Combating terrorism: An Event Tree Approach Talk at the BTR 2003 Conference Richard Wilson...
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Transcript of Combating terrorism: An Event Tree Approach Talk at the BTR 2003 Conference Richard Wilson...
Combating terrorism: An Event Tree Approach
Talk at the BTR 2003 Conference
Richard WilsonMallinckrodt Research Professor of Physics
Harvard University
March 21st 2003
First task:Define the problem.
Next task: break it into component parts
factorizable as much as possibleThen follow Sequence of Events
Step 1. The Creation of a Terrorist
Step 2. A Terrorist Enters Society
Stp 3.Terrorist Exploits Vulnerability
It is usually easiest to address the first step in a chain of events
Definition of a Terrorist (OED) The terrorists, as they were justly denominated, from the cruel and impolitic maxim of keeping the people in
implicit subjugation by a merciless severity (1795) Several notables are believed to be more or less
implicated in the acts of the Terrorists (1905) Miss G...., daughter of a Wexford terrorist, directed
many of the tortures which were so extensively practiced (1866)
some book of the religious terrorists which tended to infuse the alarm of foul perdition(1805)
Was Hitler and his Nazis a gang of terrorists?
even though they were the legitimate government of
Germany, originally elected by the people?
Were opponents of Hitler terrorists?
Esp. Colonel Von Stauffenburg who tried to assassinate Hitler with a bomb in a brief case?
Were the Hutus in Ruanda terrorists when they killed Tutsis although they were the legitimate government?
Were the Young Turks terrorists when they victimized the Armenians in 1916?
Or were the Armenians terrorists because they were not model citizens?
Were (and are) the opponents of British rule in Ireland
terrorists? Has the situation changed since partition in 1922?
Is the government of Russia guilty of terrorism against the people of Chechnya (who have as much voting power as other residents of Russia)
or are the radical Chechens guilty of
terrorism against Russia?
Or both? Is the government of Sri Lanka acting like the Jacobins against the Tamils of the
north, or are the Tamils a bunch of terrorists to be tamed?
Is the government of Sri Lanka acting like the Jacobins against the Tamils of
the north, or
are the Tamils a bunch of terrorists to be tamed?
Was the US terrorising people in WACO Texas, or fighting
terrorists?Timothy McVeigh thought the former
Was General Custer fighting a band of Indian terrorists, or
were the Indians fighting an oppression worse than the
French had experienced in 1795?
Was Castro a terrorist or a freedom fighter when he opposed
the government of Batista?
What about those branded by Castro as terrorists to whom the USA has given citizenship?
Is the government of Israel a terrorist government because they follow " the
cruel and impolitic maxim of keeping the (Palestinian) people in implicit
subjugation by a merciless severity"? Or are the Palestinians all terrorists
because they belong to an organization opposing the present government of Israel and its policies and in its early days, aim
to drive them into the sea?
Probably both sides
are now wrong.
Possible criteria for choosing sides A terrorist is a man with a bomb and no airplane to drop it from (EM Purcell, 1983).
The Azeris were bad first (Elena Bonner, 1994)
"Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of the day; but a series of
oppressions, begun in a distinguished period and pursued unilaterally thro' every change of ministers, too plainly prove a deliberate, systematical plan of reducing
us to slavery".
Gerry Adams?
One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.
Monachem Begin; terrorist in 1945 PM of Israel 1978, Nobel Peace Prize winner
Bourgiba, jailed in Cairo, first President of Tunisia
A rebellion is a Revolution that does
not succeed (Victor Weisskopf) May 1940, I learned unarmed combat.
Was I becoming a terrorist or a freedom fighter?
30 years ago a friend of mine became a terrorist.
Then he became a freedom fighterWithin 6 months he was a
statesmanNow he works with the poor.
He did not change. He lives in Bangladesh
Step 1
Stop Terrorists being createdThus what are:
The root causes of Terrorism?Despair? Basic Evil thinking?
Address Grievances EVEN IF YOU DESPISE THE
TERRORIST
Step 2.Keeping Terrorists at Arm’s length Resolve major trouble spots
before they fester
Any Domestic Dispute lasting 50 Years must be addressed
KashmirIsrael – Palestine
Ireland
Whey do I suggest 50 years? Physicists think million years After 50 years terrorism gets
exported.
Think where we want to be in 100 years
Ignore who did what to whom and when
.
Event Tree Analysis: step 3Imagine what a terrorist might do to society
and make it hard for him to do it
Combating Terrorism and Reducing Accidents are similar
Address the Low Probability High Conseqence Accident: The terrorist will.
Technically easy but a myriad of places to intervene
A terrorist can switch targets
I will “fight the last war” and make my comments on the
World Trade Center
In 1991 Herbert Levine (founder of Asbestospray) said that
“If a fire breaks out above the 50th floor
(where asbestos stopped)
the building will fall down.”
Pilots would now resist a hijacking
Bar cockpit doorsHidden switch to take control of
plane to ground or automatic pilot
(already suggested)
Few plans for a major fire at WTC? (FEMA report)
Insulation not tested for durabilityFire and initial impact destroyed all safety
mechanisms (Common mode failure should have been
foreseen!)Helicopter fire fighters?
Protect buildings by cables from towers or balloons?
Inspect the insulation of all buildings over 50 stories high.
(expensive but possible;
e.g. apply a heat source to steel in one location and compare the
temperature - time profile with calculation)
Night Clubs have accidentsNight Clubs are terrorist targetsAddressing the first is a good
cure for the secondAlways look for emergency exits
Every club owner and every performer must be aware of fire
danger
Designers of buildings and large facilities must IN FUTURE
always perform a risk analysis with especial attention to possible
events:with high consequence
yet low probability
Saboteurs and terrorists will increase the probability
Safer Energy facilities Do not store a lot of fuel in one place
near a lot of people in one place. Oil tanks and LNG facilities should be in
remote areas. (In 1848 London decided to keep Petroleum
products 30 miles from London bridge in Canvey Island)
Terrorism and Sabotage already considered for nuclear power.
Cities have been built on EstuariesHydroelectric dams are upstream.A dam failure (low probability)
can have high consequence.
If Littleton dam on the Connecticut failed in time of flood it would take
out all dams downstream
In 1944 Wing Commander Gibson destroyed a dam in Germany with a 6000 pond bomb in unfavorable
circumstances. In 1975 Littleton dam was
unguarded and I could drive onto it to unload a bomb
Electricity Distribution Systems are easy to sabotage.
A major storm in France cut the system at a few places,
and caused major havoc.
In 1944 bored US officers shot at insulators on transmission towers
and shut off power to the Dartmouth naval base.
20 well placed saboteurs with shot guns could do as much.
Avoiding anthrax scare easyIrradiate all mail at sorting offices
(Co60 or Cs137)
poisoning water supplies? Emergency purification?Mobile water purifiers
are simple
We must be prepared for a new disease whether introduced by
terrorist or natural causes
Sabotage has always been easy:- Disgruntled Con.Ed. Worker
blew up substations- Forest worker set a major fire
- Schoolboys synthesized H2S to get an afternoon off
How much effort should we make for reducing it?
Some terrorists are now educated.
Also some act in concert Modern Society is Vulnerable
Sabotage and terrorism are unfortunate facts of life.
They will be with us until the end
of the human race.
Physicists (and economists)like a quantitative approach
to decide how much to spend.EPA says $6.1 million per
calculated life.
But terrorism is more disturbing and society clearly wants to pay
more
We must not let terrorism distort our lives.
Other risks are bigger.Car accidents:
45,000/yr vs. 3,500 onceDrugs destroy society more
Security vs. FreedomOur human rights are what makes life worth living.
“If you still want to belong to an organization dedicated to killing Americans, there’s always the tobacco lobby.”
Alex Gregory, Cartoonbank.com