ENN DAILY REPORT
EmergencyNet NEWS Service, Friday, June 28, 1996, Vol. 2 - 180
**LEAD STORY**
INVESTIGATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE SAUDI
TERRORIST ATTACK CONTINUES
By Steve Macko, ENN Editor
Under a very hot sun on Thursday, FBI agents and Saudi authorities searched for clues at the U.S.
military complex that was victim of a terrorist bombing on Tuesday night. Suspicion for the attack is still
being focused on Muslim militants who are opposed to the 5,000 U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia.
Working in 100-degree heat, the FBI agents combed through mounds of concrete and twisted metal.
The investigation at the crime scene will continue around the clock until the investigation is finished. It is
expected that the agents will stay in Saudi Arabia for several weeks.
So far, there has been no direct evidence that any foreign sponsorship was involved in the terrorist
attack. However, on Friday, investigators were starting to believe that a very high explosive was used in
the attack, such as TNT, and it appears, for whatever unknown reason at this time, that this might ...
repeat ... might point to foreign involvement.
Many experts and analysts on Thursday started to express their opinion that tension and violence may
continue indefinitely in the Saudi kingdom. It is beginning to appear that there is growing opposition by
Islamic militants to the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia and of a very conservative society comint
to terms -- or not coming to terms -- with rapid change. Much like American society in the late 1960s.
One Middle East analyst said, "You have a situation where Saudi Arabia has serious economic
problems, social problems, political problems and succession problems. They are all coming together at
the same time with unusual intensity."
And, unfortunately, the Americans may be right in the middle of this change in Saudi society. The
presence of non-Muslim soldiers in the country of that is home of Islam's holiest cities has upset many in
the deeply conservative society.
The possibility of Iranian or Iraqi involvement in the bombing has not been ruled out, but most U.S.
experts and analysts believe that it is far more likely that the attack -- like the one in November of 1995
-- was domestic in origin.
One U.S. official said, "This is as much an anti-regime action as an anti-American one. I think what
people want to do here is attack the symbols of the monarchy and that would mean the security
establishment and their partners, the international legitimacy that they (ruling officials) enjoy, and that
means the relationship with the United States."
Experts believe that there are more than 15,000 Mujahadeen in Saudi Arabia who fought with Islamic
fundamentalist militants in Afghanistan, who have now returned to Saudi Arabia and have formed small
cells. They are being seen as taking advantage of Saudi Arabia's inner turmoil and are seeking to purify
the country of foreign influences.
Anthony Cordesman, a highly-regarded military analyst at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies, predicted, "There will be at least 10 to 15 years in Saudi Arabia and the entire southern Gulf
region of a very difficult adjustment to new levels of wealth, population growth and incredible social
change ... and with that will come violence and political uncertainty."
On Thursday, U.S. authorities admitted that they were not prepared for an explosion as big and as
powerful as Tuesday night's truck bombing. That was because their threat assessment was based upon
the 250 pound blast that occurred in November of 1995.
U.S. Major General Kurt Anderson and Brigador General Terry Schwalier, the commander of U.S.
forces at Dhahran, both said that they did not anticipate such a huge bomb. In all fairness to the generals,
nobody anticipated a 5,000 pound terrorist bomb.
Schwalier said that based on the assessment that was made, he was satisfied with security arrangements
in Dhahran. General Anderson said, "Every experience, no matter how tragic it might be, is a learning
experience. We will use this as a learning experience and, as you might expect, significant changes will
occur."
Because of the terrorist bombing, the U.S. military will act to improve protection of its troops abroad
from terrorist attack. U.S. Army General John Shalikashvili, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
said, "We must be as clever as we can to find perhaps different things that we can do to protect the
safety for our men and women that they deserve."
It was the General's opinion that moving barriers further away from buildings was not an answer in itself
because terrorists would simply use a "bigger and bigger bomb."
The bomb that exploded on Tuesday night was about 100 feet away from the apartment building that
took the brunt of the blast. Shalikashvili said that he and other military officers expressed surprise at the
size and magnitude of the bomb.
Related Events
In other related developments on Thursday, the United States Senate with the terrorist bombing in mind,
unanimously passed legislation that will allow the U.S. military to train law enforcement agencies in the
U.S. against terrorism that involves nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia, the co-author of the measure, said, "We are woefully unprepared to deal
with this kind of catastrophic act of terrorism if it occurs. The police departments, the fire departments
are on record as saying, 'We need help' and that's what we're trying to do here. This is not going to
solve the problem. This is a beginning."
ERRI fully agrees and supports the sentiments of the senator. ERRI has urged for passage of this
measure because public safety departments in the U.S. are essentially unprepared to deal with the
threats of nuclear, chemical and biological terrorism. Click here to see March, 30, 1996 ENN Story on
Chemical/Biological Preparedness
The measure will draw $150 million from the Pentagon budget and $85 million from the Department of Energy for a variety of training and assistance programs. Among them are $35 million to develop expertise and strategies for medical teams responding to nuclear, chemical and biological attacks. $29 million will be used for research into detection methods for weapons of mass destruction and $15 million will be used to conduct emergency response exercises with local law enforcement agencies. Other monies will go toward increasing federal efforts to intercept such weapons at the border. Nunn said that terrorist acts have replaced the threat of nuclear war with Russia as the foremost national security concern.
Despite the unanimous 96-0 vote in the senate for the measure, the fate of the legislation in the House is
said to be uncertain. Some House representatives have said that they were not prepared to endorse the
legislation in its entirety. Cost of the measure was given as the main concern.
One Congressman, Charles Schumer of New York, though is urging for passage. Schumer said, "Simply
put, U.S. cities are not prepared to deal with a terrorist attack. If we do not prepare now, innocent men
and women will lose their lives later."
Sam Nunn added, "I, like many of my colleagues, believe there is a high liklihood that a chemical or
biological incident will take place on American soil in the next several years. We do not want to be in a
posture of demanding to know why we weren't prepared. We do not want a domestic Pearl Harbor."
(c) EmergencyNet News Service, 1996, All Rights Reserved.