as everything was directed at “Occupy Wall Street” and not actually a class war in the traditional sense of the term. The issues on animal rights were well written and were more theory based which allows the reader to come to his own conclusions on the issues. These articles were preferable to the extreme writings on some of the other pages.

The environmental issues expressed on the page were nothing new, but they were rather exaggerated in detail and made to sound like people were committing sins against humanity. The gender and sexuality pages were actually less biased and presented their side of the arguments very well and although many people would not agree with the ideology presented, it is still written well and provides strong arguments. What interested me the most was how much hate was directed toward the immigration page. I fully expected to see strong support to get jobs and homes for the illegal immigrants, but instead I saw massive articles dedicated to support full scale racism. The spirituality and police state pages carried no surprises in them and were simply filled with contempt for overtly religious clergy and police overstepping their boundaries. For the most part they all seemed to look at issues from an extreme leftists viewpoint or a middle-ground viewpoint that focused on a single issue and didn’t concern themselves with the overall politics.

On one particular article in the political theory page concerning the Nazi rally in Los Angeles at the City Hall, we can trace several of the offered links to either racist cell groups or Nazi cell groups. The article was written to poke fun at the Nazi’s and there were many entertaining descriptive words used to show the apparent ridiculousness of the Nazi party. The writer mentions described them as such “The Nazis were generally an overweight, nonhuggable, rascaly group with a- lot of nifty matching uniforms, top o’ the line parachute pants and some very attractive shiny riot helmets.” The writer also ensured that his readers understood that the over use of the police forces to prevent the two groups from fighting. He also had a good many photos that showed the majority of the events that day. In his writing he encouraged the possibility of getting into a fight with the Nazi party and clearly communicated his irritation of the police forces controlling them. This article in particular could easily lead to individuals being encouraged to commit crimes and making it easy to find extremists groups to join.

The Los Angeles Independent Media Center website covers many left and single issues throughout the entire page. The website shows extensive support for protests, marches and demonstrations. They also seem to prefer writers who were very radical in their views. Looking at eight of the twenty-four pages it is easy to create a rather consistent idea of the entire website. Several links that are provided on each page seem to be up to the discretion of the writer and not controlled by the website which often directed you to a specific extremists group. Overall the website is a representation of extreme leftist views. It also not very user friendly and is difficult to navigate. The writers are all well informed and understand their topics well and most of the writing is humorous. However, it is extremely biased and seems to only be used as a place to rant.

 

London Transportation Bombings-2005

London Transportation Bombings 2005

There are many people who scoff at the idea of learning from history. History is in fact the most important subject to study. History repeats itself, but only when we fail to learn from mistakes we made the first time around. This is the idea behind the research of the London transportation bombings that took place on July 7^th 2005. As we analyze the attack and the motives of the individuals, it begs that we should also look further into the lessons emergency managers could learn from this particular attack. Furthermore, we should also examine the recurring factors that we can see in a terrorist group’s dynamics. Lastly, we will examine the complexity of preparing an effective counterterrorism plan that is safe for the U.S. government and its people.

Many countries have incorporated more security measures along their borders, transportation system, and other major critical infrastructure due to the increase number of terrorist attacks. Consequently these increased measures are now the focal location for terrorist attacks. Terrorists are usually a group who use or promotes horrible attacks in order to further their cause. Increased studies have shown that the two main perspectives of terrorist groups are religious ideology and political gain; knowing these perspectives help emergency managers prevent and have a better response to future terrorist attacks.

Terrorist groups use their religious beliefs in order to justify their actions. These groups are motivated by being obedient to their God.  The unfortunate actions performed by terrorist groups who are Muslims, Islamic, or any other religion affects the entire culture. Not all Muslim groups are terrorists but often people are afraid of them because the extremist groups publically claim certain attacks in order to get attention or be noticed. Some terrorists believe committing these horrific killings will cleanse their soul. They have to accept that the attacks are for the greater good and will provide them with a better place in the afterlife. The underground bombings in the Tavistock Square and the bus attacks that took place in London were planned attacks by four individuals, possibly linked to Al Qaeda. Mohammad Sidique Khan was considered to be the ringleader for the group. The terrorist group considered themselves martyrs for their cause. Their caused turned out to be more than religion based; they wanted to make a political statement as well. A videotape was found after the incident. It stated that Khan would continue attacks until forces were pulled out of Afghanistan and Iraq (“Islamic leaders condemn,” 2005).

Another perspective to review on why radical jihadists perform these attacks is due to their political beliefs. According to the Associated Press, in Cairo they released a statement saying the heroic act from Khan carried out a “blessing attack in London and now Britain is burning with fear and terror, from north to south, east to west”(Townsend, 2006). The United States often gets blamed by these radical groups for many of the conflicts around the world. However, it often seems that they only use it as an excuse to commit the act and not the reason for the act itself. They try to instill fear and intimidation throughout the world by conducting these cowardly acts. Tanweer was another terrorist who announced that Great Britain deserved these attacks because he blames the government for the oppression of the Muslims. He criticizes the government for supporting the United States and Israel. The total number of fatalities in the attack was fifty-six plus the four suicide bombers while 700 other people were injured either from the blast or shrapnel.

There were warning signs that the law enforcement missed prior to the bombings. For instance; the ringleader, Khan, was being investigated relating to a bomb threat two years prior to the attacks. Instead of law enforcement communicating with Parliament’s intelligence and security agency, to allow for a follow-on investigations or at the least fielding them with any information that could be used to monitor his whereabouts and habits. Sadly, none of these happened and London suffered for it. This was a big lesson that had to be learned. Communication between all agencies is the only way to actually help prevent terrorism from happening. Overall communication between local authorities and medical services need to be improved. After the bombings medical and emergency services had poor communication due to being underground and having a low budget communication system. Medical services need to use other resources in order to communicate in crisis situations. According to Newsweek the U.S. authorities had evidence that terrorist were planning a possible attack in London. It also mentioned to avoid the underground trains (Jones, 2005). The London Ambulance Service could not handle the large amount of supplies needed for this major incident at multiple sites. Medical equipment such as stretchers, were not able to fit in the areas where they were needed. Being better prepared in emergency situations working and coordinate trainings with all medical and emergency services will provide the necessary adjustments vital in order to save lives.

Emergency management services can gain knowledge from the previous attacks of the London bombings, Japan’s subway attacks, and even the Oklahoma City bombing. All emergency services need alternate ways to communicate during a crisis situation. Keeping open lines of communication will allow a better situational awareness and alleviate confusion.  The most important element that emergency services can learn from these horrible attacks is to be properly ready for any situation. All emergency units need to coordinate quarterly or semi- annual training. Performing live situational scenarios will only reduce stress, chaos, and confusion when the real attacks occur. All intelligence agencies must inform each other to on the status of each active terrorist group cell. Surveillance and monitoring these groups could possibly prevent future attacks like the London bombings from happening.

There are certain recurring features in terrorist group dynamics that we can look to as clues. There are two recurring features in particular, that experts say are the most telling indicators of a terrorist group, despite what type of terrorists they are. The first big indicator is when the terrorist group adopts an “uncompromising ideology which seeks to use violence to achieve its goals” (Navarro, 2009). The other indicator is isolation. This isolation can mean anything from cutting off ties with non-believers, including friends and family, to considering themselves and their group separate from their country’s government or cutting off any ties to any specific country. While the first thoughts of terrorism these days tend to take the mind to Al Qaeda, keep in mind that they certainly were not the first.

Considering these indicators, we can examine the actions of the Nazis, or go farther back to the Assyrian Empire between 2000 BCE and 605 BCE. The Assyrians are still considered by many historians as the most deadly terrorist group in history (Barnett, minutes six through nine). They not only wiped out populations, they also made the land once owned by those people uninhabitable for a number of years through various efforts. They combined a violent and unbending ideology with isolation. Simply put, they had no allies and their main goal was to conquer enemies and to terrorize the people in the ancient Mediterranean region. They are even referenced many times in the Christian scriptures and other ancient manuscripts for their concerning their ideology (Jonah, NIV).

A common saying is that hindsight is twenty-twenty. Looking at past terrorist groups and the attacks that they are responsible for, allows us to prepare for that specific event and hopefully prevent it from it from happening again in the future. However, most people don’t see how this helps us to prepare for other threats. According to Joe Navarro a former counterintelligence FBI agent and body language expert, it actually can help us prepare for those events. He explains it like this; when a person or group of people adopts an unbending ideology, it leads to isolation. This mental isolation then leads the group to consume themselves so fully with their extreme views, physical isolation follows thereafter. Complete physical and mental isolation, combined with the unwavering ideology that brought the group together, is an almost certain recipe for disaster. Navarro says that this process is linear and those trained to look for it, such as the intelligence agencies, should be able to see the signs long before any violence erupts. (Navarro,2009)

An easy way to stop this process from reaching its full potential is for family and friends, or even local law enforcement, to be on the lookout for signs that a person or group is in the formative-transitional stage. Joe Navarro explains that at this stage, they are still settling on which passions to pursue. They are also trying to decide what needs to be done about said passions all the while reaching out to others to support their cause. At this time in the development of the organization is when the terrorists are most vulnerable and willing to quit if they are discouraged early on. While there may not be any criminal charges to file, taking the time to look for these signs and counsel the individuals in most cases will prevent a terrorist act from ever being committed. This certainly was true in the case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, in which he presented several warning signs that eventually led his father to warn an embassy of what he thought his son’s intentions were. Umar allegedly attempted to suicide bomb a plane in the United States, though the passengers prevented this. Navarro says the agencies Umar’s father alerted should have immediately pounced on this information. However, this was not that case and it led to a successful attack. (Navarro, 2009)

Another recurring factor that we often see in terrorists groups is the overwhelming feeling of being powerless to achieve a perceived opportunity. In the case of the Hutus and the Tutsis of Africa, the Hutus often felt inferior to the Tutsis. This feeling was based off the fact that the Tutsis had been stronger than the Hutus and had imposed themselves on the Hutus and basically bullied them for many years. The Hutus, feeling that there was no other way to get some of their basic human rights back committed horrifying acts of genocide against the Tutsis. The Hutus felt this was the only way to achieve a higher standing in life and to end their feelings of inferiority, which, sadly, were largely reinforced by the Tutsis’ views of the racially inferior Hutus. (Murphy)

When looking into a group or individual suspected of terrorism, there are many points to examine. The most important, however, will always be the person or group’s ideology. If it is extreme and/or unwavering, you have a problem. Combine that ideology with isolation of any form, but especially complete mental and physical isolation, and you have a recipe for disaster. One of the biggest indicators of why someone may turn to such an ideology is a feeling of inferiority to the presumed reigning class of people or the viewpoint that what the group or individual want to achieve is somehow prevented by another group. Friends, family, local law enforcement, and intelligence agencies need to be on the lookout for these signs. Someone who seems harmless today can quickly change their views under the right circumstances.

Examining an effective counterterrorist response is what the United States is currently struggling to create. Terrorists have been around for many years and they will probably be around for many more. The United States needs to secure a plan when it comes to dealing with terrorism. Most dramatically, our personal, community, and national security depend upon the policies  the U.S. government take on terrorism here in the United States and abroad. Creating an effective counterterrorism plan that is solid enough to withstand the scrutiny of the world is not an easy task but it has been thrust upon us. (Clinton, 1996, p. 401-404) There are many factors that increase the complexity of developing an effective counterterrorism response. With examination we find that there are three main areas that make counterterrorism a very complex ordeal; protecting our international image, the possibility of political fallouts and unintended consequences.

A timeline showing the end of the “Cold War” suggests that the end of the Soviet Union occurred in December 1991. On December 25^th, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned and the Russian flag replaces Soviet over Kremlin. Six days later, on December 31, 1991, the USSR officially ceases to exist under international law (cia.gov). The United States becomes the sole global super-power and indisputable governmental heavyweight champion of the world! As the leader of the free-world, everyone looks to the U.S. to set the example for global leadership, and more precisely, how we manage our response to an unprovoked tragic response. The United States, while enjoying its’ victory over communism, must never forget to do everything necessary to project a progressively evolving aura of superiority, and protect its “brand.”

By protecting the brand, the U.S. must never forget who we are as opposed to what we have become. That is to say, that this is a nation governed by the rule of law, which must be followed in spite of their ability to militarily dominate any force that comes against her. The U.S. must always set the example of how a nation should be governed regardless of who the aggressor might be. Protecting the brand is of paramount importance and increases the complexity of developing an effective counterterrorism response as the cost of doing business as the leader of the free-world.

In addition, there is the complexity of considering the political fall-out should the counterterrorist response fail. In the wake of the recent terrorist attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya which left one U.S. Ambassador killed along with three other Americans, we are reminded of another terrorist attack on a U.S. Embassy nearly 32-years ago. On November 4, 1979, more than 3, 000 Iranian militant students stormed an American embassy in Tehran, Iran.  Sixty-six Americans were taken and held hostage for 444-days (Air & Space Power Journal, 2006).

On April 24, 1980, President Jimmy Carter green-lighted a rescue attempt to free the hostages. Operation Eagle Claw proved to be a failed mission that produced political fall-out that sent his presidency into an unrecoverable tailspin, tainted his legacy as Commander-in-Chief, and some would speculate eventually made him a one-term president. As a president in his or her first term, the factors that increase the development of an effective counterterrorism response may potentially be magnified as a result of the impact it had on long-term plans of President Jimmy Carter.

The last factor worthy of consideration regarding the increased complexity of developing an effective counterterrorism response bring us full circle back to the notion of unintended consequences. During the mission to capture Osama Bin Laden, also known as Operation Neptune Spear, the relationship between the United States and Pakistan was severely strained as a result of American forces crossing the borders of Pakistan without prior approval and violating the sovereignty of their country. Operation Security (OPSEC) was essential in the pursuit of a successful and safe mission, but as we celebrated our pride and patriotism, the rest of the world questioned our global leadership role.

An unfortunate reality in examining the factors that increase the complexity of developing an effective counterterrorism response is that sometimes the conditions of the world forces a nation to abandon who they are in an effort to become what they are. The United States is a country that is governed by the rule of law. We are a country that was founded on Christian principles. If any of us should be so privileged as to tour the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, U.S. Capitol Building, and many other popular government sites in Washington D.C., you will find evidence inscribed on the walls testifying as to “who” we are as a Christian nation as opposed to “what” we have become as the leader of the free world. Our true essence and the values of what we stand for are factors that increase the complexity of developing an effective counterterrorism response.

Realizing how many factors go into the emergency management process is really a unique opportunity. The job is not easy seeing as they have to deal with analyzing past events and learning from the mistakes and accomplishments of each attack. Furthermore, they also examine the recurring factors that are visible in a terrorist group’s dynamics. Lastly, they examine the complexity of preparing an effective counterterrorism plan that is safe for the U.S. government and its people. Emergency managers are some of the most skilled and well trained people in our society.

 

 

References

Islamic leaders condemn debate. (2005). Assoicated Press. Retrieved from articles.boston.com

Jones, Malcolm (2005). “Dear Osama Bin Laden”. Newsweek Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.dailybeast.com

Townsend, Mark (2006). “Leak reveals official story of London bombings”. The Observer. Retrieved from http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,1750279,00.html

Barnett, Luke. “You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide”. Phoenix First Assembly. June 2012. <http://vimeopro.com/phoenixfirst/services/page/6&gt;.

Book of Jonah. The Bible: New International Version.

Murphy, Kevin. “The mind of the terrorist: A conversation with Kevin Murphy”. PennState Research, an online magazine. <http://www.rps.psu.edu/inconversation/terror.html&gt;.

Navarro, M.A., Joe. “Unmasking Terrorists – Two Critical Characteristics!”. Spycatcher. Psychology Today. December 31, 2009. <http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/spycatcher/200912/unmasking-terrorists-two-critical-characteristics&gt;.

Air & Space Journal (2006).

Mark Owen (2012). No Easy Day.

Timeline (2012).  Timeline of the Cold War.

 

Clinton, W. J. (1996). ORGANIZING the GOVERNMENT to COMBAT TERRORISM. Retrieved from http://www.odl.state.ok.us/usinfo/terrorism/organizing-government.pdf

Terrorist Attack by Aum Shinriko in 1995

It Could Have Been Worse

            The terrorist attack by Aum Shinrikyo on the subway system in Japan was majorly flawed. The terrorists were not fully aware of the capabilities of the WMDs they were using and thus had only 12 deaths instead of potentially several thousand. The emergency workers and first responders had not looked at the warning signs and were not adequately prepared for dealing with the situation. Had the situation developed to its full potential, the emergency workers would never have been able to deal with the situation. Furthermore, this is one of the few situations where a terrorist organization used a form of WMDs instead of a different type of unconventional warfare. Completely removing terrorist attacks will never happen. However, it is possible to limit them and the damage that they can do.(Witkins, 2009)

In 1995, a religious group called Aum Shinrikyo devised a plot to kill commuters on the Tokyo subway system. The group was led by Shoko Asahara, who founded this religious faction and referred to himself as the “Sacred Emperor of Japan”. Shoko Asahara’s goal was to take over the panic stricken country of Japan and then eventually the world. The overall plan was to have 5 close and dedicated members of the Aum Shunrikyo release liquid 11 bags of liquid Sarin in the close proximities of the Tokyo subway. As the gas was released panic ensued and thousands of people fled the stations. The gas blinded many people and caused severe breathing problems for others. The attack killed 12 people initially and injured approximately 2000 people. Sarin is capable of killing a person with just a drop of the liquid. If the 5 conspirators had understood the capabilities of the Sarin, then they could have had a significantly stronger impact than they had.(Thomas, 2008)(Tokeski, 2009)

As the emergency workers and first responders got the call, they were told only that there was liquid leaking out of bags and that gas was intolerable. The communication breakdown was terrible. Upon arrival, they found that the situation was infinitely worse than they had originally been told. One major issue that was not immediately discovered was that this was an attack not a biological/chemical spill and that it was rapidly spreading throughout the underground. The other issue that complicated things, was that the subway workers had attempted to clean it up and had made the mess worse and gotten themselves killed in the process. These complications were only added to the lack of training and preparation for the emergency workers. The year prior, there had been sporadic isolated chemical attacks that were run by the same organization but the government did not pick up on the warning signs. With the lack of preparation and communication going on, the relief workers were quite lucky that the attack was not any worse than it was.(Thomas, 2008)(Tokoski, 2009)

John Parachini wrote and spoke a lot on terrorism in general and what the government can do to prevent it. He believed that the United States must strike a balance between preparing to address attacks with unconventional or CBRN weapons materials and conventional attacks that may also have dramatic consequences. He talks about how that we seem to focus only on WMDs and not so much as to what the average group has access to. In his opinion, a greater focus on how to prevent terrorist attacks from happening in the first place should be our primary goal. We should not care what methods they use but we should be well prepared to deal with these situations if they manage to slip through our prevention methods. (Parachini,2003)

The United States should re-evaluate their counter terrorism actions. They should implement more preventive measures but should also do better training and preparing our response teams to be ready to deal with it when a situation rises. Part of this preparation should be carefully examined by our budget and scrutinized by the emergency workers so that we get a balance of common sense and well spent money. We should spend more time using our terrorist experts so that we don’t make the same mistakes that have been made in the past. As long as there are people willing to kill the innocent, then terrorism will exist and we will continue to have deal with the innovations of madmen.(Witkins, 2009)(Parachini, 2003)

 

 

 

Works Cited

Parachini, J. (2003, AUGUST). Putting wmd terrorism into perspective. Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=83223a7e-0bee-4a32-a884-1a558e63edf8@sessionmgr11&vid=2&hid=22

Thomas. (2008). Tokyo subway attack. Retrieved from http://www.crimemuseum.org/library/terrorism/tokyoSubwayAttack.html

Tokoski, L. (2009). Alum shinrikyo-japanese terrorist cult. Retrieved from http://www.japan-101.com/culture/aum_shinrikyo_cult.htm

Witkins, P. US House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs, and International Relations, (1999). Statement of john v. parachin. Retrieved from U.S. government website: http://www.chem-bio.com/resource/1999/parachini102099.html

A Historic Film?

Hollywood’s Attempt at Describing “The Lafayette Escadrille”

                Well to start off; the movie Flyboys was made in 2006 and it was directed by Tony Bill. The movie is based off of the true story of the Lafayette Escadrille in World War I. The Lafayette Escadrille was comprised of Americans who wanted to fight in the war in Europe before America was fully in the war. The movie attempts to show the story of those men, their training, and the development of a strong military fighting force through camaraderie. The movie is a typical “American Cowboy Film” where the American hero comes to win the war and the girl.

Before criticizing the film, it would only be fair to compliment some of its historical accuracies. Perhaps the most historically accurate scenes were the dogfighting scenes. The dogfights were definitely audience pleasers for everyone watching. The movements, tactics and Computer Generated Images (CGI) are phenomenal. Using rebuilt World War I planes were part of the key to such amazing effects and very realistic dogfight scenes. Another pro to the film was that they kept the name of the French commander the same as it was in the original Lafayette Escadrille. This is an important part of the story because Captain Thenault was the entire reason why the Lafayette Escadrille was successful. Keeping his original name within the story was a key to making the movie more accurate since he was such an important person in shaping the outcome of the Squadron. The movie also shows the idealogy of the current Middle Eastern conflict which we face today with a few quotes from the movie  such as“you have to find you own reason to be fighting this war or it is meaningless” this was by Cassidy when he is talking to some of the new guys. It is interesting to notice how the making of a movie about World War I is still affected by what is going on in the world today.

The historical inaccuracies of the film are mostly small details that are typical of Hollywood who compensate accuracy to make a point or to draw clear defined lines. For instance: the character of Skinner in the film is supposed to follow the life of Eugene Bullard throughout the war. Unlike the movie, Bullard was not a professional fighter although he was known to get into bar fights he was by no means a professional. Also Bullard joined up in the French Foreign Legion as soon as the war began and he was a highly decorated soldier earning multiple awards for valor before he joined the Escadrille and learned to fly. After his time with the Escadrille he went to sign up as a pilot when the Americans joined the war but was turned down because of his race and was forced to rejoin the Infantry.

Other problems with the movie were that the entire Squadron had their names changed from the character they were supposed to be portraying. This left the audience to have to guess which character was which from the original story. The directors explained that this made it easier so that they would not have to match each of the original flyers characters with a particular actor. Perhaps this explains why in the movie Cassidy seems to be a made up of three of the main people in the original Squadron. He was Major Lufberry the Squadron Commander. He was the head Ace in the Squadron as well as taking in the mentorship capabilities that actually belonged to Captain Thenault. It seems especially in his case that his character seemed to embody the entire spirit of the Squadron and that the rest of the Squadron only added to him. He plays his character well but cutting out several of the main characters in the story is usually a way to upset me as I watch it.

It seems like Hollywood has to tell a love story in every movie. Flyboys was no exception. The romance between Blaine Rawlings and Luicene although inspired by some partial truth about Frank Luke finding a sweetheart while over in France. However, she was from Paris and he did not have to evacuate her from a farmhouse. That particular story is based upon a time when Lufberry and Frank Luke when giant mushroom hunting several miles behind enemy lines and they got caught trying to get enough for the Squadron to have a feast of them. Another minor disappointment to myself when I watched the movie, was the absence of the second lion. The Lafayette Escadrille had two lions as their mascots and their names were Whiskey and Soda.

Perhaps the biggest mistakes that stood out in the movie were the red &black, Triplane, late model Fokkers that the Germans flew throughout the movie. There was only one Squadron in the entire German Air Corps that flew red planes. Those planes were flown by Manfred Von Richthoven “red baron” and his Jasta 11 Fighter Squadron. There were only four planes within his Squadron and there was definitely not the quantity that is shown in the film. The German Triplanes that are shown throughout the film were not used until the very end of the war and they were never pitted against the Nieuport 17 that the Americans were flying. The “black falcon” who was the villain in the movie was completely fictional and so was his plane. The Germans kept no black planes in their Air Corps.

All in all, the movie remained a great flying flick. It remained fairly accurate to the original story line and typically only deviated when the director wanted to make clearly defined lines as in the case with the inaccuracies with the planes. If the names had been accurate as well then the movie would have been significantly increased. But overall it is a fairly enjoyable movie that doesn’t reek of inaccuracies like other Hollywood attempts. And most of the special effects make up for the lack of historical inaccuracies. As far as movies are concerned it is one worth watching….just not exactly historically accurate.

global warming…….cause after all it is a blog

Global Warming

            The planet is getting hotter all the time. This excessive heat buildup is primarily the fault of the humans in the 20^th century as they put things like fossil fuels and vehicle emissions into the air. This has an advert effect on the climate which could have other consequences linked to it as well. Greenhouse gases that build up and are unable to escape into the atmosphere are a major part of global warming. With the rise of Global Warming there is also a change in the weather around the world as it impacts, sea level, flooding and hurricanes.

            Human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and vehicle emissions are perhaps the single highest contributor to Global Warming. These human activities have led to increased atmospheric concentrations of a number of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and ozone in the lower part of the atmosphere. This leads to an unbalanced atmosphere. When the atmosphere is unbalanced, it creates a type of layer that traps heat inside. Very similar to how sun heats up a car more when you have no window shade up, this is the same way the earth heats up because those gases are unable to leave the atmosphere because of the unbalance.(Miller, 1997)

            The climates around the world have been changing due to this, and they are changing at a faster rate. The climates are become more warm and humid. Although in the outside this does not sound bad, when you realize that 20% of the diseases discovered over the last 30 years are only able to grow in warm and humid climates. As the earth gets warmer, people will get sicker just based off that. Malaria is spread through mosquitoes which happen to grow in warm humid breeding grounds. There has been a fourfold increase of Malaria in the last five years alone in North America. (Thomas, 1997)

            The rise in atmospheric greenhouse gases is the key to the issue at stake here. Greenhouse gases reabsorb the heat that is reflected off the Earths surface and remain trapped in the atmosphere causing it to reflect and radiate back onto the earth. The overall affect is that the earth is heated quite a bit more than it had originally been  intended to be heated. This is because the gases in our atmosphere are too heavy to float away now so they have to remain in the atmosphere. The buildup of excess gases has gotten extremely high within the past 20 years making the problem of greenhouse gases almost impossible to fix.(Simmons, 2004)

Global warming is making hot days hotter, rainfall and flooding heavier, hurricanes stronger and droughts more severe. This intensification of weather and climate extremes will be the most visible impact of global warming in our everyday lives. Over the next century scientists believe that we will see the following; up to 11 degrees hotter in North America, they estimate that soon there will be as high as 25 million people with worsened allergies directly related to an excess of tree pollen because of the heat waves, winter is getting shorter, except in the North were the melting ice makes it have heavier snow fall, Hurricanes are expected to rise up to 30 percent more over the next century. (Willis, 2011)

            There are many ways to reduce global warming. Perhaps the single most important step to take would be to educate the people so they actually know what is going on. Putting up signs at airports, when you buy a car, or even on city buses so people know why its important. Then the next step would be to build back up the agriculture which will cut back on the carbon dioxide in the air. Encourage businesses to create incentives to carpool together and reduce the vehicle emission problem. Active measures need to be taken or it will eventually be completely unreversable. Our world is heading toward a possible global wide drought and natural disasters that will kill thousands maybe even millions and all they do is completely ignore the impending doom on their doorstep.

 

 

Works Cited

Miller. (1997). Global change research information office. Retrieved from http://www.gcrio.org/ipcc/qa/04.html

Thomas, S. (1997, n/a n/). The potential effects of global warming. Retrieved from http://healthandenergy.com/potential_effects_of_climate_change.htm

Simmons. (2004). Stanford solar center. Retrieved from http://solar-center.stanford.edu/sun-on-earth/glob-warm.html

Willis. (2011). National wildlife federation. Retrieved from http://www.nwf.org/Global-Warming/What-is-Global-Warming/Global-Warming-is-Causing-Extreme-Weather.aspx

A New Poker Hand

Well this year has been the most difficult of my life to date. Emitonal highs and lows pushed me through this hell somehow. I hope that my readers take this opportunity to take ever chance offered them so as to live with no regrets this time in a year. I have several regrets this year that mostly stem from not taking a chance when it was offered. Was it fear? lack of confidence? or something different? My life could have more chapters to it, had I taken those chances that were offered to me. This year I will take those chances just to live for the experience of the moment and for the memories that I’ll cherish for a lifetime.

The other  reason I have determined to live in the extreme this year was not because i didn’t take a chance last year but because of the success the few times that I did. My life is completely different because I chose to take a few chances last year most of them I was  not even sure if I could succeed. but the very fact that I tried built me and changed the direction of my life. I believe now that life is what we make it. we can choose to take a chance everyday and our life will have more meaning or we can choose to throw away this gift of life by wasting another day because we choose not to take that chance. you never know if taking a chance on 4 of a kind is gonna win…..someone could always have a royal flush…..but c’mon how often does that happen?

My challenge for you this year and for myself is to take the opportunities as they are presented in a daily manner. but do me a favor too….let me know how it works out for you when you took a risk and came out winning.

Happy New Year

Sincerely

The Prof.

Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu lived in the early 6th centure B.C. The world owes this man a great deal. As the first Military Philosopher, he has impacted the world with his writings and changed the outcome of wars and invertently the world as we know it. His works stand as some of the most upheld in Chinese literature and in Japan it is held in very high reverance where for thousands of years the fighting class and the civilian class were seperate. Sun Tzu did not begin as a military man but he published his writings for his students so that they may be able to adopt them for personal life. It is an interesting concept to the Western World to write about a subject but still have it relate to common everyday life. However, in Chinese literature it was quite common and in some cases expected to have a double meaning.

Perhaps the reason that Sun Tzu’s 13 scrolls have become such a commonplace among military leaders is that he spoke of principles and fundamentals instead of actual specific problems his military had. Dealing with the root of the problem and showing a reason behind it and a reason for doing it it his way. Perhaps the biggest thing that Sun Tzu tries to drive home in his writings is that deception and secrecy are the keys to winning an engagement. In his scrolls you will never see him “play by the rules” he is ever so practicle in his writings. For example: if your objective is to defend against the enemy until reinforcements come, then you should defend only and area that cannot be taken. If you are unable to get a position that you cannot hold against all odds without even the slightest inkling of defeat then you should retreat and spare your men.. Hm thinking like that is sometimes difficult to wrap your head around when you are in the middle of an ambush and you are ordered to hold your posisiton. He belived that every battle could be won or lost depending on who had ALL of the advantages. He did not belive in have a few advantages and then barrelling into a conflict and hope that you have enough advantages. He firmly belived in maintaining every single advantage over the enemy by 1 disrupting his plans any and every way possible 2. making the enemy react to your movemements and not the other way around 3. by only attacking areas undefended or lightly defended but attacking them with enough force to rout the enemy.  After Sun Tzu became a general, he put these practises to work on his own philosophy and needless to say he became the most feared commander of his day.

Many ideas of his were controversial in the day and are not even considered a possibilty by todays standard. Such as killing any officer who did not race to meet his orders. is fear the best way to motivate people? I’d ;like to suggest that perhaps it is not the best way. I believe that in this aspect even the great master was unable to follow his own writings. He said that  officers must be able to treat their subordinates like they would treat their own children. but that they must also have their orders obeyed withour hesitation…..but if you kill the officer evertime he doesn’t appear when you clap your hands it seems a bit impossible to properly teach him the perfect balance of caring for his men and also for disopline…..

Also another problem I have with this man is this. As a philosipher he is capable of writing down his ideas….but he seems to fail as a writer in general….mostly because he does not always explain it to those of us that do not understand the tangled and dark ways of a philosopher’s mind….. As a historian he is fair enough to follow and record the history and when he writes a story based on one of his prinicples or fundamentals it is chrystal clear….however that is only for about half of the book as the rest seem to be nothing but the “wise sayings of a madman” He was writing for military men yet he uses riddles to explain his reasons and here I use my own experience to say soldiers do not trying to figure out riddles they like the information to be straightforward…Sun Tzu even says this in his book. Why then would this man make his writings of great wisdom so difficult to understand

So here is my rant and the reasoning behind it….If you are going to take the time to write…..take the time to make it understable for your given audience. And if you would like to go the extra mile then dumb the writing down so that everyone can read it and fully understand it. Because all proffesions have a different type of reading and writing style it takes a skilled writer to apeal to all of them. For instance most of my works on the civil war are not comprehesnable for scientists and the like because the read everything in quick spurts of neccessary information. This does not make them dumb nor does it make myself dumb(of course it doesn’t make me dumb that would be impossible) However, it does mean that people all process information differently and thus to reach many audiences a good writer must be able to bland their own style with the readers comprehension…..

Until we meet again

Sincerely

Prof. Weatherby III