What More Motivation Do You Need?

Those of us who take preparedness seriously often just shake our heads at the reasoning people give for not getting prepared.  Most of the time, the excuse is along the lines of, "Well, the government will take care of things."

Uhm, not so much.  Some agencies are apparently more concerned with matters other than terrorism.  As you'll see below, some of them seem more focused on publicizing job openings than offering information on what people can do in the case of a terrorist attack.

Prepare shake your head so violently that you hurt your neck!

A recently release report from the Justice Department Inspector General says they aren't ready for diddly-squat.  Not even close -

I speak of the report from the Inspector General of the Justice Department, issued in late May, saying the department is not prepared to ensure public safety in the days or weeks after a terrorist attack in which nuclear, biological or chemical weapons are used. The Department of Homeland Security is designated as first federal responder, in a way, in the event of a WMD attack, but every agency in government has a formal, assigned role, and the crucial job of Justice is to manage and coordinate law enforcement and step in if state and local authorities are overwhelmed.

So, no law-and-order if things get a bit dicey.  Nice.

The paper also quoted Randall Larsen, the former executive director of the commission that gave the government low marks in January: "They just don't see the WMD scenario as most likely," he said.

They don't? They must be idiots. They must not be reading all the government reports of the past eight years, declaring terrorist attacks on U.S. soil not only likely but virtually certain. There are many reasons for this, and just one has to do with something Ronald Reagan mused about in his office 25 years ago. "Man has never had a weapon he didn't use," he said, to a handful of aides. If you develop the atom bomb, it will be used, as it was. If man, in his darkness, can develop and deploy nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, they will be used, too.

Al Qaeda, Hamas and any of the thousands of groups that want us dead, are smart enough to know that they can't attack us mano-a-mano.  We'd crush them if we fought a traditional war.

They employ the tactics of Asymmetrical Warfare.  They understand that they have to fight "dirty".  They find someone willing to strap on a chest full of dynamite - knowing full well he will lose his life - towards the goal of killing a couple dozen enemy soldiers.  A one-for-ten or one-for-thirty ratio is pretty damned good.

WMDs are considerably more difficult to build and deploy, but these terrorists have had nearly 9 years to work out the bugs.  We know that the first step - getting into our country undetected - is a piece of cake.  They've had plenty of time to work out the details of how to strike again.

Like 9/11 - a WMD attack that cost 20-odd terrorist lives in exchange for 3000+ US lives - a number of coordinated, targeted attacks on key infrastructure could be devastating.  Water delivery, communications, food distribution - pick a target.

I used to wonder about why they wouldn't use airplanes again.  I used to be an Oakland Raiders season ticket holder (I dropped the idiots this year.... who's been the idiot?!).  The Oakland Coliseum is within a stone's-throw of Oakland International Airport.  We'd have planes buzzing over the stadium all the time, pulling advertising banners behind them.

Imagine the panic and terror that would be caused by someone who hired a private pilot for the day, cut the pilot's throat or shot him in the head, and "aimed" the plane into a stadium full of fans?

The cost?  One dead terrorist, one dead pilot, one crashed rented plane and hundreds if not thousands of dead fans.

But the terror impact would be the big bonus.  Seeing planes acting like lawn darts as the slammed into the stadiums would be horrific.  Airports across the country would be shut down.  Football would likely cancel the season, or at least a part of it.

If the wing-nut in North Korea or Iran decides to get ugly, a nuke could be sent our way.  What then?

No one wants to think about it. I don't want to think about it. But you have to make plans. You have to imagine, you have to think about the worst case, and then you have to plan for it—literally. We've had enough time, nine years since our unforgettable reminder that history is, among other things, and some of them quite wonderful, a charnel house.

...

You can see a certain air of complacency even in government websites. On the front page of the House Committee on Homeland Security site there's a picture of Chairman Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, then, below, an area devoted to something called "Business Opportunities Model" and an area for "DHS Business Opportunities." On the Homeland Security Department's website, the priorities seem equally clear: "Find Career Opportunities," "Use the Job Finder." There's little sense of urgency; it's government as employment agency, not crisis leader.

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Honestly, I don't know what the Justice Department could really do.  If some SHTF event occurs, we're all going to be on our own - at least for a good period of time.

I noted in one of my last posts that when the Rodney King verdict was announced in LA, there was rioting for 6 days.  What I didn't mention was that it took 3 days for the California National Guard to get on site.  Three days to secure one area of America's second largest city.  And this was while no other disaster was in play.  What kind of response could be expected if it were some sort of wide-spread attack?

If something big and bad happens, and you're out in the boondocks, I hate to break it to you, but they ain't comin'.  You're on your own.

Accept The Challenge

Before you proceed, go read this post ("Twelve Disaster Impacts") to help you get a handle on what you need to plan for.

A post like today's should open your eyes about what personal security issues you need to address.  If something major were to hit us, YOU, and you alone will be responsible for your safety.  The cavalry will not be riding in to save your bacon, so to speak.

There are so many events that could occur that would put you in this position.  A devastating hurricane like Katrina.  Civil unrest like the Rodney King verdict caused.  Another coordinated terrorist attack like 9/11.  An earthquake like the ones in Haiti or Chile.  In both of those instances, the looting and rioting started almost as soon as the ground stopped shaking.

If you haven't heard it, listen to this interview of Gerald Celente of Trends Research on how he survived the Chilean earthquake, and about how quickly the lawlessness started.




"What's normal isn't normal any more."  Indeed.

In the best of cases, government is slow to react.  With Katrina, we knew days in advance that it was coming, the Feds declared a Federal Emergency before it even hit, yet we all saw how that turned out.

What could you possibly be waiting for?

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