Al Qaeda Inspire magazineTorch Their Forests

Paul Richardson December 2012

In July the Waldo Canyon wildfire west of Colorado Springs caused the loss of 340 homes and over $100 million in damage. While we dont know yet the exact cause of the fire, the delay in information makes you wonder if it was a terrorist act. The latest Al Qaeda online magazine Insight, calls for the use of wildfires as a terror tactic and shows followers how to build fire bombs for distribution and what sort of conditions promote maximum growth and damage. The conditions for the Waldo Canyon fire fit those prescriptions exactly; very hot (100 degree temps), very dry, and windy. Apparently one of the things they found in the Osama bin Laden raid in Pakistan were plans for using wildfires as terrorist tools in the western U. S. If you do a search on wildfires and terror you will find information relating to terror groups starting fires in the European Union countries and also in California. There seems to be quite a delay in determining the causes (or admitting them). The really scary thing is that there is enough danger of wildfires in the west without people purposely starting them. It is easy to conceive how the current strategy of fighting a fire after it starts could be easily overwhelmed by a coordinated attack over many states. Some forward thinkers are calling for more prevention oriented and instant detection strategies to emphasize more prevention versus the current reaction approach. One thing is clear; Al Qaeda has determined that this strategy has great leverage with small cost to them versus the huge payoff to the terrorists in destruction and insecurity. If we continue our old strategy we will be holding the door open for them to waltz through.