The Latest from National Terror Alert Response Center

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• 9/11 Drill Down For Safety – Getting America
  Prepared
  
  
• Homeland Security National Review Dialogue Round
  2 – QHSR
  
  
• Military Source Warns of North Korea’s EMP
  Bomb
  
  
• Saudi Prince Spoke To Bomber On Phone Before
  Attack
  
  
• Death Making – Popular Arab TV Show Exposes the
  Real Al Qaeda

9/11 Drill Down For Safety – Getting America Prepared Posted: 02 Sep 2009 01:21 AM PDT It has been eight years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington killed some 3,000 innocent people. How soon we forget. Fortunately, there are people like Len Pagano who haven’t forgotten. Pagano is president and CEO of the Safe America Foundation, located in Marietta. On Sept. 11, Safe America rolls out a project called, “9/11 Drill Down for Safety,” a series of emergency drills designed to teach businesses and families how best to respond to emergency situations ranging from natural disasters to terrorist thuggery. Former Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta is the honorary chairman of the program, which has the backing of the National Association of Emergency Managers, the U.S. Medical Reserve Corps, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency and a host of corporate sponsors. In a news conference at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Mineta said, “Safe America is championing this project because we believe we need to shift the attention from what government can or can’t do to what individuals and families can do on their own. If individuals are trained, they are just as likely to survive on their own than if they wait for first responders to arrive.” Pagano estimates there will be as many as 200,000 people involved in the “9/11 Drill Down for Safety Program.” Among the drills will be efforts to test how special needs populations can be evacuated, determining the most effective way to communicate to high school and colleges students through text messages and looking at how to shelter people in a business location. The drills will be as varied as the locations in which they take place. In Atlanta, UPS will simulate how to protect employees during a potential tornado. The Allstate Insurance office in Marietta will do an employee family preparedness plan. York, Maine will conduct neighborhood preparedness drills. In Washington, D.C., Howard University will carry out student pre-evacuation program planning. San Francisco will focus on day care centers. Read Full Article Safe America Foundation Make The Pledge On Facebook Twitter Could Help In A Disaster Text messaging, Twitter and social networking Web sites could help families stay in touch in the wake of a disaster, a national safety group said Tuesday. The Safe America Foundation announced a campaign to train families about alternate ways of staying in touch if traditional communication methods are not working. The Atlanta-based group is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency on this “Drill Down for Safety” program to make people more aware of communication options during an emergency. Read Article This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information. 9/11 Drill Down For Safety – Getting America Prepared

Homeland Security National Review Dialogue Round 2 – QHSR Posted: 02 Sep 2009 12:56 AM PDT On Monday afternoon I had the opportunity to participate in a Department of Homeland Security Blogger’s Round Table. The round table was held to not only kick-off the second part of the National Homeland Security Dialogue but also to discuss the results from the first dialogue. It was an honor to be invited and included among such an outstanding group of blogger’s including two of my favorites, John Solomon of InCaseofEmergencyBlog and Christopher Bellavita of Homeland Security Watch . If you don’t have these two sites bookmarked, you’ll want to add them. Both are incredibly articulate, informative writers who regularly put forth some of the best, most insightful ideas and approaches to homeland security and preparedness that you’ll find anywhere. Back to the QHSR. Now I could provide a lot of the details from the meeting upfront, however if you don’t read the entire post you’ll miss the most important takeaway from it, so here it is. If you’ve registered and are participating in the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR),your comments are being read, your voice is being heard, and your ideas are being considered and discussed at the highest levels in the Department of Homeland Security. One brief but convincing example to illustrate this point would be the removal of the term “man made disaster” from the lexicon shortly after the first dialogue. Comments in regards to the term were brought up, considered by the working group and based on feedback from round one it was immediately removed. DHS is not only listening, they’re engaged and responding to your ideas and comments… And they want more. I encourage you to not take this lightly. You’re making a difference and helping to shape at least the next four years of Homeland Security strategy and policy. This is a unique and very rare opportunity, one that I know many of you have hoped for, for a very long time. If you haven’t participated up to this point, it’s not too late. Now is the time to register and get involved. Register here. Alan Cohn, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Strategic Planning for the Department of Homeland Security was the moderator for the round table and he shared the results from the first dialogue with the group. Over 20,000 individuals have visited the site, with over 8200 participants and over 200 separate proposals. Many of YOU are included in these numbers. Outstanding results for a new initiative such as this. It was obvious from his comments and enthusiasm that he and the various working groups at DHS are very excited with the participation thus far and hopeful that even more of you submit your ideas and comments for consideration in this second round. The second round will run through September 6th so time is short. With the Labor Day weekend coming up, don’t delay in submitting your ideas and comments early. To participate, you can go to directly to the site at www.homelandsecuritydialogue.org Once logged in, the online tool allows you to prioritize the objectives in the various categories by allocating points to each objective. You can allocate points in increments of 10 and the number of points you have to allocate per goal is dependent on the number of objectives in each goal. (This will make more sense once you log in) You can assign negative points to objectives that you think are less important resulting in more points for you to assign to other objectives. The categories are as follows: Counterterrorism and Domestic Security Securing Our Borders Tough, Smart Enforcement of Immigration Laws Preparing for, Responding to, and Recovering from Disasters Homeland Security Nation Risk Assessment Homeland Security Planning and Capabilities If you’ve been an armchair Homeland Security quarterback in the past (and I know there’s many of you from the comments and emails I receive daily) now’s the time to step up, get in the game and get your ideas on the table. The primary goal in this second round is simple; increase participation, comments and ideas. This really is your opportunity to make a difference, take advantage of it. QHSR Website This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information. Homeland Security National Review Dialogue Round 2 – QHSR

Military Source Warns of North Korea’s EMP Bomb Posted: 01 Sep 2009 07:52 PM PDT North Korea is developing a bomb that emits an electromagnetic field upon explosion and damages nearby electronic devices, a South Korean military source has revealed to the JoongAng Ilbo. The source said North Korea has been working on the electromagnetic pulse bomb, or EMP bomb, since the mid-1990s, with help from Russian scientists, adding that the weapon may be near completion. The EMP bomb produces a short but strong electromagnetic pulse that, if exploded 40 kilometers (25 miles) above ground, would affect equipment within a 700-kilometer radius, including exposed electrical conductors, such as wires. According to Australia-based defense analyst Carlo Kopp and his paper at the GlobalSecurity.org Web site, the EMP effect can cause irreversible damage to electrical and electronic devices, such as computers, radio and radar. He noted that EMP devices can render many modern military platforms useless because they are packed with electronic equipment. He argued that the damaged inflicted by such a bomb is akin to the harm caused by powerful bolts of lightning. The EMP bomb is not known to cause casualties. The U.S. forces used them at the onset of the war on Iraq in 2003. The South Korean source said he expects the North to develop EMP bombs as warheads for aircraft bombs and for Scud-B missiles, warning that the North could use the weapons early and often if war broke out on the peninsula. South Korean and U.S. forces are vulnerable to EMP attacks since they rely on a great number of computer systems and their weapons are heavily equipped with electronic devices, the source explained. Read Article This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information. Military Source Warns of North Korea’s EMP Bomb

Saudi Prince Spoke To Bomber On Phone Before Attack Posted: 01 Sep 2009 06:44 PM PDT The Saudi interior ministry on Tuesday issued a recording of a telephone conversation between the prince who heads the kingdom’s anti-terrorism campaign and an Al Qaeda militant who tried to assassinate him days later. Last Thursday, a suicide bomber posing as a repentant militant blew himself up in the Jeddah office of security chief Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in the first known attack on a member of the Saudi royal family since al Qaeda began a violent campaign in the world’s top oil exporter in 2003. Prince Mohammed, the deputy interior minister and son of the man thought likely to be the next crown prince, was not seriously hurt. Three days later, Al Qaeda identified the suicide bomber as Abdullah al-Asiri, a wanted suspect who entered Saudi Arabia from Yemen. On the recording broadcast by Saudi-owned Al Arabiya, the two men are heard exchanging pleasantries and congratulating each other for the holy month of Ramadan, which is currently being observed by Muslims around the world, indicating that the conversation took place in recent weeks. “I need to meet you to tell you the whole story,” the man told the prince. “If you come I will sit with you and both of us can give whatever he has to his companion,” the prince replied. In February, Saudi Arabia issued a list of 85 wanted suspects and analysts said many of them were in Yemen, including some who had been returned to Saudi Arabia from U.S. detention in Guantanamo Bay and some who had been through a much-vaunted Saudi militant “correction” programme. “Be careful of bad people who want to exploit you,” the prince also told Asiri. Read Full Article This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information. Saudi Prince Spoke To Bomber On Phone Before Attack

Death Making – Popular Arab TV Show Exposes the Real Al Qaeda Posted: 01 Sep 2009 06:28 PM PDT The show is called “Death Making” in Arabic, hardly the way Al Qaeda probably wants itself described. But that is how the powerful pan-Arabic satellite channel Al Arabiya casts the terror organization and its foot soldiers in its popular television program. Hosted by female correspondent Rima Salha, the Dubai-based show is heading into its third year on Al Arabiya and aims to influence how the Arab world views Al Qaeda. “As we know, there are lots of Muslims who are brainwashed so they believe in terrorism but there are also big sections of Muslims who sympathize with terrorists,” says Salha. “We are targeting those people and trying to explain to them that terrorism is not a good thing.” It is a unique program that lets jihadists tell their stories, and then shows the results of their actions. “It’s not enough to tell you that Al Qaeda is a terrorist organization. You have to understand why, what it means, how everything works, and what the end goal is for them,” Al Arabia’s general manager Abdul Rahman al-Rashed explains. For her work, Salha, who is Lebanese, gets death threats, including when Osama bin Laden’s number two, Ayman al Zawahiri, singled the show and Al Arabiya out, by weaving video of both into one of his multi-media diatribes against mass media. Al Rashed said that the video made “a lot of problems for Al Qaeda,” because “they have different factions within Al Qaeda.” “There are a lot of programs debating the issue of terrorism, a lot of debating,” says al Rashed. “But this is the only program with field trips, with special footage, with a lot of revelations in it.” Despite the threats, Salah is undeterred. She goes to the jihadists, where they are: in refugee camps off limits even to security forces and to Iraq. She and her team convince subjects to talk to them. It’s not easy, but some of these militants apparently think they stand to benefit from a bit of publicity. Read Full Article This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information. Death Making – Popular Arab TV Show Exposes the Real Al Qaeda

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