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The Department of Homeland Security recently carried out an extensive anti-terrorist exercise entitled TOPOFF 3 (April 4-8, 2005). The "drill" was described by officials as "a multilayered approach to improving North American security".
The stated objective of the TOPOFF 3 "Full Scale Exercise" was to "prepare America" in the case of an actual bioterrorism attack by Al Qaeda:
".. we deliberately built the scenario as a very complex WMD bioterrorism attack in New Jersey, as well as a kind of a dual-header in the state of Connecticut in terms of a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, and then a simultaneous chemical attack.
The system in TOPOFF 3 across the board was tested as never before, and this was deliberate. We wanted to test the full range of our incident management processes and protocols that spanned prevention, intelligence and information-sharing, and then the more classic or traditional response and recovery. But really for the first time in a national-level exercise, we really got at a near simultaneous WMD attack which is, of course, very, very stressful for the federal folks, as well as our state, local and international partners. (DHS spokeperson at Press Conference, * april, 2005, complete transcript at http://www.allamericanpatriots.com/m-news+article+storyid-9058.html )
"The War on Terrorism"
These exercises must be understood in the broader context of America's National Security doctrine, which presents Al Qaeda as the main threat to the American homeland.
The "war on terrorism" is the central building block of the administration's foreign policy and domestic security agendas. In the words of DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff:
Homeland security is one piece of a broader strategy [which] brings the battle to the enemy... But while one key to defense is offense, it is not the entirety of our security picture. For we also need a “defense in depth” as part of the strategic whole. That means even as we pursue terrorists overseas, we work at home to prevent infiltration by terrorists and their weapons; to protect our people and places if infiltration occurs; and to respond and recover if an attack is carried out. This is embodied in our strategy of building multiple barriers to terrorist attacks.(Transcript of complete March 2005 speech of Secr. Michael Chertoff at http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?theme=42&content=4392 empasis added)
Illusive Outside enemy
Known and documented, Al Qaeda is a creation of the US intelligence apparatus.
The purpose of the TOPOFF anti-terrorist exercises is not to "defend America" against terrorists, but to build a consensus within federal, State and municipal bodies, as well as within the business community and civil society (hospitals, schools, etc.) that this illusive outside enemy exists and that "the threat is real".
We are not dealing with a classical media disinformation campaign. While the TOPOFF exercise has been casually mentioned in press reports, it is not the object of a national debate.
With regard to TOPOFF, the consensus building process is "internal", it does not pertain the public at large. it is largely addressed to key decision-makers within these various governmental and nongovernmental bodies. It includes more than 10,000 participants in important decision-making positions (federal and State officials, law enforcement, fire departments, hospitals, etc), who may be called to act in the case of an emergency situation. These individuals in turn have a mandate to spread the word within their respective organizations, --i.e. with their coworkers and colleagues, as well as with the people working under their direct supervision.
In other words, this consensus building process reaches out to tens of thousands of people in positions of authority. The antiterrorist agenda and exercises thus become a "talking point" within numerous governmental and nongovernmental organizations.
In turn, the holding of these antiterrorist exercises supports the National Security doctrine of "preemptive war", --i.e. that America has to legitimate right to self defense by intervening in foreign lands and that America must defend itself against terrorists. It also sustains the myth of WMD in the hands of terrorists, being used against America, when in fact the US is the largest producer of WMD, with a defense budget of more than 400 billion dollars a year.
The objective is to sustain the war and national security agenda --and of course the possibility of martial law-- within the governmental, nongovernmental and corporate business sectors.
Ultimately, the objective is develop across the land, an unequivocal acceptance by key officials (and of their coworkers and subordinates), from the federal to the local level, for an emergency situation, where civil liberties and the rights of citizens would be suspended:
Officials will not give a specific figure, but they say the exercise involved several thousand fake deaths and thousands more injuries. This time, the sick and dying were only acting. But officials are aware that someday there could well be a real attack. They say the more they learn about how to coordinate prevention and response efforts, the better job they will be able to do to minimize casualties if and when that happens. ( http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-04-08-voa81.cfm
From TOPOFF 2 to the "Full Scale Exercise": TOPOFF 3
The previous "anti-terrorist exercise" entitled TOPOFF 2 was held two years ago in May 2003. It was described as "the largest and most comprehensive terrorism response and homeland security exercise ever conducted in the United States." It was carried out in a military style exercise by federal, State and local level governments, including Canadian participants. TOPOFF 2 established various "scenarios" under a Red Code Alert.
In other words, it was conducted on the same assumptions as a military exercise, in anticipation of an actual war situation, examining various WMD terror attack scenarios and the institutional response of State and local governments:
"It assessed how responders, leaders, and other authorities would react to the simulated release of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in two U. S. cities, Seattle, WA and Chicago, IL. The exercise scenario depicted a fictitious, foreign terrorist organization that detonated a simulated radiological dispersal device (RDD or dirty bomb) in Seattle and released the pneumonic plague in several Chicago metropolitan area locations. There was also significant pre-exercise intelligence play, a cyber-attack, and credible terrorism threats against other locations."
(For full text see, Department of Homeland Security, Summary Conclusions From National Exercise, Office of the Press Secretary, December 19, 2003, http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?content=2693 )
The April 2005 so-called Full Scale Exercise`` TOPOFF 3 goes much further than the May 2003 TOPFF 2.
TOPOFF 3 involved a larger number of individual participants. Moreover, in addition to Canada which had been involved in TOPOFF 2 , the exercise also included the participation of Britain's Home Office. The UK had labeled its exercise "Atlantic Blue", whereas Canada designated its component of TOPOFF 3 as "Triple Play".
While there was mention of the Canadian exercise in the news, the details of "Atlantic Blue" were not revealed, nor were they reviewed in the British press. Britain's Home Office Minister Hazel Blears admitted in March that "There will be no visible 'on the ground' activity within the UK exercise". (quoted in the Sunday Express, 3 April 2005).
TOPOFF 3: Organizational Structure
More than 200 Federal, State, local, tribal, private sector, and international agencies and organizations and volunteer groups were involved.
TOPOFF 3 was organized in terms of five separate "venues": 1. Interagency, 2. Connecticut, 3. New Jersey: 4. United Kingdom, 5. Canada:
The FSE offers agencies and jurisdictions a way to exercise a coordinated national and international response to a large-scale, multipoint terrorist attack. It allows participants to test plans and skills in a real-time, realistic environment and gain the in-depth knowledge that only experience can provide."
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