-Caveat Lector- Ashcroft Terrified by Terrorism By Declan McCullagh Wired.com July 12, 2001 WASHINGTON -- It's been just one month since Timothy McVeigh was executed for the Oklahoma City bombing, and U.S. officials are trying to prevent similar disasters. At a government summit on Wednesday, Attorney General John Ashcroft said that thwarting terrorist attacks was his "number-one priority" and that the Feds were stepping up efforts to guard against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats. Ashcroft said the Justice Department was already planning for 2003 an exercise called "TOPOFF2" -- which stands for "top officials" -- involving simulated attacks carried out with no notice against American cities. The first TOPOFF took place in May 2000 with a mock biological attack on Denver and a fake nuclear bomb near Washington, D.C. The attorney general also predicted noose-tight security during the 2002 Winter Olympics, which will be held in Salt Lake City. "We are doing everything we can to ensure that people from all over the world can come to the Games, bring their families, enjoy the excitement of world-class athletic competition, and feel safe and secure," Ashcroft said. During the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, federal agents falsely accused security guard Richard Jewell of being responsible for planting a small bomb that killed two people. Some participants at Wednesday's event, organized by the National Governors Association and the National Emergency Management Association, said the government must not neglect attacks carried out through the Internet. "After you engage someone, you are taught to step back and look for the next threat," said Mark Noel, a researcher at Dartmouth College's Institute for Security Technology Studies. "In the case of terrorism, that could be an attack on the Internet." "Most people who are deeply involved in this field recognize the force multiplier effect the attack on communications infrastructure would have," Noel said. The only problem: Malicious hacker attacks on websites may just be pranks, not terrorism. And the U.S. military, for instance, has been known to exaggerate statistics of alleged intrusion attempts. On Tuesday, the first day of the two-day summit, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson went even further than Ashcroft. "Someday we're more than likely going to be hit by some sort of bioterrorism in America," Thompson said. He also said that Scott Lillibridge, the former director of bioterrorism preparedness and response at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, had been appointed to coordinate national response plans. All that sounds a trifle threatening to state officials who fret that newly energized efforts by the Feds will trample on state turf. "All attacks start locally, and there is a great sensitivity among (local officials) for an overbearing federal government presence," said Lt. General James Clapper, vice chairman of a government-funded terrorism commission. Ashcroft stressed that he was a former governor of Missouri and pledged to compromise: "Justice Department counterterrorism efforts require close coordination not only with other federal agencies but also with state and local agencies." And what better way to win their allegiance than with some federal dollars? Ashcroft said that the Justice Department "has committed funding to the governors to establish a policy academy for state officials." Earlier this week, the House Government Reform Committee held a hearing on the biological weapons convention. In the Bush administration, Vice President Cheney, who is responsible for coordinating antiterrorism efforts, is preparing a report to be complete by October. One place that's seen an attack firsthand is Oklahoma City, where a nonprofit group says it's worried about the communications system. "If someone incapacitates the 911 system during a terrorism attack, the results would be chaos," said Gen. Dennis Reimer, director of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism. ------------ Andrew Osterman contributed to this report. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. 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