al Qaida in Africa

An Associated Press report says that al-Qaida has infiltrated Africa from one end of Sahara to the other. The group seems to have used the old method of winning hearts and minds to get on friendly terms with the locals by giving them much needed medical supplies, buying food from them at high prices, and respectfully asking to drink from their wells. As the saying goes, you catch more flies with sugar than with vinegar. One result of this infiltration is that the bases they set up in countries like Mali in the eastern part of the continent are being used to kidnap wealthy tourists for ransom to raise money to fund the groups. Let's hope that western governments have a strategy for dealing with hostage negotiations.

What Did the Times Square Bomber Really Hope to Accomplish?

Readers of this blog and my book Dealing With Danger -- Be Prepared, Aware and Decisive will know that I preach the concept of always being aware of what is going on around us and making a point to question what we see in relation to how it might affect us personally. In this way, we can act in time to avoid a lot a bad things that may be coming our way.

The NYPD officer who first noticed something wrong with the parked Nissan Pathfinder and correctly and decisively invoked the plan to evacuate Times Square is a hero. He did everything right that was within his control.

But it seems to me that many officials including the Mayor are deluding themselves that somehow, they dodged the bullet because they are so smart and the terrorists are so stupid.

Underestimating your enemy is a very dangerous thing to do.

General Custer did it at the Little Big Horn, and the Indians wiped out his command.

Do we really know what the true goal of alleged terrorist bomber Faisal Jahzad was when he built his car bomb and placed it in New York's Times Square? Here is a man who appears to have connections to radical terrorist groups, and who is educated and intelligent. But according to statements made in New York, he built a bomb that was "amateurish".

We cannot rule out the possibility that the main purpose of planting the device was not to create an explosion, but to learn how security forces would respond to such a threat. It is not inconceivable that, as in other parts of the world such as the middle east, the larger plan would be to attract police into the area by planting a small device and then trigger a much larger bomb.

The most important lesson we can learn from this incident is that if we really want to know what our enemies have in store for us, we must look at what they are already doing successfully in other parts of the world. Terrorists swap ideas and training amongst different groups. Whatever works in Iraq or Afghanistan, Beirut or Israel will eventually be tried in the USA and the UK.

Dealing with Terrorist attacks on Commercial Aircraft

The Christmas day attack on a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit by a passenger who ignited an incendiary device is an important reminder for all of us. If the passenger really is connected to Al Quaeda, as he claimed, it is another example of that organization's strategy to repeat it's attacks on a target until they are successful.

In 1993, Islamist terrorists lead by Ramzi Yousef detonated a bomb in the basement of the North Tower of the World Trade Center(WTC) in New York, killing six people and injuring 1,042. The attack was intended to bring down both towers, but failed. In 2001, however, the terrorists were back with a different method, crashing aircraft into the towers. As we know, this time they were successful.

On 22 December, 2001, Shoe Bomber Richard Reid attempted to ignite explosives aboard American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami. He was overpowered by passengers and crew and is now in jail.

In 2006, British authorities arrested three men accused of plotting to blow up at least seven trans-Atlantic airliners in one day over the Atlantic, by detonating liquid explosives.

This latest attempt on the Detroit-bound flight shows that Al Quaeda is still determined to bring down commercial aircraft. It also illustrates that they don't quite have the technology worked out yet, but as with the WTC bombing, they are persistent. It also shows that increased security at airports is important as a first line of defense to stop terrorists and explosives getting onto airplanes, but as in this latest case, cannot be relied upon to prevent every single attack.

The most important lesson we can all learn from this incident and others like it is that once an aircraft takes off, the only people who can save the crew and the passengers are the crew and the passengers. It doesn't matter how many F-16s are scrambled to escort the aircraft, those fighter pilots cannot take out the terrorists on the aircraft, they can only shoot the plane down before it can be crashed into a target on the ground. It is vital that when a passenger starts to act in a threatening manner, such as trying to ignite a bomb, the passengers and crew act immediately and decisively to take him down with overwhelming physical force.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, the people on board Flight 93 quickly came to this realization and fought to take control of the cockpit from the hijackers. Although they were not able to save their own lives, and the aircraft crashed into a field in Pennsylvania, their actions saved the lives of people at whatever place was intended as the fourth target for the terrorists on that fateful morning.

The key is to be Prepared, Aware, and Decisive. Prepare a simple plan before boarding the aircraft. When I board a plane, I make sure I'm wearing clothing that will allow me to fight effectively in the case of a hijacking, and will also enable me to escape in the event the aircraft has to make an emergency landing. For me, this means jeans and boots. It amazes me how many passengers I see wearing inappropriate footwear such as flip-flops; guys wearing shorts and women wearing dresses or tight skirts.

I also prepare by carrying my important papers: ticket, credit cards, money, passport, etc. on me, and not in my carry on bag. If we need to evacuate the airplane quickly, I want to just get up and go with the vital items in my pocket. I can always buy the other stuff later.

I stay aware of my surroundings, and I make a point of evaluating the passengers around me: Are they going to be of some help in a fight, or are they likely to cause trouble? The days of getting drunk on a flight are over. A drink is fine, but we need to be able to function effectively in an emergency.

If trouble does start, it does not pay to do nothing and hope someone else will step up and fix the problem. It's important to act decisively once the situation becomes obvious.