[Hed Kandi]

Will Al-Qaeda Crash the 2010 Olympics and how do we prevent it ?

Am I the only one who has fears of being obliterated by a bomb on the skytrain during the olympics ?

I also have fears of the Downtown Eastside Bums Society randomly attacking innocent tourists! :(

[deasine]

I hope not, and I vote no.

[mr.x]

i wouldn't be surprised if it did happen, but i would be extremely shocked and horrified at the aftermath.

Vancouver does have some Al Qaeda connections. For one, the guy that tried to sneak a bomb on a plane in Seattle was from Vancouver. And awhile ago, one of Bin Laden's top operatives were living in Richmond and just a few years ago, they found a bunch of guns and ammo in the West End that were believed to be associated with Al Qaeda.

Then two years ago, there was that foiled plot by home-grown terrorists to blow up the CN Tower, a Toronto CSIS office, Parliament Hill, as well as kidnap and behead our Prime Minister. We were lucky in being able to foil this attack, but we may not be so lucky with other plots...if they do exist.

The threat is very real, and i really want the RCMP and the military to stop at nothing to protect these Games. Cost should not be an issue at all when lives are at stake, so really the NDP and all opposition to security costs should do us all a favour and shut the hell up.

Canada is one of two countries that are on Al Qaeda's hitlist and have not been attacked. The only other nation is Italy.

[Yume-sama]

Hmm, I would seriously hope not. They'd be foolish to attack Canada, anyways. We're like one of the only places they can hide out and live freely while trying to enter the USA. Not that that is a good thing...

I wouldn't expect the Olympics to go off without a hitch, but I certainly wouldn't expect an "attack".

For what it's worth, I'm scared of anything DTES, too :P

[Nutterbug]

A-Q and the APC need to form an alliance. The APC can scout all the venues, buildings and infrastructure, look for critical and vulnerable spots, and report their findings to a-Q, and a-Q just has to apply their craft.

Is the APC hell bent enough to do it? Can a-Q trust them enough?

[Nutterbug]

Will Al-Qaeda Crash the 2010 Olympics and how do we prevent it ?

Am I the only one who has fears of being obliterated by a bomb on the skytrain during the olympics ?:(

al-Qaeda 1 Hed Kandi 0

[deasine]

A-Q and the APC need to form an alliance. The APC can scout all the venues, buildings and infrastructure, and report their findings to a-Q, and a-Q just has to apply their craft.

Is the APC hell bent enough to do it? Can a-Q trust them enough?

LOL!!!!! Now that's called teamwork >=P

[towerguy3]

How much money is "enough" money to spend on Security for 2010? I believe Salt Lake City's budget was roughly $ 350 million for Security alone

[cornholio]

The threat is very real, and i really want the RCMP and the military to stop at nothing to protect these Games. Cost should not be an issue at all when lives are at stake, so really the NDP and all opposition to security costs should do us all a favour and shut the hell up.

I would be very careful when saying something like this. Personally I would much rather have a skytrain blown up killing dozens with a insignificant possibility of me being one of the casualties then to have my freedoms taken away. There is a price to pay for freedom.

Also I hate this fear mongering, will someone branding themselves as part of Al' Qaeda pull off a attack operation during the 2010 Olympics to further their cause? Maybe...but im not going to loose sleep over it, and I dont care...I dont like politics and military. One things for sure and thats that any major event such as the 2010 Olympics is a magnet for anyone who has the need to inflict as much psychological damage to a country/countries.

Personally im not willing to surender any of my freedoms, ever, no mater what anyone says. The freedoms we have are not the cause of any threat of atack, rather its foreign policy. If there really is a serious threat that people cant accept and live with then pull our troops out of foreign countries, stop sticking our noses where they dont belong but god dam it dont start taking away our freedoms. Personally iv never heared of Switzerland having a terrorist attack or being threatened...wonder why that is...must be doing something right.

[mr.x]

^ well, i'm not talking about taking freedoms away....hell no. But I'm talking about a decent security presence at these Games so that we can prevent shit from happening, and any financial cost should not prevent that from happening. If it weren't for high security in Athens, a terrorist attack may have happened. Bin Laden himself said that it would be too hard to attack Athens.

If a bomb goes off during the Games, i can assure you that there will be huge economical consequences for this province.....far greater than the financial cost of security. As of right now, the publicly known security budget is CAN$175 million....that is pitiful for a city our size.

The only reason why athletes were killed in Munich 1972 was because of a lack of security. Do we really want to be added to the list of cities attacked by terrorists? Especially with the world looking at us, and when we've invested billions into this mega marketing campaign?

[Yume-sama]

I would be very careful when saying something like this. Personally I would much rather have a skytrain blown up killing dozens with a insignificant possibility of me being one of the casualties then to have my freedoms taken away. There is a price to pay for freedom.

Also I hate this fear mongering, will someone branding themselves as part of Al' Qaeda pull off a attack operation during the 2010 Olympics to further their cause? Maybe...but im not going to loose sleep over it, and I dont care...I dont like politics and military. One things for sure and thats that any major event such as the 2010 Olympics is a magnet for anyone who has the need to inflict as much psychological damage to a country/countries.

Personally im not willing to surender any of my freedoms, ever, no mater what anyone says. The freedoms we have are not the cause of any threat of atack, rather its foreign policy. If there really is a serious threat that people cant accept and live with then pull our troops out of foreign countries, stop sticking our noses where they dont belong but god dam it dont start taking away our freedoms. Personally iv never heared of Switzerland having a terrorist attack or being threatened...wonder why that is...must be doing something right.

Well, what an unselfish thing for you to say. :tup:

I don't expect "freedoms" to be taken away, but I do expect people to complain about what they believe to be their rights being infringed upon. I've seen it all too often in America, from their first amendment right to sit in the first class car without a ticket, to their rights to the last Ketchup packet at the In N' Out Burger in Hollywood, CA. I think people would be shocked to find out what their actual "rights" are, and I'm sure we'll do everything possible to not infringe upon them, but probably inconvenience you just enough so you can complain about it. I mean... they already pat you down and show them your bags to enter GM Place. Surely that's infringing on some right :P? Sure, you have the right to say no to being searched... but you're not getting on that plane, or in that stadium :) Really, if I'm not inconvenienced at some point in those 2+ weeks by the extra security, they're not doing their jobs.

[mr.x]

What will you see in 2010?

- armed military/police guards at every SkyTrain/Canada Line/WCE/Seabus station
- armed guards at all venues and facilities
- huge police presence in downtown
- snipers at Olympic venue/facility areas
- lots and lots and lots and lots of CCTV in downtown and in Olympic venue neighbourhoods
- metal detector and baggage checks at Olympic venues and facilities are a standard
- constant aerial surveillance by military helicopters and fighter jets
- spies/plain-clothing police in crowds
- closed airspace over Olympic venues
- more air marshalls
- a destroyer parked in the middle of Burrard Inlet
- constant monitoring of marine activity by military/police boats and CCTV
- C.F. Comox on standby
- deployment of the nation's counter-terrorism unit to Vancouver, Joint Task Force 2, with its helicopters on standby in the city

Don't forget that CSIS is also heavily involved.

Basically, you could rename the city to "Fortress Vancouver".

[jlousa]

Munich didn't happen because of lack of security, it happened because of determination. As much as no one wants to see anything happen in Vancouver, it is a very real possiblity, and lets be honest no amount of money can guarntee against it, if some is determined they will find a way. That is not to say lets not spend anything, but it does mean money should be spent wisely not excessively.

How hard would it be to blow up a bomb in Pac Centre/Metrotown/a movie theatre during the olympics? Pretty damn easy and it would gather the same amount of attention.

[Yume-sama]

If we bring in a boat load of CCTV cameras, I'd hope they go as quick as they come. We don't need to turn in to London.

[mr.x]

Munich didn't happen because of lack of security, it happened because of determination. As much as no one wants to see anything happen in Vancouver, it is a very real possiblity, and lets be honest no amount of money can guarntee against it, if some is determined they will find a way. That is not to say lets not spend anything, but it does mean money should be spent wisely not excessively.

How hard would it be to blow up a bomb in Pac Centre/Metrotown/a movie theatre during the olympics? Pretty damn easy and it would gather the same amount of attention.

All you had that separated athletes from the public at the Munich village was a 15-foot unmonitored fence...they simply hopped over the fence. And there was hardly any of a security presence at the village, and any security presence - the guards - were completely unarmed.

On the other hand, Athens made it extremely hard for terrorists to hit them.

You're right, we can't stop someone from bombing something but we can do our very best to prevent that from ever happening.

[SpongeG]

we've got beijing 2008 to see what or if al queda does anything

[Nutterbug]

What will you see in 2010?

- armed military/police guards at every SkyTrain/Canada Line/WCE/Seabus station
- armed guards at all venues and facilities
- huge police presence in downtown
- snipers at Olympic venue/facility areas
- lots and lots and lots and lots of CCTV in downtown and in Olympic venue neighbourhoods
- metal detector and baggage checks at Olympic venues and facilities are a standard
- constant aerial surveillance by military helicopters and fighter jets
- spies/plain-clothing police in crowds
- closed airspace over Olympic venues
- more air marshalls
- a destroyer parked in the middle of Burrard Inlet
- constant monitoring of marine activity by military/police boats and CCTV
- C.F. Comox on standby
- deployment of the nation's counter-terrorism unit to Vancouver, Joint Task Force 2, with its helicopters on standby in the city

Don't forget that CSIS is also heavily involved.

Basically, you could rename the city to "Fortress Vancouver".

How quick will they be to fire at the sight of somebody reaching into their jacket?

[Nutterbug]

we've got beijing 2008 to see what or if al queda does anything

China's not a Western country. Does al-Qaeda have an axe to grind against them? Or do they have issues about their oppression of Xinjiang muslims?

[mr.x]

yea....i'm quite sure Al Qaeda wouldn't attack Beijing. If that ever happened, Mao would probably come back and it would be the end of Al Qaeda.

It would be like waking up a sleeping dragon....like what Pearl Harbour did to the states.

[Nutterbug]

yea....i'm quite sure Al Qaeda wouldn't attack Beijing. If that ever happened, Mao would probably come back and it would be the end of Al Qaeda.

It would be like waking up a sleeping dragon....like what Pearl Harbour did to the states.

I don't know. China's potentially more unstable, with a lot more pissed off people within it due to all the tyranny, poverty, pollution, poison in their food and everything, wouldn't you say? A few bombs going off here and there could put the country into total chaos, don't you think? Sounds like just the kind of target al-Qaeda likes.

[mr.x]

I don't know. China's potentially more unstable, with a lot more pissed off people within it due to all the tyranny, poverty, pollution, poison in their food and everything, wouldn't you say? A few bombs going off here and there could put the country into total chaos, don't you think? Sounds like just the kind of target al-Qaeda likes.

Well, the Chinese will be spending billions on Olympic security anyhow...security will be much tighter than Athens, and they will be monitoring the media coverage quite closely. There will be 100,000 security guards, mostly from the People's Liberation Army. They have an incredible intelligence system, as we all know, and they will be using some of the most advanced technology available....like these special aviation policemen in motorised paragliders (not kidding) :D :

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q55/roltel/para2.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q55/roltel/para1.jpg



Sorry to say, but the Chinese - the general population - are actually very happy and incredibly proud and nationalistic bunch. They hold a lot of pride in their country, and they think they've been held back and suppressed by the west for the last few centuries. There's certainly no instability, but the Chinese public would definitely be shocked, angry, and would want vengeance.

There are of course some that think they have been mistreated, but really those who become activists often find themselves behind bars. If you, in any way, embarrass China you will end up in prison right away. A few weeks ago, China's Olympic Television Network CCTV was about to rebrand itself for the 2008 Games at a live launch event and one of their top sport anchors crashed the event by publicly accusing her husband on live television of cheating on her. The clip was removed by China on many video sharing sites, including YouTube only a few days ago....and the anchor was arrested and sent to prison.




Beijing 2008 has a logo for everything, even for security :p
http://www.showchina.org/en/olympics/News/200709/W020070917344042811883.jpg

[Nutterbug]

The clip was removed by China on many video sharing sites, including YouTube only a few days ago....and the anchor was arrested and sent to prison.

They're reaching well outside of their boundaries there, since YouTube is not based in China.

Today China, tomorrow the world?

Just how thoroughly tested are those motorized paragliders for effectiveness and safety anyways? Or do a few people sacrificed here and there not matter?

[mr.x]

^ well, the Chinese view is that "meh, we've got 1.3 billion people...what difference does one, two, ten, or a thousand make".

There have been unconfirmed reports that 300,000 people were evicted to make way for Olympic venues, facilities, and related infrastructure....and close to 1,000 have committed suicide because their lives and businesses are gone.

You do have to realize that YouTube, and other net sites such as Google (which owns YouTube), are trying to make it into Chinese market. They have to appease to the Chinese gov't.

I'm thankful that they were sensible enough to reject Rupert Murdoch (Fox owner) of any ownership of Chinese property. He invested $2 billion in that country, all became business failures. :D

[Nutterbug]

^ well, the Chinese view is that "meh, we've got 1.3 billion people...what difference does one, two, ten, or a thousand make".

There have been unconfirmed reports that 300,000 people were evicted to make way for Olympic venues, facilities, and related infrastructure....and close to 1,000 have committed suicide because their lives and businesses are gone.

Too bad the rest of the Chinese public won't take note of this reality of how casually their government could sacrifice them if the time were ever right, as with my earlier point about how they're made to inhale polluted air and eat poison.

I wonder if the IOC can also sleep well at night knowing this.

[mr.x]

Too bad the rest of the Chinese public won't take note of this reality of how casually their government could sacrifice them if the time were ever right, as with my earlier point about how they're made to inhale polluted air and eat poison.

I wonder if the IOC can also sleep well at night knowing this.

Inhaling polluted air and eating poison? Well, the Chinese are going at great lengths to reduce pollution and increase their standards. Many air polluting factories have been shut down, power plants have been moved away from the city and replaced with cleaner plants, and they're trying to resolve their car problem. During the Games, they may ban all cars/vehicles and close all factories to reduce pollution...so that athletes won't have to perform in this:
http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/images/4ChinaInMon.jpg


Part of the Olympic Village includes an artificially made swamp/lagoon/green space park thingamajig that is twice the size of Manhattan's Central Park. That's basically the Burns Bog of Beijing.


With regards to lead paint in toys, fake concrete, and even fake food, it has nothing to do with the government. It's actually punishable by death if you are caught doing any of that sort. It has to do with indivduals and businesses, not giving a crap about people.

[Nutterbug]

With regards to lead paint in toys, fake concrete, and even fake food, it has nothing to do with the government. It's actually punishable by death if you are caught doing any of that sort. It has to do with indivduals and businesses, not giving a crap about people.

There seems to be a lack of regulation and/or enforcement somewhere, or oddly enough, a lack of respect for them considering the severity of the consequences. Could it be that the powers that be will just find a scapegoat and put him on the chopping block to absolve themselves of the blame if this sort of thing were to become publicly known and a scandal were to break out?

[mr.x]

There seems to be a lack of regulation and/or enforcement somewhere, or oddly enough, a lack of respect for them considering the severity of the consequences. Could it be that the powers that be will just find a scapegoat and put him on the chopping block to absolve themselves of the blame if this sort of thing were to become publicly known and a scandal were to break out?

Well if you recall last year, 6 workers were killed while working on the new Olympic subway when part of the tunnel caved in. Managers kept it secret from the police and everyone for 8 hours, they even forced all their workers to hand over their cell phones so that they couldn't report it. 8 hours after the incident, one of the workers managed to contact a relative or something quite a distance away and the relative reported the incident to the police. But it was obviously too late for the trapped workers. They started digging 10 hours later, and it took 36 hours to find just one of the six bodies.

The mangers were obviously prosecuted, a few were sentenced to life in prison, one to death, and one committed suicide. There are similar incidents out there...the guy that provided the lead paint to the toy company was actually a friend of the company's owner, and he betrayed his friend for profit...he later committed suicide. Same goes with the people responsible with fake concrete (it was practically like building a bridge using styrofoam).

Besides that, there is widespread corruption in the police force...businessmen and entreprenuers bribing government officials, police, etc. to allow them to do whatever they want.

[Mike K.]

With respect to the original topics: 1996 Atlanta Olympics Games.

The threat for violence and attacks don't necessarily need to originate from terrorist cells and carried out by dark-skinned and bearded individuals of a Muslim faith.

Truth is the games will be a target. Just how successful the attempts to derail the games are depends on the level of security and Canadian intelligence services. But even then there's only so much that can be done to thwart a potential threat.

[Yume-sama]

In regards to Youtube and Google Video, you can upload videos from inside China (though they are screened before going live), but you can not watch them back. Kind of funny rules.

http://leeinchina.com/images/uploads/nogoogle.png

Oh yes, and Wikipedia is completely blocked :P

[SpongeG]

liked what someone wrote to the letters in the 24 hours

the USA has a trade embargo with the communist nation of Cuba - yet does billions in business with the communist country of china

[vanman]

Will Al-Qaeda Crash the 2010 Olympics and how do we prevent it ?

Am I the only one who has fears of being obliterated by a bomb on the skytrain during the olympics ?

(

You should really stop watching Fox News.

[Rico Rommheim]

Will Al-Qaeda Crash the 2010 Olympics and how do we prevent it ?

Am I the only one who has fears of being obliterated by a bomb on the skytrain during the olympics ?

I also have fears of the Downtown Eastside Bums Society randomly attacking innocent tourists! :(

You sound terribly paranoid buddy. No, it won't happen :)

[towerguy3]

Can someone explain that fan apparatus the man is wearing with the propeller on the back? The propeller should provide forward thrust but how about the ascent engine?

[Hong Kongese]

Can someone explain that fan apparatus the man is wearing with the propeller on the back? The propeller should provide forward thrust but how about the ascent engine?

I think they just jump off the plane and pray that they can land safely.

[theman23]

I'd be more concerned about our current prime minister showing up...

[deasine]

I'd be more concerned about our current prime minister showing up...

He'll be gone by the next election.

[Jacques]

I gather there is more probability that CHINA will be somewhat affected by radical extremist or by group opposing their manners in dealing with human rights issues, such as now the youngest detainee in China is a baby of 21month old, the daughter of an outspoken activist put under house arrest with his wife and child, this is only one example of China extreme ways of dealing with free speech and human rights issue, poverty and displacement.
here we have APC, so minute it will be dealt with expediently.

[Jacques]

He'll be gone by the next election.

I hope so, for all our sake and the same applies to Sullivan, get the guy out of city hall.

[mr.x]

I have lost faith in our mayor as well. I hate saying this, but he mentions his disability in almost every interview...in fact, it can even be his campaign motto! "I'M IN A WHEELCHAIR! VOTE FOR SAM '08!" He also lacks strength and a certain stamina required for a good leader. And his wheelchair/disability can be blamed.

[deasine]

I don't think Sam Sullivan is doing the best job - but I don't think it's bad either. I would support Peter Ladner more than Sullivan.

Anyone but Gregor Robinson.

~~~~~
We need better Federal Leaders. I don't like Stephen Harper. I don't like Dion. I'm more of a very liberal/conservative person so I wouldn't vote for NDP - but Jack Layton is an amazing politician.

[mr.x]

^ Jack Layton? eww. IMO, everyone in Ottawa is incompetent. Harper, Dion, Layton...

[deasine]

^ Jack Layton? eww. IMO, everyone in Ottawa is incompetent. Harper, Dion, Layton...

compared to everyone else - he's the best. And he's been improving his party.

But I'll never vote NDP

[Hong Kongese]

NDP sucks!

[mr.x]

I'll vote for the mary jane party.