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| Houston tests response to IEDs on roads, oil 7&chem terminals | |
| 2008-08-14 | |
"They're easy to build (and) they're difficult to defeat," said Robert Stephan, assistant secretary for infrastructure protection at DHS, who called such improvised explosive devices "a tough nut to crack." On Wednesday, Stephen announced that Houston is the test site for a plan to gauge the vulnerability of potential targets, like oil refineries and chemical plants, against attacks from IEDs. "We see this as the number-one-utilized terrorist tactic," Stephan said. Because potential targets in the Houston area cross several jurisdictional boundaries, a variety of agencies — both local and federal — will take part in the study, officials said. "This is a more coordinated process. We'll do it as a region and provide a report," said Dennis Storemski, the city of Houston's director of public safety and homeland security. The study will identify targets throughout the Houston area considered at risk and make security recommendations to prevent terrorist attacks. Also, the plan will create a single database of resources, ranging from police bomb squads to hazardous materials teams, that are available to respond to the scene, officials said. "It allows you to take an inventory of personnel," Storemski said. U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, said it was critical for local and state official to collaborate with the federal government to make sure Houston is prepared for any potential terrorist attack. "This is a wake-up call for the city of Houston. It is a reality that we have to address," Jackson Lee said. The Houston region study, which will be continually updated, is expected to be a template for similar examinations in other large urban areas, officials said. | |
| Posted by:lotp |
| #13 ZF, I'm talking about a group that meets in a white building in DC with columns and a well known garden. And no I'm not part of it. But yes, I know someone who is. |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-08-14 19:29 |
| #12 But the likelihood is low, which is why it's low profile. I beg to differ. They have already found some in San Jose, San Fransisco and other parts of the USA. Those are the ones they tell us about. Imagine what we don't know. |
| Posted by: Big Slaish5309 2008-08-14 18:49 |
| #11 Or we do because we like to shut the barn door after the horse has run away. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-08-14 16:38 |
| #10 There is a very low profile group working domestic counterIED at the highest level of the federal govt. They don't find it nonsensical. The Federal government has low profile groups monitoring bovine flatulence. But the likelihood is low, which is why it's low profile. Hijackings are likely, which is why we have tens of thousands of airport screeners employed by the Federal government, and air marshals on board thousands of flights a day. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2008-08-14 16:36 |
| #9 Deacon, I fear you are correct about the level of things that can be done. The chem plants, unlike the nuke sites, don't usually have an open perimeter surrounding the plant ie the plant effectively goes right up to the perimeter fence. Hard to defend that. |
| Posted by: remoteman 2008-08-14 16:12 |
| #8 There is a very low profile group working domestic counterIED at the highest level of the federal govt. They don't find it nonsensical. |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-08-14 15:24 |
| #7 This is nonsensical. IED's get planted in Iraq because of the cooperation of passers-by, who either support or are neutral towards the IED planters. The moment support for the insurgency died down, IED planters started being scooped up by the bushel. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2008-08-14 15:17 |
| #6 Remoreman, I work in a Chemical plant. A big one and you are right. Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done. We used to have a road running through the middle of the plant but that was closed off and all but 4 vehicle gates have been closed. The fence is easily breached but there really isn't much that can be done there. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2008-08-14 14:20 |
| #5 Chem plants have a major security issue. Some of these chem plants represent a far greater potential danger to surrounding populations than do nuclear plants, but the security disparity between the two facility types is enormous. There is much work that the chem industry has to do to come up the security curve and they need to get on it post-haste. |
| Posted by: remoteman 2008-08-14 13:34 |
| #4 1 mosque 1 Ranger. |
| Posted by: .5MT 2008-08-14 13:32 |
#3 The proper response would be the Minor correction. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2008-08-14 12:34 |
| #2 The proper response would be the Texas Rangers storming every mosque. |
| Posted by: ed 2008-08-14 11:07 |
| #1 Mexican illegals (and even legals*) have found the combination of increased scrutiny here and improved conditions back home an inducement to cash in their chips and leave. How would the Muslim communities respond to the kind of increased scrutiny likely after the first round of IEDs? Just look at the turnover of the Obama campaign's Muslim advisers because each seems to have contacts to terror organizations. * the green card-holding family of a classmate of the trailing daughters sold their lovely house, packed up their possessions, and moved back to Abuela's dusty village this summer. Papa was required to renew his green card from the Mexican side of the border, and we all know how long that takes, these days. Daughter is looking into the possibility of a "year abroad" program so that she might graduate with her class here, but the odds are low. She mourns, because the school in the dusty village is dreadful. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-08-14 10:44 |