GAO Report: GA Security Threat

"C J Campbell" wrote in message ...
"Fred the Red Shirt" wrote in message
om...
| "C J Campbell" wrote in message
...
| "Thomas Borchert" wrote in message
| ...
| |
| | I can't see much of a difference for the world with Saddam missing (he
| | isn't, really, by the way). I am now absolutely certain - as most news
| | watchers - that Saddam didn't pose nearly the threat that some were
led
| | to believe. There are no WMD, period.
| |
|
| Saddam's own military commanders all believed that Saddam had WMD. They
have
| told investigators that they still believe it.
|
| I'm only aware of one such person and he made claims about nuclear
| weapons which made it clear that he actually knew nothing about them.

Well, I heard it on NPR.

Do you recall the context? E.g. did the NPR speaking head say that or
did the NPR speaking head quote someone else as saying that, or
was someone else being interviewed who said that or did they play
statements from 'all' of Sadam Hussein's own military commanders?
Were ANY of the commanders mentioned by name?

I have speculated that the Iraqi military was so weakened by the
1991 war and ensuing sanctions that Saddam Hussein created the
impression that he was hiding WMDs as a bluff to forstall
military action against his regime from outside or within. But
I don't claim that to be anything but my own speculation.

Let's not forget that he only controlled about 2/3 of his own
country and his control over half of that was marginal.

The man to whom I referred was a defector who was interviewed
in a PBS Frontline broadcast. I'm sorry to say that I do not
remember his name.

--

FF

Larry Smith wrote:

I could have sworn hearing my dad, who was serving in the Philippines at the
end of WWII, telling how some of the Japanese soldiers in the islands
refused to give up and continued to fight, even after the war was over and
Japan had surrendered.

There were some Japanese that were overrun on various islands that
refused to believe that the war was over and they lost. I believe the
last known one to come out was on Guam in the 1970's. The History
Channel did a show on it. They showed footage of a few of these guys
coming out. I don't think they ever shot anybody after the war though.

"Fred the Red Shirt" wrote in message |
| Do you recall the context?

It was a report from an analyst who is involved in looking for WMD.

It is credible to me because from the very beginning of the war military
authorities have been saying that captured personnel were "cooperating" in
the search for WMD. They probably did believe that other commanders had WMD.
Then the interrogation team would go to those commanders who would say, "No,
we had no WMD in our unit, but so-and-so had them."

They all believed that Iraq had WMD, but that these weapons were all
assigned to some other unit. Of course, all these commanders may not have
been lied to by Saddam, but they simply believed the photos and other stuff
presented by Colin Powell at the UN. Then we are left with the question of
why Saddam seems to have gone to such great lengths to appear to be hiding
WMD when in fact he had none.

Or maybe he really did have WMD, but had no chance to deploy them since they
were all hidden away in inaccessible places. They could have been buried
deep in the sand like the Iraqi Air Force, the location known only to a few,
and those few either dead or in hiding. In that event looking for WMD will
be a lot like looking for the Lost Dutchman mine, the object of treasure
hunters and book authors for centuries to come.

Thomas Borchert wrote:
Ian,


If you were born after about 1935, you don't
know as much as you think you know, having obtained your education in
your country's history following the imposition of laws restricting the
dissemination of information on the NSDAP.



Yeah, right... Time for a reality check, my man.

Yes, Thomas, it is.

The war ended in 1945. The "De-Nazification" laws were imposed before
all of the Wehrmacht had demobilized, and that started between the death
of Hitler and the surrender by Doenitz, three days later -- which is why
trying him for "extending the war" was a real crock.

Holger Stephan wrote:

On Fri, 21 Nov 2003 06:56:42 +0000, Robert Perkins wrote:


In Germany, the subject simply never comes up in polite conversation.
The topic of Nazi's is banned in Germany. The norm by now is expected to
be widespread ignorance of that part of their history.


There is one thing I should add. AFAIK the discussion of the Third Reich
was not an official part of the curriculum in West Germany for some time
after the war. I think it was somewhere in the 60s or maybe even 70s when
they added it. I guess it took some time for them to figure out how to
present it to the next generation.

You can also blame "De-Nazification." People were afraid to bring the
subject up, for fear of seeming to condone the NSDAP, or just preferring
to avoid investigation.

Let's also remember the minor detail that Germany launched a war, lost
that war, and was broken into two because of that loss. These are not
things that anyone would be too eager to talk much about.

In a way, the Berlin Airlift (hey, AIRPLANES!) cemented the relationship
between the Germans and the Western Powers. We proved our commitment to
support the BRD with the same kind of effort that had ended the
Thousand-Year Reich 990 years ahead of time.

"Tom S." wrote in message
...

"Montblack" wrote in message
...
("Robert Perkins" wrote)
They just didn't study it. History began with the formation of the
BRD, there was a 17 year gap, anything before that was like studying
pre-Civil War days in the U.S., that is to say, cursory.


We live in the "obscure president street names" area of town - Buchanan,
Van Buren, Pierce, Tyler, Quincy, Monroe, Polk, Fillmore, Taylor. The
nieces have lived around here for 17 years - they didn't know the
streets were named for Presidents.

Yes, Tyler is only two blocks over from Taylor. Can you say postal
confusion?

Yes, especially for Mr. Taylor, the tailor that has a shop over on Tyler.

Not to mention Mr. Tyler, the tiler that has a shop on Taylor.

Tim Ward

On 18 Nov 2003 09:22:22 -0800, (GreenPilot)
wrote in Message-Id:
:

http://www.msnbc.com/news/993760.asp?vts=111820030909



-------------------------------------------------------------------
AVflash Volume 9, Number 47b November 20, 2003

-------------------------------------------------------------------

SECURITY MEASURES FOR GA AIRPORTS
On Monday, the General Aviation Airport Security Working Group
released its final report on GA security to the Transportation
Security Administration (TSA). The goal of the Working Group, made
up of representatives from GA alphabet groups such as GAMA, AOPA,
EAA, NATA, NBAA, and more, was to develop guidelines for security
at the nation's GA airports. The group recommended that pilot
certificates should include photos, specific threats should be
better disseminated, the TSA should reward airports for
terrorism-related convictions, and federal funds should be
allotted to build more hangars. Overall, the report concluded that
GA airports are so diverse, the best approach is to proceed case
by case, but outlined general practices that can be followed.
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archive...ll.html#186111



Let's take a look at the committee's recommendations:

Pilot certificates should include photos:

Does that mean that two forms of pilot ID will no longer be
required? Or does it mean that criminal false ID purveyors will
need to update their equipment to include a new pilot certificate?
What reasoning was used to justify the expense of FAA issuing
600,000 new certificates?


Specific threats should be better disseminated:

Does that mean the government now believes that pilots have a
need to know the specific threats they face, instead of being
expected to blindly comply with what often appear to be arrogantly
imposed arbitrary security measures? If TSA desires pilot
compliance with the security measures it implements, it will
likely find that providing the reasoning behind them will foster
cooperation.


The TSA should reward airports for terrorism-related convictions:

Does that mean that airports are not currently very zealous in
enforcing TSA mandated measures? Or was the working group
membership comprised of a disproportionate number of airport
managers?


Federal funds should be allotted to build more hangars

I hope those funds are adequate to purchase the land on which to
construct those new hangars. The individual in first position on
the KSNA's hangar waiting list has held that position since
1983!

"C J Campbell" wrote in message ...
"Fred the Red Shirt" wrote in message |
| Do you recall the context?

It was a report from an analyst who is involved in looking for WMD.

Thank you. I'd be more trusting of a UN analyst looking for WMD, than
I would of a US analyst for obvous reasons.


It is credible to me because from the very beginning of the war military
authorities have been saying that captured personnel were "cooperating" in
the search for WMD. They probably did believe that other commanders had WMD.
Then the interrogation team would go to those commanders who would say, "No,
we had no WMD in our unit, but so-and-so had them."

Had I been captured, I would have cooperated too. If indeed Saddam
Hussein was bluffing it obviously backfired. But the simplest
explanation consistant with observed fact remains that the Declaration
in the Fall of 2002 was reasonably accurate.


They all believed that Iraq had WMD, but that these weapons were all
assigned to some other unit. Of course, all these commanders may not have
been lied to by Saddam, but they simply believed the photos and other stuff
presented by Colin Powell at the UN. Then we are left with the question of
why Saddam seems to have gone to such great lengths to appear to be hiding
WMD when in fact he had none.

Or maybe he really did have WMD, but had no chance to deploy them since they
were all hidden away in inaccessible places. They could have been buried
deep in the sand like the Iraqi Air Force, the location known only to a few,
and those few either dead or in hiding. In that event looking for WMD will
be a lot like looking for the Lost Dutchman mine, the object of treasure
hunters and book authors for centuries to come.

Unlike the lost Dutchman's treasure, WMDs rapidly deterioate to
uselessness. Only mustard gas is long lived and it WAS all
accounted for, save for a trivial amount (some 500 shells).
Any weapon stocks dating back to 1991 would be useless by now and
a liability.

--

FF

Fred the Red Shirt wrote:

"C J Campbell" wrote in message ...

"Fred the Red Shirt" wrote in message |
| Do you recall the context?

It was a report from an analyst who is involved in looking for WMD.


Thank you. I'd be more trusting of a UN analyst looking for WMD, than
I would of a US analyst for obvous reasons.

The UN didn't stop saying that Saddam had WMD until Ignorance S. Blix
was unable to find anything (including an explanation for what had
happened to them) last year.

For that matter, they never said that he didn't have them, only that
they needed more time to find them.

Unlike the lost Dutchman's treasure, WMDs rapidly deterioate to
uselessness.

This will certainly come as news to all the people who are trying to
come up with safe ways to dispose of our leftover chemical weapons
stocks from decades back.

Fred the Red Shirt wrote:

"C J Campbell" wrote in message ...
"Fred the Red Shirt" wrote in message
om...
| "C J Campbell" wrote in message
...
| "Thomas Borchert" wrote in message
| ...
| |
| | I can't see much of a difference for the world with Saddam missing (he
| | isn't, really, by the way). I am now absolutely certain - as most news
| | watchers - that Saddam didn't pose nearly the threat that some were
led
| | to believe. There are no WMD, period.
| |
|
| Saddam's own military commanders all believed that Saddam had WMD. They
have
| told investigators that they still believe it.
|
| I'm only aware of one such person and he made claims about nuclear
| weapons which made it clear that he actually knew nothing about them.

Well, I heard it on NPR.

Do you recall the context? E.g. did the NPR speaking head say that or
did the NPR speaking head quote someone else as saying that, or
was someone else being interviewed who said that or did they play
statements from 'all' of Sadam Hussein's own military commanders?
Were ANY of the commanders mentioned by name?

I have speculated that the Iraqi military was so weakened by the
1991 war and ensuing sanctions that Saddam Hussein created the
impression that he was hiding WMDs as a bluff to forstall
military action against his regime from outside or within. But
I don't claim that to be anything but my own speculation.

Let's not forget that he only controlled about 2/3 of his own
country and his control over half of that was marginal.

His WMD were effective enough to stop the US for 12 years, until the UN
discovered they weren't there and that it was safe to attack.