the wonder that is topoff
Portland is one of three municipalities (the other two are Phoenix and Guam) hosting the annual TOPOFF Homeland Security drill. This year, the premise is that an Uzbek Islamic organization* has detonated a "dirty bomb" aboard a Portland Max light rail train as it passed over the Steel Bridge. (In reality, they set off some pyrotechnics on a retired Tri-Met bus at Portland International Raceway. There's verisimilitude for you!)
I work in the ocean shipping industry. We, and the vessels we represent, have to comply when the Maritime Security Level (MARSEC) changes. Yesterday we were getting email notifications about every half-hour, yo-yoing the MARSEC level between 2 and 3 all day. Each notification required a response.
Then, at about 1pm, we received a call from the Coast Guard: "This is Petty Officer Jensen. We just wanted to let you know that the MARSEC level is currently at 2."
"But we just got an email saying it was at 3," sez I.
Pregnant Pause.
"That's interesting." Then the petty officer, struggling to recover, says, "But you have the vessel S----- M----- in the river now, right?"
"No, that vessel sailed last week."
I'm guessing problems like these are the reason BushCo is refusing to release results from the last TOPOFF exercise.
*Nice touch, eh? They couldn't just make up some phony separatist group, they have to stick it to the Muslim boogeyman.
posted by missy at
10:12 AM
8 Comments:
>they have to stick it to the Muslim boogeyman.
Especially since we've had more domestic terrorism perpetrated by white, American-national-types than...
...Oh wait, bombing abortion clinics isn't terrorism.
By
rich, at 4:36 PM
i had to look up the word "verisimilitude" but let me make a point here that you and rich seem to be oblivious about....
The terrorists are MUSLIM!
What the hell is wrong with you guys?
Are you serious?
That's a real question because i'm hoping you're just being funny!
Are you really trying to compare the bombings of abortion clinics to the INSTITUTIONAL TERRORISM OF THE MUSLIM FAITH? They learn it from childhood, it's preached in their houses of worship, it's financed by their governments, it's a way of life for them.
Islam is NOT a religion of peace!
By
Rhino-itall, at 7:36 AM
So, Rhino,
You're advocating that we simply cut to the chase and exterminate all Muslims?
Islam is a very large and varied faith, just as Christianity has many variations all over the globe that all have different beliefs and non-beliefs.
The majority of Muslims condemn the kind of actions of the extremist, Sunni Wahhabi variety.
Our actions in Iraq, unfortunately are pushing more and more Muslims into the conflict and aligning them against us.
What's really going on in the Middle East is simply a stupid continuation of imperial Britain's concept of 'We reserve the right to bomb niggers to get their resources', a rough quote of Lloyd George.
Only now it's being voiced by Fox news and the little cockroach in the whitehouse.
By
Anonymous, at 8:12 AM
no, i'm not advocating that we exterminat all muslims, and i have no doubt that most muslims would prefer to live in peace rather than war, but i am advocating HONESTY.
1.To compare abortion clinic bombings to muslim acts of terror is dishonest, and in fact not really a true comparison. One or two whacko's who have killed less than 10 people since 1973 isn't really a comparison is it?
2. The majority of muslims do NOT condemn these terrorist attacks(atleast not publicly) and in fact were silent for a long time after 9/11 and then only half heartedly condemned the attacks after they first blamed it on Israel.
3. We can argue the war in Iraq for ten years and not agree but it doesn't matter for this subject. We were attacked multiple times by muslims BEFORE we went into Iraq.
4. If we're in Iraq to bomb niggers and take their resources then we should start taking them because oil just hit $89.00 and it's not even winter time yet.
5. Finally, who's looking for the boogey man now? It's the evil fox news channel that's causing this whole thing, it's the "vast right wing conspiracy" of course and the evil president who hates children and kicks dogs and old ladies etc. etc.
The bottom line is that not every muslim is a terrorist, but every terrorist seems to be a muslim. Lets stop worrying about offending them and ask them why they haven't stood up and shut down these animals if they are truly a religion of peace!
By
Rhino-itall, at 8:26 AM
Rhino,
You say that Muslims do not speak out against Islamic terrorism.
How many Republicans have spoken out about our invasion and occupation of Iraq, and the killing of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians? Our military actions in Iraq have killed many more people than all of the non-state-sponsored terrorist incidents around the world in the last 20 years combined.
And my point was that there is no reason, in a fictional enterprise, to relate your fictional enemy to a real group of people. It's almost as if it was meant to be inflammatory.
By
slim, at 9:01 AM
Slim,
You're moral relatvism is ridiculous.
In war, innocent civilians are always killed. In terror, innocents are targeted.
How many republicans spoke out against the clinton bombing campaign that killed innocents in Iraq?
How many republicans spoke out against the clinton bombing in kosovo?
how many republicans spoke out against the FDR bombing in Europe?
Just because YOU don't believe we should be fighting this war doesn't mean it's the same thing as terrorism.
And MY point is very simple. Why are we afraid of offending these people if they are not a danger to us? If they're not terrorists, why are we worried about it? If they said it was a simulated bombing from al qeada would that have made you happier? What if we said it was a simulated bombing from the anti abortion liberation front? Can we risk offending the hordes of abortion terrorists?
Both of them????
Seriously, lets use our brains here. Do you really think there's a terrorist outfit out there that's just chilling out and all of a sudden they get so offended by a fictional exercise that they say "You know, i'm a peace loving guy normally, but since they called me names i'm going to blow up a school house!"?????
Is that what you're telling me you actually believe?
By
Rhino-itall, at 9:21 AM
What I do believe is that we continue to alienate moderate Muslims, without any thought to how those moderates might be useful in stemming the tide of extremism.
And yes, innocents are always killed in war, but BushCo knew that there were no WMDs, and that the only terrorist camps that existed in Iraq were in the No Fly Zone where the U.S. and Britain had primary control.
Since BushCo knew there were no WMDs, that makes the Iraq War a war of aggression; therefore every innocent life lost is no different from an innocent life lost in a terrorist attack. Neither is justifiable. I abhor the war and the terrorist attacks equally.
By
slim, at 9:42 AM
Ok, i've been through the justification for war argument about a million times already, so i'm only going to do this once. Let's agree that you don't know what he knew and or didn't know and neither do I, (although i believe him)but what we both know is that
1. BJ clinton, kerry, albright, and every prominent dem including all of those on the Senate intelligence committee said Saddam had WMD. The senate intelligence committee got the EXACT same info as the president and they voted for the war.
2. That was not the only justification for war, AND in a speech BEFORE the war started he clearly stated that regime change was one of the main reasons to go in.(i don't have the transcript but i read it and remember it.)
3.If he U.S. controlled these regions then why were there any terrorist camps there at all?
4. people are still arguing that FDR knew ahead of time about the attack on pearl harbor but allowed it to happen because he needed the justification to enter the war. Now i think FDR was the worst or second worst (carter) president of the last hundred years but i don't believe he wanted innocent American soldiers to die, and i don't believe that Bush is a megalomaniac who has some evil plan to make Haliburton rich by going to war in Iraq.
So lets talk FACTS and not opinion or beliefs.
Muslim terrorists have, and continue to target innocent civilians. They are terrorists, and they are muslim. FACT
The U.S. is the ONLY country who fights a war and tries to minimize collateral damage. FACT
The U.S. is the ONLY country in the history of the world that has EVER gotten a U.N. resolution before going to war, and we did it at least 3 times, and in the case of Iraq we had 19 resolution. FACT
You abhor the war? Great. What war would be justified in your opinion? Afghanistan is ok but Iraq is not? If we went into Darfur to halt the genocide would that be ok? When Clinton bombed Kosovo were you ok with that? Even though there was no ethnic cleansing going on? Do you believe clinton knew there was no ethnic cleansing or do you think he was fooled by the "vast right wing conspiracy"? When clinton bombed Iraq the night before the Lewinsky scandal broke do you believe that was justified? Were the civilians that got killed during those bombings innocent? Did you have anything negative to say about those atrocities?
Get off your high horse. There is no comparison. There is no moral equivalency. The U.S. has freed 20+ million people in Iraq from tyranny. Some people are dead, and that's tragic, but that's how it works.
By
Rhino-itall, at 10:45 AM
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