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Scorched Earth Jihad
By Lt Col P
This was making the Marine Corps email rounds the other day: "Forest Jihad."
From the beginning of September 2008, a renewed concern emanated from Western intelligence agencies to the effect that Al Qaeda terrorists were planning a “global fireball”, in a departure from its war on the West. Deliberately lighting forest fires in Europe, the US and Australia, would not only stretch emergency services, but would also leave insurance companies facing multi-billion dollar claims, as the credit crunch bites. The fires would also create a pollution disaster, with billions of tons of climate-change gases escaping into the atmosphere. The so-called “forest jihad” is being championed by Islamic scholars and Osama Bin Laden’s terror strategists who believe setting fire to dry woodlands will produce maximum damage at minimum risk.
Aside from the climate-changing bit, I think this is a real threat. A woodland fire out of control is terrifying, destructive and costly. It would be a very effective, low-risk/high-payoff tactic. Imagine these scenes in and around major population centers across the country, not just on the West Coast:
The effective counter to it, as with other anti-terrorist measures, is a comprehensive national effort involving the Feds, the states, the locals and private organizations. That would be yet another opportunity to remind people that the war effort is national and long-term, and that a threat to any part of the country is a threat to all. That would, in turn, require a little leadership and vision from both parties. And it should remind everyone that we're dealing with truly wicked, dedicated, evil-doers.
(It's also good reason to allow weapons carriage in forests and parks.)
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Comments
Threat? From terrorism?
Oh, pish posh.
We just elected The One messiah who has come to save us all, heal the world and stop the oceans from rising.
All this talk about threats is poppycock. The One messiah is here. Nov 5th, 2008 changed the world from dangerous to unicorns and rainbows.
The only thing we have to worry about now is where we will hold our hand-holding, "Oh-Baaaaaah-mah"-chanting, kumbaya-singing peace-in-the-world rallies.
/do I have to?
On a serious note, do you really believe anyone will believe that these forest fires are being caused by terrorists? Even if the fires are being caused by terrorists, the majority of people in this nation don't even believe there is a serious terrorist threat at all, let alone a threat domestically with forest fires. To prove my assertion, just look at the results of last Tuesday. The Party that has been denying the terrorist threat, working endlessly to undermine every US policy to fight the terrorist threat, working endlessly to smear every last military member who volunteers and sacrifices to fight the terrorist threat... was just rewarded by 60+ million people with complete control of our government.
I'm glad that you here at Op-For - and all of you in the 'milblogosphere' like Blackfive, Mudville Gazette, etc - are keeping people up-to-date with analysis of these things. God knows I have learned an immense amount from reading you all the past 5 years or so. I just worry that this nation as a whole simply does not care anymore and is so infected by BDS (both the Left *and* some on the Right) that they ignore facts and real threats based on their partisan bias and hatred.
The majority of people in this nation don't even believe there is a serious terrorist threat at all.... To prove my assertion, just look at the results of last Tuesday.
Proof, poppycock, whatever. The truth is that along with the kumbayah crowd there were a lot of serious-minded, pro-military voters who opted for Obama.
Personally, while I believe there's a serious terrorist threat to this country, I don't believe we face an existential terrorist threat. Terrorists might continue to inflict some damage here and there, but they can never defeat us. They pose a different kind of threat not amenable to President Bush's policy. I voted for Obama precisely because I think he'll do a better job dealing with terrorism. And I'm impressed with his seriousness and intellect. When he was young he was not a deliberately dopey party-boy with a serious character defect coasting on his family name like McCain (and Bush before him). He actually took his ethical obligation to his country seriously, put his nose to the grindstone, and made something of himself. To some of us, that sort of thing matters.
The terrorist threat is real. You do not discount the rhetoric that some Mad Mullah is speaking when he advocates Death to the West™ or to the US. I rather take them at their word.
The problem with the fight against Islamic terrorism is a lack of leadership at the top. This has been that way for years now. It does not have to mean that you have to nuke your enemies into glass. It means that you have to go after the mouthpieces, the ones that get the suicide bombers all worked up, the financiers.
When you are dealing with psychopaths, you must communicate appropriately with them so they "get" it. They are incapable of empathy. That means that they know that you will hurt them personally or kill them if they continue their activities against you. It means that you do things covert that are dirty and nasty that get the message across. You fight to win. You give them no quarter and and you go after their base.
If they burn down your forests, you take out their base and bounce it into rubble.
We all want to be loved. If we cannot be loved, we should at least be respected. If we cannot be respected by those that wish us ill, then we should be feared.
Sun Tzu. Know your enemy. Control the battle space. It does not always mean frontal assaults, like we have been doing. We have the smarts, the means, but not the will.
Wasn't the intent of the Japanese balloon bomb program to start forest fires in the Pacifica Northwest and British Columbia?
Anon - I have to take issue with your characterization of Senator McCain. Yes, he was not exactly the model Midshipman, but he more than showed his "ethical obligation to his country" during his military service. Involved in three crashes (and yes, there were lots more back then) he stayed with the program, learning to be an attack pilot. After his aircraft burned and nearly killed him on the deck of the FORRESTAL, he volunteered to go to another squadron to continue flying. Offered an early release, he took counsel in the Code of Conduct, which cost him dearly. Following return from the war, he remained on active duty until retirement.
I don't think you understand the hard work and time it takes to become a Naval Aviator, then a carrier pilot, and finally an attack pilot. I also don't think you realize the selection process simply to start flight training. Senator McCain certainly did, "...put his nose to the grindstone, and made something of himself."
If you can't see that, I can recommend a couple of books for you.
On the other hand, if you refuse to see that, then you are a lost cause.
Interesting article.
Here in Australia, we are very vulnerable to a forest fire attack of the kind described, and we're heading in to our summer too, which is a worry.
Mind you, seven years ago, they could drop skyscrapers. Now all they can do is play with matches, like a bunch of juvenile crooks.....
Point taken, Bullnav. Even so, McCain's still got a basic character defect that's been there from the beginning. It's not just his academy days. It's a lack of seriousness that keeps popping up in damaging ways, the most notable examples being his Keating 5 involvement and his selection of Palin as VP. It's sad that this defect, which in my view goes straight to his ability to be president and CofC, is found in a man who also possesses so many admirable qualities. But there it is. Your mileage may differ.
Actually, my real point was simply to counter the knee-jerk insult to the president-elect (and the American people as a whole) in the post preceding mine.
Anon - Pardon me for not taking you seriously if your response to Obama-bashing is to attack McCain. Also, you bring up the Keating 5 and label it evidence of a character flaw on McCain's part. That leads me to speculate that you know very little about the actual facts of Keating 5. In my opinion, you need to read up on that.
"Actually, my real point was simply to counter the knee-jerk insult to the president-elect"
Gee, when I want to defend someone, I speak to their achievements and good points. I find that much more effective that randomly attacking others.
Lastly, while working hard, getting scholarships, studying hard, and achieving financial and political success are all components of the American Dream.....they are hardly count as taking your "ethical obligation to his country seriously". As a matter of fact, while I applaud Obama's resolve to make something of himself.....these things fall more in the "what your country can do for you" category.
Being that I live smack in the middle of all these recent fire storms and have watched an "up-tick" in the number of fires when the Santa-Ana's blow over the last 6-7 years, the FBI warning of 1998 with regards to western states and the possibilty of G-had coming into Smokey The Bear's zip code....well just sayin
Oh,
Lt Col P,
The last 3 fires at the Pen?
Pizza drivers of what nationality given easy pass through the gates at all hours to feed the hungry grunts? I'm no Holmes but, "My Dear Watson," you may have something!"
CAP-USAF has the mission in the portfolio. We just need Homeland security to loosen the funds. Lieberman might be able to make that happen. IT would be good for everyone. Second worry, electrical grid...
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Yes, a very real threat, and very difficult to stop. On a windy day a single person could drive a rental car to a trailhead on the edge of (say) the Angeles National Forest, dressed like your average hiker out for a walk and carrying an ordinary-looking daypack. Instead of lunch and a windbreaker the pack would contain a propane campstove modified into a time-delay incendiary device. Hike to the base of a brush-covered hillside upwind of a housing development (the so-called "Santa Ana" winds are hot, dry, and blow out of the mountains toward the city of LA). Plant the device with a 12-hour delay, walk out, drive to LAX and catch your flight, and next day pick up your copy of the LA Times at a newsstand in Dubai and read about the fire. Such a terrorist act might not kill anyone (though sometimes these fires do claim lives), but it could easily cost hundreds of millions of dollars worth in firefighting costs and property damage.