Hopefully this can begin a discussion about what activists resisting the largest project in human history and the second largest oil deposit on the planet will do when the state sees us as dangerously effective.
Combining this with the media scare show being run around the issue of the Encana pipeline bombings near Dawson Creek over the last week, and we may soon be targetted-- "indirectly" yet directly, of course-- for massive new surveillance and security monitoring. The advance of the police state under the guises of "terrorism" and more are being timed beautifully to use the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver as a means to make a state-power grab just as surely as developers are using the games to carry out a massive land grab.
We need to stop, reflect and not panic in the face of where "CSIS experts" and more are going, using the waves made by reporters and journalists to ride a sensationalist tide into a lack of basic rights.
--M
Terrorists target U.S.A. via Alberta
Hitting energy supply seen as strike on U.S.
Jamie Komarnicki, Calgary Herald; Canwest News Service
Oct 19, 2008
Alberta has become a "prime location" for terrorists looking to capitalize on shaky economic times in Canada and the United States, terrorism experts said on Saturday at a national conference for emergency officials.
"While Alberta might not be a first choice for mass-casualty attack terrorism -- you're unlikely to see a major bomb going off in downtown Edmonton -- it certainly is a prime location for economic terrorism, because of the ability to disrupt the oil and gas industry," said Mercedes Stephenson, a Calgary-based defence and security analyst.
Stephenson was speaking at a conference in Calgary for emergency first responders to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive incidents.
Her remarks come as the security of energy infrastructure is under scrutiny after two explosions at B.C. pipelines in the past week.
Stephenson said that as the Canadian economy heads toward a slump, Alberta is an increasingly important revenue-driver.
Disrupting Canada's energy industry would hurt the rest of the economy, said Stephenson, and shake up consumer confidence and foreign policy decision-making.
Longtime international foes of the United States are closely watching that nation's sharp economic decline, said Igor Shafhid, a world expert in nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
Financial instability causes panic and fear, said Shafhid, founder of Global Strategic Resources, which develops and teaches emergency-preparedness courses in the U.S. and Russia.
"Those are things terrorist states or countries will take advantage of," he said. "If it goes towards recession or depression in the United States, I suspect some activities might start happening in the next few years in the form of biological, radiological or who-knows-what-else terrorism."
However, he said there's no need to fear the world will be destroyed.
Terrorists "are in a waiting time right now," he said, adding Canada is chiefly vulnerable as a staging ground for attacks on the U.S.
But Canada is also home to ideologically and religiously driven groups trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction, and fundraising to send money to overseas groups, Stephenson said.
"I'm not sure that Canadians are fully aware that these guys are here, and the fact that we're Canadian doesn't make us an exception to being threatened."
Periods of calm can lead to a lull in threat awareness, she said. It's difficult to convince taxpayers to channel funds towards emergency and intelligence capabilities rather than social programs, she said.
"Times like these make us vulnerable, and it makes it a desirable time to hit economic markets, because you've got a better chance of driving them down and really bleeding the United States and Canada economically," Stephenson said.
© The Edmonton Journal 2008
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=12b412bc-2f6b-4...
