Two young men busted for having pipe bombs in their car in South Carolina. A neighbor of the two, Sherri Jackson, said things seemed suspicious. She says she saw lots of traffic, a lot of people going back and forth, oxygen tanks being delivered UPS and Fed Ex deliveries and a lot going on.

http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=60669

She should have told the FBI her neighbors were probably terrorists, not the other way around.

Over the years we’ve been told to report anything "suspicious." While that general advice is certainly good, it would be better to have some concrete clues for which to be alert. Remember, suspicious means something that is unusual or suspicious to you, not necessarily anyone else. We all have an innate sensitivity to danger, which gives us intuitive warning signs. These subtle, inner "red flags" can help us discover terror attacks in the preparation phase. If you remember nothing else, remember to be aware of your surroundings no matter where you are or when. If you see something unusual, evaluate it. After evaluating for a short time, if you cannot determine if a threat exists or if you think a threat may exist, notify law enforcement ASAP. That means right away, not when you get around to it.

Terrorists will usually conduct some sort of surveillance prior to an attack. This pre-attack activity is actually an important part of the attack to come later. Surveillance may be a quick drive-by, just moments before an attack or a prolonged, comprehensive assessment of a target’s vulnerabilities.

Here are some basic indicators from the FBI on how pre-attack surveillance might look.

We'll go into more detail later today or tomorrow.

Like some of you, I've been reading about the "Your Black Muslim Bakery" bust out in Oakland, CA; and the murder of Chauncey Bailey last Thursday. Without spending too much time here on all the details and potential extrapolations, this needs to be remembered: This war is not over, not by a long shot.

There's not an expert that disagrees:

it's going to get worse before it gets better.

I checked out some other websites today to see if there was anything like this one out there. There is only one online training course, created by the state of Pennsylvania, which goes into any meaningful depth. And, even that site intentionally leaves out the tactical aspect of what we, free men and women all, can and should do to meet this threat courageously and effectively. There are some police departments that have basic seminars, which they present to the public from a crime prevention point of view. I've seen some of the presentations. The problem is their premise.

Please, read on ...

In February 2003, a panel was convened as part of an invitational summit on leadership during bioterrorism, titled "The Public as an Asset, Not a Problem." The goal of this meeting was to synthesize for government and public health authorities some essential principles of leadership that encourage the public's constructive collaboration in confronting a bioterrorist attack, based on frontline experiences with recent terrorism events and other relevant crises. More than 160 people attended, representing senior operational decision-makers in public health and safety–including bioterrorism coordinators from 35 state and local health agencies–as well as thought leaders in medicine, public health, nursing, hospital administration, and disaster relief. 

And more.

Panel member Dr. Lee Clarke; Professor of Sociology at Rutger's University, had the following to say about preparation for bioterrorism. It seems to me, though, that his comments apply to general preparation as well.

We are free men and women.

None of us is bound by a suicide pact which requires we stand silent if we see danger and death about to strike.

If you have some sense that it will always be "the other guy" who’s touched by terrorism, then you won’t take the threat seriously because you believe it won’t reach you. We act on our beliefs, on that which we have decided is true ~ or true enough.

We need to personalize the threat or we won’t act.

There are two reasons we buckle up our seatbelts in the car. First, it’s law in many places and we can get a ticket for that infraction. Trust me, I know. One-hundred and one good ol' American greenbacks. Ouch. Second; we put it on just in case "the other guy" is driving HUA. Chances are you’ll never be in an accident. Chances are even less probable that you’ll be a victim of a terrorist attack. But, just in case …

We are engaged in a war. The enemy is not coming ~ they are already here. Our law enforcement agencies have been doing great work and have succeeded in thwarting several attacks. But they cannot do it all. The rest of us, all of us, need to help.

This blog isn’t about accusing any religion or ethnic group of being terrorists. It is here specifically to help us be more aware of any open source / plain view / open sight / reasonable man indicators that may imply some type of criminal or terror-related activity by a person(s), whether or not he or she is affiliated in some way with any terrorist group ~ and then to report such to the proper people in a timely, thorough manner.

No single indicator that we may discuss or observe should be considered "proof" of involvement in terrorism or crime. What we hear or see might be just one element of proof that combines with other elements to provide actionable intel, which law enforcement agencies may or may not choose to pursue. It's their job to assess and investigate and act as appropriate.

The Virginia Tech shooter was Korean. He had a solid tactical plan to kill as many people as he could and then kill himself. He pulled it off. I am not suggesting he was a terrorist, using the FBI definition. I mention him to make this point: It was what he was doing and saying, not the exterior appearance of his race a/o ethnicity, that should have signaled people that he posed a deadly threat to others. In fact, there is evidence that some did know he was a bad actor and yet did not take actions appropriate and permissible under the law. That's an argument not to be advanced or won here.

Remember ...

It's about what they appear to be doing near your or next to you. It's not about where they appear to have come from on the globe, although given the totality of circumstances, that might be imprudent to ignore.

David Dray                                                                             Tacoma, Washington

EDUCATION AND TRAINING
• US Army Military Police School, November 75 – January 76
• Basic Criminal Investigations Course, 8 January 85 – 24 April 85
• Drug Suppression Team Course, 4 August 86 – 8 August 86
• Criminal Investigation Laboratory and Team Chief Course, July 87
• Basic Non-Commissioned Officer Leadership Course, 14 April 88 – 9 June 88
• Protective Service Course, 24 July 89 – 11 August 89 
• Advanced Fraud Investigations Course, 2 April 90 – 27 April 90
• Hostage Negotiations Course, 22 January 90 – 2 February 90 
• Serial Murder Investigations Course, 26 February 90 – 28 February 90 

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS
• Trained and led platoons of US Army Military Police officers in all phases of the law enforcement mission. 
• Conducted inspections of all aspects of training and operations of military guard and police forces to sustain and improve security operations. 
• Performed security risk assessments and crime prevention surveys of military installations, buildings, activities, and processes. 
• Assisted military commanders in creating and writing effective crime prevention policies and ensuring compliance with US Government security regulations. 
• Conducted comprehensive personal security vulnerability assessments for Army General Officers and their families. 
• Investigated felony crimes including homicide, rape, sodomy, armed robbery, assault, aggravated assault, forgery, child abuse, larceny, kidnapping, arson, auto theft and fraud, waste, or abuse.
• Interviewed suspects and witnesses; collected, preserved, and analyzed all types of evidence.  
• Wrote complex investigative reports. 
• Selected, trained, and lead a five-man undercover narcotics interdiction team. 
• Performed surveillance and counter-surveillance and established and maintained contacts with informants. 
• Performed all facets of personal protection detail for US Secretaries of Defense Caspar Weinberger and Richard Cheney, Deputy Secretary of Defense Donald Atwood, Secretary of the Army Michael P.W. Stone, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral William J. Crowe Jr.  Interfaced with local, state, and US Government law enforcement and intelligence agencies worldwide. 
• Apprehended offenders, prepared cases for prosecution, and testified before military and civilian courts and boards. 
• Prepared and submitted search and arrest warrants for judicial review/approval and executed the same. 

ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
• Testified in court as an expert witness in matters concerning self-defense and personal protection. 
• Conducted security protection assessments of local mall security forces in support of litigants. 
• Compiled and wrote a comprehensive training manual for Washington State Security Officers and submitted it, in accordance with International Association of Chiefs of Police recommendations, to the Criminal Justice Training Commission for use as the state standard. 
• Formerly employed part-time as an instructor at Clover Park Technical College teaching “Counter-terrorism for Civilians” a course to instruct citizens in recognizing pre-attack indicators, thwarting terrorist attacks through awareness and vigilance, and attack survival and recovery actions.  
• As Enterprise Crime Prevention Team Leader for a Fortune 100 aerospace corporation; designed and developed Crime Prevention and Counterterrorism PowerPoint presentations, brochures, and related material for the purpose of safeguarding people, property and information and presented this training to hundreds of employees. 
• Created training/policy guidelines for a Fortune 100 aerospace corporation on Hostage Negotiation Basics, Recommended Vehicle Search Procedures, Threat Condition Instructions for Security Gates, and Threat Condition Instructions for Patrols.
• Created comprehensive “Worst Case Scenario” training for a Fortune 100 aerospace corporation, concerning proper tactical response to armed attacks, and presented this training to corporate security managers and security officers in the Puget Sound region.

Absolutely new to this but I want to get involved in the fight somehow.  I'll put up a CV as soon as I figure out that trick and then any reader can decide if I have any credibility in what I write. 

Basically, I want to take all the general advice on reporting anything suspicious and get it all out on the table because, frankly, things that can be downright deadly sometimes appear harmless. 

I'm talking about terrorist attacks and the preparations made  in order to pull them off.  I'm not going to be commenting much on the political or theological aspects, just the survival stuff. 

So, hang on; here we go.