'Dirty-bomb' drill planned

This is quite the intersting artical I wonder if the real thing could take place this time instead of just a drill



Here is the artical

www.wnd.com...



If the link doesnt work here is the artical

HOMELAND INSECURITY
'Dirty-bomb' drill planned
Outbreak of deadly disease part of staged exercise


Posted: May 5, 2003
1:10 p.m. Eastern



2003 WorldNetDaily.com

The explosion of a "dirty bomb" and an outbreak of a deadly

disease caused by the release of a biological agent are two

back-to-back fake attacks Homeland Security officials are gearing

up to orchestrate in a huge exercise, according to the Washington

Post.

Dubbed TOPOFF 2, the drill will cost an estimated $16 million and

involve more than 100 federal, state and local agencies, the

American Red Cross and Canadian government agencies and

organizations, the paper reports.

According to the scenario, officials will deal with two fictional

attacks 2,000 miles apart over the course of five days. At noon on

May 12 a radiological dispersal device, known as a "dirty bomb,"

will explode near downtown Seattle, causing more than 100

casualties and releasing significant levels of radiation. The next

day, people complaining of flu-like symptoms will begin showing up

in Chicago-area hospitals. Local officials diagnose the cause of

the illness and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in

Atlanta confirm the outbreak stems from the release of a deadly,

biological agent.

According to the playbook, the attacks are linked to two cells of

GLODO, a fictional foreign terrorist organization with "a history

of ruthlessness."

"We want to be able to test strategies, responses and protocols,"

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told the Post in an

interview. "When you simulate people and technologies interacting,

you learn a lot about your response capabilities."

Ridge said government officials consider the fake Chicago attack

to be "the true nightmare scenario," where a biological agent

spreads from person to person like SARS, or the severe acute

respiratory syndrome.

Approximately 8,500 people in Washington, D.C., Maryland and

Virginia will take part in the exercise. Participants include

governors, mayors, other local elected officials, police officers,

firefighters and medical personnel.

Canadian national agencies will also participate as part of the

Smart Border Agreement of 2001.

A fictional television network will broadcast a live,

eight-hour-a-day broadcast about the unfolding events to help

officials in their response.

Hundreds of "evaluators" will monitor and report on the handling

of the fictitious crises. But officials told the paper the lessons

learned will not be made public to prevent terrorists from using

the information.

Federal officials stressed the scenario developed is not based on

intelligence of the plans of terrorist groups, and no real weapons

will be used to simulate the attacks.

This marks the second such exercise staged by the government. The

first was a mock germ warfare attack in Denver in 2000. The Post

sums up news accounts of the government's response at the time as

"chaotic."



[Edited on 5-5-2003 by falcon]

We better pass da drill, its only month left before the next "accident"

We had a drill right here in seattle yesterday. A big open field abandoned by boeing was the stage, they set up facades and fake busses and set off a fake bomb supposed to be a dirty bomb. It was loud as hell, wasnt that far from where i worked. I didnt freak out because i read in that mornings paper that they were gonna drill, still, it was awfully loud and did scare a few people.

Interestingly enough, after Sep 11, i remeber many reports from friends in several southern states of new heleicopter like craft in the sky. Mostly in new mexico, where a few of them lived pretty close to White sands. I wondered what the hell they were? new craft for new exercises?

I get a little paranoid when they do these "trainign exercises". Its all a little too ominous for me....

Originally posted by Skadi_the_Evil_Elf
it was awfully loud and did scare a few people.

aint that SOME #?

The drill is expanding.... we will have a similar drill in the next week here... I was on the planning meeting this afternoon.

Office of homeland paranoia continues.......

Wonder of they have been practicing how to committ the next terrorist act and how to do a cleaner job than we did on 9/11.....

Here is the follow up to this artical:

asia.reuters.com...

If the link doenst work here is the entire story:


US to Test Readiness with Simulated Terror Attacks
Fri May 9, 2003 12:26 PM ET
By Deborah Charles
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will launch simulated radiological and biological attacks on two cities next week in its first major test of disaster preparedness since the deadly Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on America.

The $16 million simulation -- the largest homeland security exercise ever undertaken in the United States -- will take place from May 12-16 in Seattle, Washington and Chicago, Illinois and will spread into Vancouver, Canada.

Officials and analysts say they hope to see some improved responses during the Congressionally mandated drill, dubbed "Topoff 2" for "Top Officials 2," over those from Topoff 1 -- a similar exercise carried out in May 2000.

In 2000 when the domestic terrorism threat was not viewed as a top priority, very few top officials participated in the drill. The exercise, similar to what will be played out next week, exposed major communications and coordination problems between federal, state and local officials.

But the attitude has changed in light of the Sept. 11 attacks which forced the United States to realize its vulnerability to terror attacks. This time, more than 25 federal agencies will be involved as well as numerous state and local agencies and departments.

Government agencies at all levels have invested more money to try to improve response time, streamline communications and improve the ability of hospitals to handle a disaster.

"We're really seeing more emphasis on the contingency planning mentality by both corporations and (government) agencies," said Gene Kirby, chief executive of Dialogic Communications Corp., a major vendor of emergency notification technology.

DIRTY BOMB AND PNEUMONIC PLAGUE

Under the scenario, a fictitious terror group will detonate a radiological "dirty bomb" in Seattle on Monday at about noon local time (3 p.m. EDT/1900 GMT). The same group will disseminate a pneumonic plague in Chicago, and people will begin to report flu-like symptoms around Chicago on Tuesday.

More than 100 people will be injured in Seattle and significant radiation will be detected, sparking the government to raise its terror threat warning to the highest level.

In the Chicago area an undisclosed number of people will get sick. In the exercise, people in Canada will report the same symptoms as in Chicago, leading to cross-border efforts to coordinate an epidemiological investigation.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, whose department was created to prevent and deal with any future attacks, said the exercise scenario reflected plausible threats to the country.

"Our objectives are to improve the nation's capacity to save lives in response to a terrorist event," he said earlier this week. "We do have to be prepared in the event an attack occurs so we train and train to build and enhance our capabilities to respond."

Weldon Kennedy, a former deputy director of the FBI and current vice chairman of private security firm Guardsmark, said drills like Topoff 2 were invaluable.

"It tests to the limits under a simulated situation what could really happen, and lets them analyze the response," he said in an interview.

Although planners are due to throw out unexpected scenarios during the exercise to address weaknesses they discover, one thing is for sure. At the end of the week, the FBI will find and "neutralize" the group responsible for the attacks.


looks like the people of seattle and chi town get to expirence red alert.