From: believer@telepath.com Subject: IP: Huge Philly Terrorist Drill Yesterday Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 09:32:52 -0500 To: believer@telepath.com Source: Chicago Tribune http://chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/article/0,1051,SAV-9809170173,00. html HUGE SIMULATED TERRORIST ATTACK AIMED AT PUTTING CITY ON GUARD From Tribune News Services September 17, 1998 PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA -- The Army on Wednesday gave Philadelphia's law-enforcement and rescue crews a daylong taste of what it might be like if terrorists unleashed deadly Sarin nerve gas during a civic luncheon for 1,500 people. Sirens shattered the calm of Philadelphia's Fairmount Park as hundreds of police, firefighters and federal troops rushed to the aid of city workers acting out their parts as victims of the attack. "You can't predict an Oklahoma City. You can't predict what happened in Tokyo. And you can't predict what happened in New York," Army Col. Richard Breen shouted over the roar of fire engines. "It's better to be proactive and train people so that a city like Philadelphia can take . . . care of its citizens if, God forbid, something like this really were to occur." The drill was part of a Defense Department program to train cities to cope with chemical, biological and nuclear terrorism. The exercise, the biggest yet to be staged by the Army Chemical and Biological Defense Command, involved beat officers, bomb-disposal experts, hazardous-material teams, firefighters, ambulance crews, National Guardsmen, federal emergency managers, FBI agents, the Coast Guard and the American Red Cross. Organizers refused to say how many people took part. "We would not want to broadcast . . . just what our personnel and equipment strengths would be to meet this type of emergency," a city official said. Later this month in a similar exercise, the Army plans to simulate another Sarin attack on a music concert at RFK Stadium in Washington. ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------- ********************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address ********************************************** www.telepath.com/believer **********************************************