INTRODUCTION TO TERRORISM THE WMD THREATfaculty.uml.edu/bleblanc/44.115/pdf/Hazards_and_the_WMD_Threat.pdf · • Terrorist objectives include death, destruction, ... •Animal Liberation

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INTRODUCTION TO TERRORISM &

THE WMD THREAT

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Terrorism• Oriented on an ideology, a political cause, or an issue.

• Terrorists commonly work in small, well-organized groups.

• They are sophisticated and possess an efficient planning capability.

• Terrorist objectives include death, destruction, theft, and publicity.

• Involves criminal action

• Involves force or violence

• Aimed at civilian population

• Intended to coerce or intimidate a government or civilianpopulation

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• World Trade Center, New York City (1993)

• Animal Liberation Front arson attack, Michigan (1993)

• Oklahoma City bombing (1995)

• Amtrak derailment, Arizona (1995)• Bomb attack on FBI Field Office, Texas (1996)

• Numerous bomb attacks, Atlanta (1996-97)

Terrorist Activity

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• Terrorism has become a significant threat

• Bombing is the “tactic of choice”

• Chemical, biological and radiological threats compound the problem

• Preparation is essential for successful response

The Evolving Threat

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Categories of Terrorism

• Domestic Terrorism

• International Terrorism

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TERRORIST THREAT: INTERNATIONAL

INCIDENTS

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3State Sponsors of Terrorism

1. New York 4. Seattle

2. Saudi Arabia 5. Yemen

3. Kenya

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Organizations

• Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement)

• Hizballah (Party Of God)

• Al-qaida (The Base)

State Sponsors of Terrorism

1. Algeria 5. Libya

2. Cuba 6. North Korea

3. Iran 7. Sudan

4. Iraq 8. Syria

TERRORIST THREAT: INTERNATIONAL THREAT

(con’t)

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DOMESTIC THREAT: DOMESTIC INCIDENTS

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1. 1996 – Atlanta Olympic Park

2. 1997 – Atlanta Family Planning Clinic

3. 1997 – Atlanta Nightclub

4. 1997 – Fort Worth, Texas

5. 1998 – Las Vegas, Nevada

6. 1998 – Birmingham, AL

7. 1998 – Brownsville, TX

8. 1998 – Palm Desert, CA

9. 1999 – Sacramento, CA

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DOMESTIC THREAT

• Hate groups– Klu Klux Klan– Skinhead– Christian identity– Black separatist

• Patriot groups– Militias– Common-law courts

• Cult groups• Single issue groups

• Lone individuals

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Patrio t / R ight-W ing G roups

M OT IVATIO N S

• N ew W orld O rder

• Anti-G un con tro l

• Ap oca lyp tic vie ws

• W hite sup rem acy

• Anti-g overnm ent• Anti-taxation

T actics

• Bo m b ing s

T arg ets

• Federal, sta te and local governm ent ag enc ies

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• Timothy McVeigh

• Benjamin N. Smith

Lone Individuals

•Theodore Kaczynski“Unabomber”

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Hate Groups

Include the categories of Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazi, Skinhead, Christian Identity, Black Separatist, and others.

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CULT GROUPS

• “The Kobe earthquake will seem as a fly landing on one’s cheek.” …Shoko Asahara

Bagwan Rajaneesh

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MOTIVATIONS• Revolutionary

socialist doctrine• Protectors against

capitalism• Protectors against

imperialism

Tactics• Bombings

Targets• Federal, state and

local government agencies

• Symbols of U.S. government and democracy

Left-Wing Groups

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MOTIVATIONS• Animal rights

• Environmental issues

• Abortion rights

• Anti-abortion

Tactics • Bombings, arson

and sabotageTargets

• Public health agencies

• Laboratories• Businesses

Special Interest Groups

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Single Issue Groups

Eric Robert Rudolph

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MOTIVATIONS• Support for state

sponsors

• Hate of western institutions

• Retribution for perceived wrongs

• Money

Tactics• Bombings,

hijackings, assassinations

Targets

• Symbolic targets• Mass destruction

• Mass casualties

International Groups

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Al Qaeda Testing Chemical Agent on a Dog

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Terrorist Tactics• Bombings

• Arson

• Assassination

• Kidnapping

• Sabotage

• Weapons of Mass Destruction

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Terrorist Tactics• Assassination

A term generally applied to the killing of prominent persons and symbolic enemies as well as traitors who defect from the group.

•On October 6, 1981, President Anwar al-Sadat was assassinated during an annual military parade celebrating the "successful" campaigns during the 1973 Egypt-Israeli war.

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Al Qaeda Assassination Training

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Arson•Less dramatic than most tactics

•Has the advantage of low risk to the perpetrator and requires only a low level of technical knowledge.

•Arson is often associated with environmental terrorists

Terrorist Tactics

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Arson cont.• Vail, Colorado: The arson attack at a Colorado ski

resort October 19, 1998, was apparently carried out by members of the so-called Earth Liberation Front.

• Destroyed a ski patrol headquarters building, a skier shelter, a mountaintop restaurant and several chairlifts

• Caused some $12 million in damage

• Set to protest the Vail ski resort's 880-acre expansion.

Terrorist Tactics

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Hostage Taking. • This usually is an overt seizure of one or more

individuals with the intent of gaining publicity or other concessions in return for release of the hostage.

On November 4, 1979, student militants stormed the US Embassy grounds in Teheran, Iran and held 52 American diplomats and Marines hostage for 444 days.

Terrorist Tactics

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• Similar to hostage taking• Kidnapping has significant differences

• Kidnapping is usually a covert seizure of one or more person in order to extract specific demands.

Kidnapping

On 15 March, 1978 Italian Premier Aldo Moro was kidnapped by the Red Brigade. His body was subsequently found on May 9, 1978.

Terrorist Tactics

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Al Qaeda Kidnap Training

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Hijacking or Skyjacking Sometimes employed as a means for escape, hijacking is normally carried out to produce a spectacular hostage situation.

• Although trains, buses, and ships have been hijacked, aircraft are the preferred target because of their greater mobility and vulnerability.

2001 World Trade Center Attack HijackingsFirst time hijacked aircraft used as weapons

Terrorist Tactics

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Hijacking or Skyjacking On Friday, 14 June 1985, TWA Flight 847 left Athens for Rome. Lebanese terrorists seized the plane and forced it to land in Lebanon. • US Navy diver Robert Stethem killed…body

tossed out on tarmac. • Hostages released in small groups over the next

two weeks, with the final group released on 1 July, after Israel agrees to release several hundred Palestinian detainees.

Terrorist Tactics

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• Seizure usually involves a building or object that has value in the eyes of the audience. • Some risk to the terrorist because security forces

have time to react and may opt to use force to resolve the incident.

Seizure

In March1977, several Hanafi Muslim members seized three buildings in Washington, D.C., the District Building (City Hall), the B'nai B'rith Building and the Islamic Center. They took several hostages. Several were injured (Marion Barry shot) and one was killed.

Terrorist Tactics

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Armed attacks on facilities are usually undertaken for one of three purposes: • To gain access to radio or television broadcast

capabilities in order to make a statement; • To demonstrate the government’s inability to

secure critical facilities or national symbols; • To acquire resources (e.g., robbery of a bank or

armory).

Raids or Attacks on Facilities

Terrorist Tactics

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Al Qaeda Building Attack Training

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During the 1970’s, the Symbionese Liberation Army conducted a 22-month reign of terror in California during which time 2 people were murdered and 3 others were wounded. • Gained most of their notoriety by kidnapping newspaper

heiress Patty Hearst• Majority of their crimes, which they financed by robbing

banks, involved bombings.

Terrorist Tactics

Raids or Attacks on Facilities

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• The objective in most sabotage incidents is to demonstrate how vulnerable society is to terrorist actions.

• Industrialized societies are more vulnerable to sabotage than less highly developed societies.

Sabotage

• Eco-Terrorists have long used sabotage as a form of attack.• Spiking trees (the process of placing a spike in a tree

so that a logger will hit it when downing the tree) • Burning buildings under construction, such as the Vail,

Colorado attack

Terrorist Tactics

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Any terrorist group that has established credibility can employ a hoax with considerable success. • A threat against a person’s life causes that person and

those associated with that individual to devote time and effort to security measures.

• A bomb threat can close a commercial building, empty a theater, or delay an aircraft flight at no cost to the terrorist.

• False alarms dull the analytical and operational efficiency of key security personnel, thus degrading readiness.

• Used to gain intelligence

HoaxesTerrorist Tactics

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• Although this tactic has not been widely used, the increasing accessibility of sophisticated weapons and explosives to terrorists has the potential to threaten damage to the environment.

Examples would be intentional dumping of hazardous chemicals into a city’s water supply or the destruction of an oil tanker.

Environmental Destruction

Terrorist Tactics

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Infrastructure technologies provide attractive targets for terrorists who can apply a range of rudimentary and advanced attack techniques to disrupt or undermine confidence in a range of systems.

National infrastructure, transportation, telecommunications, energy, banking, public health, and water supply are becoming increasingly dependent on computerized systems and linkages

Use of Technology

Terrorist Tactics

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Suicide Terrorism / Bombings

Suicide sends a powerful message

• Attacker could not be deterred

• Allows for the act of martyrdom

• Connects attacker to a broader community

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Al Qaeda Suicide Training

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Building a Suicide Vest

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The improvised explosive device (IED) or Bomb is the terrorist’s weapon of choice.• Inexpensive to produce • Various detonation techniques available, may be a low risk to the

perpetrator.• Suicidal bombing cannot be overlooked.

• Other advantages include their attention-getting capacity-ability to control casualties through time of detonation and placement of the device.

• Easily deniable should the action produce undesirable results. • From 1983 through 1996, approximately half of all recorded terrorist

incidents involved explosives.

Terrorist TacticsBombings

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Terrorist TacticsWorldwide Attacks

Bombings50%

Armed Attacks22%

Hijackings12%

Assassinations6%

Other10%

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Patterns of U.S.Terrorism

86% are bombings…

P r iv a te r e s id e n c e s

1 1 %

D ip lo m a tic b u ild in g s

1 0 %

E d u c a tio n a l b u i ld in g s

4 %C o m m e r c ia l e s ta b l is h m e

n ts3 6 %

M ili ta r y p e r s o n n e l &

fa c i li tie s2 0 %

G o v e r n m e n t b u i ld in g s

1 9 %

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Why Use Explosives?

• Dramatic, low risk, draw attention• Few skills needed• Can execute attack remotely• Large groups not required• Components readily available• Government sponsors difficult to identify• Forensic evidence difficult to identify,

collect and assemble

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Terrorist BombingsTerrorist Bombings

KHOBAR TOWERS ATTACK

ISRAELI ATTACKUSS COLE ATTACK

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• MARINE BARRACKS, BERIUT, LEBANON:On 23 October 1983, terrorists, using a truck bomb destroyed the Marine barracks in Beirut Lebanon. 245 Marines, soldiers, and sailors were killed, and 146 wounded.

• Pan Am Flight 103

• KHOBAR TOWERS: On June 25, 1996 nineteen USAF Airmen were killed by a truck bomb at the Khobar Towers in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

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• DAR ES SALAAM/NAIROBI EMBASSIES: On 7 August, 1998, bombs exploded almost simultaneously at the U.S. Embassy buildings in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

• Killed 153 and left over 4,500 injured …two bombs

• Severely damaged both installations, and surrounding buildings.

• USS COLE: The October 12, 2000 suicide attack on the U.S.S. "Cole" marked the first time a modern American warship was successfully targeted by terrorists. • 17 sailors killed and 39 others injured.

• Destroyer refueling in the port of Aden in Yemen

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Murrah Federal Building Oklahoma City 1995

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Madrid BombingsMarch 11, 2004

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Terrorists to date have used chemical weapons and there is potential for the use of both chemical and biological weapons in the future.

• Biological Agents• Chemical Agents• Radioactive Material

Sarin gas attack in March 1995 in the Tokyo subway2001 Anthrax attacks

Use of WMDTerrorist Tactics

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Domestic WMD IncidentsOregon 1984 Rajaneesh cult members spread

salmonella on salad bars in local restaurants in an attempt to affect a local election

Fort Worth, Texas, April 1997: Four individuals pleaded guilty to plotting to blow up a natural gas-processing plant.

Las Vegas, Nevada, February 1998: Larry Wayne Harris and William Leavitt, Jr. were apprehended and detained for possessing anthrax.

Brownsville, Texas, July 1998: Three self-proclaimed members of the Republic of Texas schemed to kill President Clinton. They planned to use a cigarette lighter modified to shoot cactus needles allegedly to be coated with anthrax.

Fall 2001 Anthrax letters sent to NBC and NY Post and National Enquirer.

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WMD WEAPONS

• Reasons terrorist might use WMD weapons– Cheap

– Available

– Effective

– Difficult to detect

– Maximum benefit/minimum resources

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THE CONVENTIONAL TERRORIST

In the past, the essence of terrorism was to disseminate fear and make a political statement through violence.

It was a political act designed to influence an audience, thus levels of violence were calculated so as to draw attention but not to be so high as to alienate supporters or trigger overwhelming response from authorities.

A conventional terrorist is one who commits acts of terrorism that are constrained, committed to gain attention, and not done to inflict mass casualties.

Holds a Political or Social Agenda.

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The Post-Modern Terrorist

• The Post-Modern Terrorist is motivated by religious ideologies, radicalized redemption theories, or racist/ethnic hate wherein the number of casualties are of no concern.

• Holds a Destructive Agenda

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Causes of the Post-Modern Terrorist

• Religious Revivalism

• Cold War Termination.

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Six factors that contribute to the increased use of

WMD• Conventional methods are mundane and the post-

modern terrorist is compelled to use WMD in efforts to show dominance

• A global population desensitized to violence further weakens the constraints of using WMD

• Intense urbanization increases the number and accessibility of targets.

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Six factors that contribute to the increased use of

WMD• Concern for individual rights in the western democracies

provides an environment where the post-modern terrorist can emerge and develop his own WMD potential

• Diffusion of WMD-related technologies is occurring at an extremely rapid rate

• The economic hardships experienced by the former soviet union has created a pool of knowledgeable individuals.

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Three requirements the PMT needs to develop and use a WMD

• #1 - A Destructive Agenda

• The availability of materials and technical requirements to use and develop WMD

• The financial capacity to fund such programs

• The individuals knowledgeable of WMD technologies are involved with groups that might threaten to use WMD.

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The WMD Threat

Intentions + Capabilities = Probable Threat

No longer a question of will, but a matter of means and opportunity.

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The WMD Threat

Biological Agents –Subject to optimal dissemination conditions, biological weapons are more

destructive than chemical weapons and even nuclear weapons

Range in lethality, from salmonella used to temporarily incapacitate to bubonic plague engineered for mass casualties.

Ricin, which an individual may use to assassinate a single targeted official/VIP, as well as pathogens such as Smallpox, with high transmissibility and broad potential impact.

Hard to produce

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The WMD ThreatChemical Agents –

Characterized by the rapid onset of medical symptoms (minutes to hours)

Usually easily observed marks (colored residue, dead foliage, pungent odor, and dead insect and animal life)

Man-made, super-toxic chemicals that can be dispersed as a gas, vapor, liquid, aerosol

• Choking agents that damage lung tissue (e.g., chlorine, phosgene)• Blood agents that interfere with cellular respiration (e.g., hydrogen cyanide)• Blister agents that cause severe chemical burns to the skin and lungs (e.g.,

mustard gas), Nerve agents (e.g., VX, Sarin).

Toxic Industrial Chemicals - Chlorine and Phosgene Ammonia Organophosphates

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The WMD ThreatRadiological –Nuclear Fission Bomb or more likely:

“Dirty bombs,” or radiation dispersal devices (RDD), are weapons that use conventional explosives to disperse radioactive materials, thereby augmenting the injury and property damage caused by the explosion.

The know-how required for the construction of a dirty bomb is not much more than the one needed to make a conventional bomb. No special assembly is required: the regular explosive would simply disperse the radioactive material packed into the bomb.

The hard part is acquiring the high-grade radioactive material (e.g., Cesium-137, Americium-241, Strontium-90, Iridium-192).

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) notes that virtually every country has radioactive substances that could be used to make dirty bombs