U.S. Prepares For Possible Y2K Violence By Jim Wolf

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government is preparing for possible violence from cults, guerrillas, hate groups and end-of-world-fearing zealots as 2000 approaches.

Law enforcement officials are working on contingency plans to cope with everything from cyber attacks to bombs at New Year's Eve parties, though they say they lack knowledge of specific, credible threats.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation ``expects to see increased and possibly violent activities among certain domestic groups related to the millennium,'' a top FBI official warned Congress in July.

Michael Vatis, head of a new FBI-led interagency center to protect critical U.S. infrastructure, cited in particular a fringe view among white supremacists that the world is on the verge of a final apocalyptic struggle.

This requires the faithful ``to prepare for the Second Coming of Christ by taking violent action against their enemies,'' Vatis told a special Senate panel in July on the Y2K technology glitch.

The panel is looking into pitfalls of the Y2K problem, a coding glitch that could cause ill-prepared computers to misread 2000 as 1900 and trigger system-wide shutdowns.

Vatis did not cite possible targets but FBI Director Louis Freeh has said they included Jews, non-whites and their ''establishment allies, i.e. the federal government.''

The FBI counter-terrorism section ``has been planning for any violent activity by such groups,'' said Vatis, who is leading a separate drive to thwart cyber attacks that could disrupt the economy or government.

At issue is the fear that Jan. 1, 2000, may seem like a watershed date for fanatics ready to put end-of-world rhetoric into action.

Robert Blitzer, who retired last November as head of the FBI's domestic counter-terrorism arm, cited the case of Buford Furrow Jr., the white supremacist who pleaded not guilty Monday to killing a Filipino-American letter carrier after shooting up a Jewish community center in the Los Angeles area.

Furrow turned himself in to the FBI after the Aug. 10 attacks. He allegedly told authorities the shooting was a ``wake up call to America to kill Jews.''

Groups with similar views or apocalyptic cults like Heaven's Gate, 30 of whose members committed mass suicide in 1997, may deem the rollover to 2000 ``a good time for them to make their mark on history,'' said Blitzer.

``I know there are still continuing to be serious threats from abroad,'' added Blitzer, who now consults on counter-terrorism at the Science Applications International Corporation in McLean, Virginia.

He was unaware of any specific credible threats but said foreign foes had already shown what they were capable of in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York.

Freeh has warned Congress that white supremacist extremists may stage armed robberies to finance what some view as the coming ``Battle of Armageddon'' between the forces of good and evil. Some of these extremists believe that this entails whites fighting ``Satan's heirs,'' the FBI chief told a Senate Appropriations panel on Feb. 4. In such a world view, he said, ''Satan's heirs'' were defined as Jews, non whites and their supposed allies in the federal government,

John Gordon, deputy director of the U.S. intelligence community, said the CIA and its 12 sister spy outfits were tightening their drills to monitor events at the date change.

``We are strengthening the communications processes between centers,'' he told a Senate Armed Services panel on Feb. 24. ''We are preparing for the potential that there may be situations erupting worldwide and within our own systems environment.''

In addition to the perceived threat from within, U.S. officials fear anti-Western guerrilla groups and others may try to take advantage of the federal stretch to keep tabs on any Y2K related failures. The White House is setting up a $40 million information coordination center to help policymakers with Year 2000 issues and coordinate any emergency responses.

``In some instances, it may not be immediately apparent whether a service outage is the result of the 'millennium bug' or a computer intrusion,'' Vatis testified. Such uncertainty could make Y2K an inviting date for malicious strikes, officials said.

Together with a Pentagon task force for computer network defense, Vatis's National Infrastructure Protection Center will hold a classified, two-day conference called ``Preparing for Cyberwar,'' including Y2K contingencies, in early October.

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-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), August 31, 1999

Answers

Wow...it's almost September 1st...guess everything is progressing right on schedule.

What was the next item in the .gov Y2k "transition" notebook?

Mike

====================================================================

-- Michael Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), August 31, 1999.

Oktoberfret.

-- Randolph (dinosaur@williams-net.com), August 31, 1999.

The future ain't what it used to be.

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@com.net), August 31, 1999.

We've had some severe fires near my home, and firefighters from all over the state are here fighting them. But guess who else showed up? The National Guard! It was kind of freaky because there were about 10 trucks loaded with soldiers to fight the fire. I pulled off to the side of the road and watched them go by. I was caught in a day dream, it was surreal. I was imagining them heading up the hill to round up the dissenters and the militia and it would only be a matter of time before they came looking for me...........glad I was only day dreaming, but maybe it was a premonition.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), August 31, 1999.

This is typical of the same government that murdered innocent women and children at Waco: anyone who doesn't follow the party line is a cultist or a guerilla or a terrorist. What a lot of utter nonsense. The real goal here is to demonize anyone who takes Y2K seriously so that the American sheep will go back to sleep and leave their money in the bank.

-- cody varian (cody@y2ksurvive.com), August 31, 1999.

cody: They can't go back to sleep, since they have never woken up... yet.

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@com.net), August 31, 1999.

Do these preparations include steps to preclude the FBI, BATF and other Federal Agencies from attacking and killing civilians? WACO, Ruby Ridge, Oklahoma City, Flight 800 etc. Hillary if you are the worlds smartest woman, what is a person supposed to do when tanks are attacking your home? If you stay inside, you burn to death. If you come out, you may be caught in the gunfire. The people at WACO didn't have a chance. Why is all of this information coming out now? Did the judge order the release of this information that would prove these allegations?

-- Al (Al@sorry.ccc), August 31, 1999.

Hah!--the future's not what it used to be. I can't resist: the past isn't what is used to be, and it never was...

Al

-- Al K. Lloyd (al@ready.now), August 31, 1999.

bardeaux, Hey, that's the national guards JOB! (fighting fires) Be GLAD they are fighting fires. As long as they are on the fire line, they aren't on the firing line!

Al

-- Al K. Lloyd (al@ready.now), August 31, 1999.

Wake-up beginning?

How many more "elected official" mailings will we begin to see this fall?

Diane

California State Senator Mails Out Y2K Prep Warning Letter (Silicon Valley)

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id= 001Kgg

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), August 31, 1999.

Bardou,

Common practice in Alaska and Western States to utilize both Active Army and Army National Guardsmen to provide relief to exhausted BLM Smokejumpers and Hotshot crews on the bigger, tougher, and more threatening fires. Nothing sinister here!

-- (snowleopard6@webtv.net), August 31, 1999.

About 12 threads down- Same article

-- (you@missed.it), August 31, 1999.

In Russia when you didn't agree with the 'Party line" you were judged to be insane and sent away to a camp.

-- Porky (Porky@in.cellblockD.), August 31, 1999.

Snowleopard--I knew they were coming, but just seeing them drive up in big ass trucks, and with Y2K near I just got into a daze and my mind just started wondering....

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), August 31, 1999.

P.S. We were all very thankful they and other firefighters were here, BELIEVE ME!

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), August 31, 1999.

Now back to the article..

Thirteen Techniques for Truth Suppression

by David Martin

Strong, credible allegations of high-level criminal activity can bring down a government. When the government lacks an effective, fact- based defense, other techniques must be employed. The success of these techniques depends heavily upon a cooperative, compliant press and a mere token opposition party.

1-Dummy up. If it's not reported, if it's not news, it didn't happen.

2-Wax indignant. This is also known as the "how dare you?" gambit.

3-Characterize the charges as "rumors" or, better yet, "wild rumors." If, in spite of the news blackout, the public is still able to learn about the suspicious facts, it can only be through "rumors."

4-Knock down straw men. Deal only with the weakest aspect of the weakest charges. Even better, create your own straw men. Make up wild rumors and give them lead play when you appear to debunk all the charges, real and fanciful alike.

5-Call the skeptics names like "conspiracy theorist," "nut," "ranter," "kook," "crackpot," and of course, "rumor monger." You must then carefully avoid fair and open debate with any of the people you have thus maligned.

6-Impugn motives. Attempt to marginalize the critics by suggesting strongly that they are not really interested in the truth but are simply pursuing a partisan political agenda or are out to make money.

7-Invoke authority. Here the controlled press and the sham opposition can be very useful.

8-Dismiss the charges as "old news."

9-Come half-clean. This is also known as "confession and avoidance" or "taking the limited hang-out route." This way, you create the impression of candor and honesty while you admit only to relatively harmless, less-than-criminal "mistakes." This stratagem often requires the embrace of a fall-back position quite different from the one originally taken.

10-Characterize the crimes as impossibly complex and the truth as ultimately unknowable.

11-Reason backward, using the deductive method with a vengeance. With thoroughly rigorous deduction, troublesome evidence is irrelevant. For example: We have a completely free press. If they know of evidence that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) had prior knowledge of the Oklahoma City bombing they would have reported it. They haven't reported it, so there was no prior knowledge by the BATF. Another variation on this theme involves the likelihood of a conspiracy leaker and a press that would report it.

12-Require the skeptics to solve the crime completely. For example: If Vince Foster was murdered, who did it and why?

13-Change the subject. This technique includes creating and/or reporting a distraction.

http://www.Public-Action.com/SkyWriter/WacoMuseum or http://206.55.8.10/SkyWriter/WacoMuseum

-- R. Wright (blaklodg@htomail.com), September 01, 1999.