July 9, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

FEMA course IS 860

Course Overview

Protecting the critical infrastructure and key resources (CI/KR) of the United States is essential to the Nation’s security, public health and safety, economic vitality, and way of life.  The purpose of this course is to introduce the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP).

Course Objectives

• Explain the importance of protecting critical infrastructure and key resources (CI/KR).
• Identify the relevant authorities and roles for CI/KR protection efforts.
• Describe the NIPP unifying structure for the integration of CI/KR protection efforts, including:
  • Sector security partnership model.
  • Risk management framework.
  • Information sharing process

http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is860.asp

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July 9, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

From the Ground Up

We all know the dedication of the country’s first-responder community—the hundreds of thousands of selfless men and women who rush to emergency scenes every minute of every day, charging into crumbling buildings enshrouded in flames, saving lives and property. When the alarm sounds, they act, carrying all manner of equipment and gear—some of it good, some of it tailor-made to their needs, some of it less so, and some they perhaps wish they could redesign themselves.

This firefighter clearly cannot get through the framing studs of this house with his traditional breathing tank on his back … … but the new low-profile SCBA, developed through a TechSolutions suggestion, allows this firefighter much greater mobility.

So, a program from the DHS Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate that not only allows first responders to communicate their needs and ideas directly to DHS, but also includes them in the testing and evaluation of all that gear, is valuable not only to first responders, but to the people they help every day.Aimed at first responders, an outreach program called Responder Technologies (R-Tech) was developed for one reason: to find solutions and put them into the hands of America’s heroes—including fire, emergency medical service, law enforcement, explosives ordnance, hazmat, and search-and-rescue workers.R-Tech does this in two ways: first, it rapidly distributes information on first-responder products and services through a Central Federal Technology Clearinghouse, issuing announcements for innovative solutions and providing guidance to help responders evaluate and purchase technologies.Second, R-Tech will soon launch an interactive Web page, at www.firstresponder.gov, where first responders will be free to voice their needs and ideas directly to the DHS S&T Directorate for action—unfiltered by any middlemen—as part of an initiative called TechSolutions. The goal of this initiative is to identify and prototype only those technologies actually needed by this vital community—technologies that will deliver a solution to first responders in less than 12 months.For example, the responder community has told TechSolutions that firefighters desperately need a small, lightweight breathing device that they can wear in hazardous or smoke-filled situations. The device can’t encumber the firefighters or add to the 50-plus pounds of gear they often carry.“One of the biggest problems we have is the risk of entanglement of our air tanks,” said Randy Griffin, a firefighter from DeWitt, N.Y., who also serves as a first responder liaison at the S&T Directorate. “As we make our way through small openings, and over debris and obstructions, we can get snagged, trapped, or possibly killed.”So, the S&T Directorate is helping to develop an innovative self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) that will allow emergency responders more mobility, as well as more accessibility to confined spaces. The weight has been pared from 30 pounds to 8 pounds, its profile is only 1.75 inches thick, it’s rechargeable, and it’s compatible with existing air supply hoses.The new low-profile SCBA is just one of many programs and technologies being vetted by R-Tech at first responders’ suggestions. Others include a fire ground compass (“Common Ground,” April 2008), an ocular toxin scanner, a 3-D location device (“Locating the Heroes,” September 2007), and the Dazzler (“Enough to Make You Sick,” July 2007). At least 15 projects are in the works, and more are expected once the TechSolutions Web site is fully up and running.

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July 9, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein’s nuclear program - a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium - reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans.

The removal of 550 metric tons of “yellowcake” - the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment - was a significant step toward closing the books on Saddam’s nuclear legacy. It also brought relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions.

What’s now left is the final and complicated push to clean up the remaining radioactive debris at the former Tuwaitha nuclear complex about 12 miles south of Baghdad - using teams that include Iraqi experts recently trained in the Chernobyl fallout zone in Ukraine.

“Everyone is very happy to have this safely out of Iraq,” said a senior U.S. official who outlined the nearly three-month operation to The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

While yellowcake alone is not considered potent enough for a so-called “dirty bomb” - a conventional explosive that disperses radioactive material - it could stir widespread panic if incorporated in a blast. Yellowcake also can be enriched for use in reactors and, at higher levels, nuclear weapons using sophisticated equipment.

The Iraqi government sold the yellowcake to a Canadian uranium producer, Cameco Corp., in a transaction the official described as worth “tens of millions of dollars.” A Cameco spokesman, Lyle Krahn, declined to discuss the price, but said the yellowcake will be processed at facilities in Ontario for use in energy-producing reactors.

“We are pleased … that we have taken (the yellowcake) from a volatile region into a stable area to produce clean electricity,” he said.

The deal culminated more than a year of intense diplomatic and military initiatives - kept hushed in fear of ambushes or attacks once the convoys were under way: first carrying 3,500 barrels by road to Baghdad, then on 37 military flights to the Indian Ocean atoll of Diego Garcia and finally aboard a U.S.-flagged ship for a 8,500-mile trip to Montreal.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107ap_iraq_yellowcake_mission.html

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July 9, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

ISTANBUL, Turkey —  Al Qaeda militants attacked the U.S. consulate in Istanbul on Wednesday, killing six people, according to a police official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief journalists.

Wielding pistols and shotguns, the attackers struck a police guard post outside the consulate, sparking a gunbattle that left three attackers and three officers dead.

“It is an obvious act of terrorism,” U.S. Ambassador Ross Wilson said in a statement.

The U.S. ambassador to Turkey and Turkey’s foreign ministry said security around all American diplomatic missions in Turkey had been increased.

Yavuz Erkut Yuksel, a bystander, told a television station the attackers emerged from a vehicle and surprised the guard.

“One of them approached a policeman while hiding his gun and shot him in the head,” Yuksel said.

Footage from a security camera at the site showed four armed and bearded men emerging from a car and killing a traffic policeman, then running toward a guard post some 50 yards away as other policemen fired back, the Dogan news agency reported.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,378346,00.html

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July 9, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

TEHRAN, Iran —  Iran test-fired nine long- and medium-range missiles Wednesday during war games to “demonstrate our resolve and might against enemies who in recent weeks have threatened Iran with harsh language,” a top Iranian general said of perceived U.S. and Israeli threats.

“Our hands are always on the trigger and our missiles are ready for launch,” the official IRNA news agency quoted Gen. Hossein Salami, the air force commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.

Officials told FOX News on Wednesday the missile test is a “clear response” to recent Israeli military exercises and they are investigating whether the missiles can, in fact, reach Israeli and other targets in the region, as Tehran claims.

National Security Council Spokesman Gordon Johndroe called on Iran to “immediately” stop developing ballistic missiles, an act that he said isolates the Iranian people from the international community and violates U.N. Security Council resolutions.

“President Bush and our partners in the United Nations Security Council, as well as Germany, are committed to a diplomatic path and have offered Iran a generous package of incentives if they will suspend their uranium enrichment activities,” Johndroe said from Japan, where Bush was attending the Group of Eight summit.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,378324,00.html

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July 9, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

 On 9 July 2008 officials stated that they will increase security measures at all security checkpoints throughout Beijing next week in the lead-up to the Olympic Games in August. K9 units specialized in detecting explosives will be deployed, and police officers will be equipped with metal detectors and security scanners. These measures will be implemented at each checkpoint on the roads leading into Beijing and throughout the capital. Vehicles registered with licenses outside Beijing will have to submit to security checks.

Meanwhile, Chinese officials stated that travelers, including tour groups, will be banned from visiting Peking University, the venue for table tennis events for the upcoming Olympic Games. The university’s security department stated that the ban will be implemented from 20 July to 18 September due to security concerns at the facility. Only faculty, staff and students will be allowed on campus and will have to show identification in order to enter the university. The Olympic table tennis event will be held from 13-23 August in the University Gymnasium, while Paralympics events will be held at the facility from 7-16 September.

On 9 July 2008 police officers in the western Xinjiang region raided an apartment where several suspects were reportedly planning to launch a “holy war” on the government. Authorities stated that police officers shot and killed at least five of the suspects during the raid. The group of ethnic Uighur men was allegedly stockpiling knives and other weapons. Police officers stated that they were forced to open fire on the assailants when some of the suspects rushed toward them as they entered the apartment. The Chinese government has repeatedly accused militant Uighur groups of plotting terrorist attacks in an effort to create a breakaway state.

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July 9, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

The U.S. Embassy in Teguicigalpa issued the following Warden Message on 8 July 2008: “According to media reports, there was a massive toxic leak from a container in which a shipment of sodium hydrosulfate was being stored on the property of the Honduran National Port Authority (Empresa Nacional Portuaria - ENP) at approximately 2:00 a.m. on Monday, July 7, 2008, which forced the evacuation of an estimated 100,000 residents from Puerto Cortés, Honduras as well as school closings the following day. Most affected by the evacuations were the following neighborhoods: San Ramón, Campo Rojo, San Isidro, Los Mangos, El Faro and La Curva. The release of noxious sulfuric gas caused panic among the local evacuees and forced the hospitalization of at least 15 persons. There have been reports of persistent noxious fumes in some parts of the city, and some residents have suffered eye and throat irritation. The fire which appeared to have caused the leak has been put out, and clean up efforts are ongoing.

“Americans are advised to avoid unnecessary travel to Puerto Cortes, if possible, and should monitor the situation via media reports.”

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