As the NCAA A different type of madness is unfolding as the U.S. military rebuilds its weapons of mass destruction response apparatus to focus on attacks by American citizens rather than attacks by familiar foreign terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS. ing.
Late last month, the National Guard conducted a training exercise at a basketball and hockey stadium in Trenton, New Jersey, simulating the first-ever frantic search for a nuclear dirty bomb. This exercise differed from hundreds of similar war games held since 9/11 in that purely domestic terrorists were identified as the perpetrators.
Regarding the scenario for the exercise, the military said, “We have just received information that a well-funded domestic terrorist group has planted a bomb containing the radioactive isotope cesium-137 at the stadium.'' “The clock is ticking.”
CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton is a multi-purpose facility that seats 8,000 people. The arena hosted the Princeton-Rutgers game in November and aims to attract more college basketball games.
The simulated nuclear material search was conducted from March 25th to 28th and involved National Guard Civilian Support Teams from New Jersey, Delaware, and Idaho. other military teams. city, county, and state police and hazardous materials teams; and federal agencies (including experts from his local FBI field office and the National Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate).
Established during the Clinton administration in 1998, the National Guard Civilian Support Team is tasked with “consequences management” in the event of a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear incident, known as a CBRN. Teams of 20 to 25 members may also be assigned to “incidents of national significance” or “national security events” involving intentional and unintentional CBRN releases. These have been deployed as standbys at the NCAA Tournament as well as the Super Bowl and the Boston Marathon. The team was extensively hired during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last month's exercise scenario resembled the frenetic plot of the post-9/11 television series “24,” which dramatized the concept of a ticking time bomb and the extraordinary measures it might warrant. (“24'' also had its own sports tie-in, with the pilot episode airing right after the Super Bowl.) But in “24,'' the dirty bomb plot is linked to a foreign terrorist organization similar to the one that carried out 9/11. It was portrayed as being masterminded by . By accusing Americans of being a “domestic terrorist group,” the US military surpasses not only Hollywood but also the facts.
The FBI said in its fiscal year 2025 budget request to Congress that its Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate “disrupted 42 incidents” during 2023, but made 62 arrests. “43 indictments, 56 convictions, 56 convictions,” but none involved actual nuclear material or such dirty bombs. There is no evidence that domestic terrorist groups ever had sufficient funds to manufacture nuclear dirty bombs. But that didn't stop Washington from building on January 6 to fuel its current obsession with domestic extremism and fear of it.
In November, the Washington-based Stimson Center released a report, “Threats from within,” touting the alleged internal threat to nuclear security posed by “domestic violent extremists.” This report was sponsored by the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. The Stimson Center also receives funding from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the Department of Defense agency responsible for weapons of mass destruction.
“The January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol revealed flaws in a system designed to weed out candidates unsuitable for classified work protecting nuclear material, weapons, facilities, technology, and personnel. ” said the summary of the Stimson report.
Acknowledging the shift from foreign to domestic terrorism, the report said, “Rather than focusing on international extremists with foreign ideological motivations, federal agencies and law enforcement should focus on national security and critical infrastructure attacks.'' “We are beginning to recognize the prevalence of domestic violent extremist threats in the nuclear sector.”
As an example of the domestic extremist threat to nuclear security, the Stimson report cited the Ashli Babbitt case. Babbitt, an Air Force veteran who took part in the storming of the Capitol and was killed by law enforcement officers, called employment at nuclear power plants “alarming, especially given the attractiveness of nuclear infrastructure” in the report. He points out. Extremist. ”
Of course, this is a far cry from saying (there is no evidence) that Babbitt intended to target its nuclear infrastructure, for example to manufacture dirty bombs.
But that won't stop governments from playing their own games.