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SEP 2020 Part A.Pdf 1 HZS C2BRNE DIARY – September 2020 www.cbrne-terrorism-newsletter.com 2 HZS C2BRNE DIARY – September 2020 HZS C2BRNE DIARY– 2020© September 2020 Website: www.cbrne-terrorism-newsletter.com Editor-in-Chief BrigGEN (ret.) Ioannis Galatas MD, MSc, MC (Army) PhD cand Consultant in Allergy & Clinical Immunology Medical/Hospital CBRNE Planner & Instructor Senior Asymmetric Threats Analyst Manager, CBRN Knowledge Center @ International CBRNE Institute (BE) Senior CBRN Consultant @ HotZone Solutions Group (NL) Athens, Greece Contact e-mail: [email protected] Editorial Team ⚫ Bellanca Giada, MD, MSc (Italy) ⚫ Hopmeier Michael, BSc/MSc MechEngin (USA) ⚫ Kiourktsoglou George, BSc, Dipl, MSc, MBA, PhD (UK) ⚫ Photiou Steve, MD, MSc EmDisaster (Italy) ⚫ Tarlow Peter, PhD Sociol (USA) A publication of HotZone Solutions Group Prinsessegracht 6, 2514 AN, The Hague, The Netherlands T: +31 70 262 97 04, F: +31 (0) 87 784 68 26 E-mail: [email protected] DISCLAIMER: The HZS C2BRNE DIARY® (former CBRNE-Terrorism Newsletter), is a free online publication for the fellow civilian/military CBRNE First Responders worldwide. The Diary is a collection of papers/articles related to the stated thematology. Relevant sources/authors are included and all info provided herein is from open Internet sources. Opinions and comments from the Editor, the Editorial Team or the authors publishing in the Diary do not necessarily represent those of the HotZone Solutions Group (NL) or the International CBRNE Institute (BE). Arabic in the cover says: “Remember Beirut!” www.cbrne-terrorism-newsletter.com 3 HZS C2BRNE DIARY – September 2020 www.cbrne-terrorism-newsletter.com 4 HZS C2BRNE DIARY – September 2020 Editorial Brig Gen (ret.) Ioannis Galatas, MD, MSc, MC (Army) Editor-in-Chief HZS C2BRNE Diary Dear Colleagues, In the news of September, two issues were monopolized our interest: schools opening and covid 19 vaccines. Schools (all grades) ignited a debate between parents and authorities mainly due to the mask issue. Both sides “know better” than the other and it remains to see if an ordinary mother or father without any scientific/medical/physics background knows better than epidemiologists or infectious diseases experts although some of their decisions are irrational – e.g. close night clubs at midnight because after that time the virus enjoys nightlife. Somewhere in between are the politics that – as always – do not know whom to support in order to secure their chairs. By the end of this month (today is Sept 13) we will have a more clear picture of who won the jackpot – silly comparison when health is at stake, but we are only humans! We will also compare the methods of two coaches: Greek (with masks) vs. Italian (without masks) and see which is the better (sic) team. Then the vaccine issue arose again in the form of debate; this time between the two superpowers and a former empire. Russia took the lead; the Oxford vaccine had one (?) case of transverse myelitis and the US vaccines are still on the way. All of us who ”belong to the West” we will buy the good vaccine that of course cannot be Russian. Let the rest of the world try the Sputnik V. A silly intellectual debate but again we are only humans and we have the governors we deserve. I will make no comment about anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers, covidiots, and alike mainly because I will have to write about democracy, human rights and other things that might lead me to inappropriate paths. It is only a pitty, that a magnificent tool like the Internet is confused with the main principle of democracy that is freedom of speech that is trillion miles apart from freedom of idiotia1. We still do not know much about the novel virus and from time to time there are new announcements about its effects on the human body. By the way, when thinking about the pathogenesis of this disease I always come to the same conclusion: there should be a brain hidden within the virus itself; a brain that defends and attacks in an unorthodox/asymmetric way in order to bypass all our defenses and available pharmaceutical spectrum. This “brain hypothesis” might explain why we are always one or two steps behind. It is something like terrorism; also at least one step behind and although we know why, we still do not take the appropriate actions to win the war; only a few battles, here and there. Let us all hope that human resources and capabilities will surpass this pandemic as we did in certain cases in the past; I am not sure about terrorism. Beirut’s port giga-explosion was forgotten by the media but not from the Lebanese – the final (?) count: 190 dead – 6500 injured; 300,000 homeless; 8 bill USD (World Bank estimate) damages; 50,000 homes damaged; 9 major hospitals and 178 schools suffered severe damages. A recent fire burned what was left intact. Beirut will not be the same as before. The only “good” thing is that all the people (both civilians and military) and their families and relatives I know in the country were safe and all together are trying to bring the capital back to life in the midst of a pandemic. This issue is not almost entirely about the coronavirus since we witnessed this strange incident with the Russian politician Alexei Navalny that was “poisoned” with a “cholinesterase inhibitor”. He was med-evacuated to Charité – Universitätsmedizin hospital in Berlin and his exams showed exposure to a Novichok class nerve agent. One might say, well just another assassination with a 1 From Greek “ιδιώτης” (idiot – person so mentally deficient as to be incapable of ordinary reasoning) www.cbrne-terrorism-newsletter.com 5 HZS C2BRNE DIARY – September 2020 novel agent; Russians do that! Well, despite a history of incidents that were attributed to Russian gov, this time there are many things missing like the detailed clinical picture, the medical history while at the Russian hospital, the laboratory findings and treatment provided in both hospitals, the way of exposure, etc. Until we have them on hand, it would be wise to be careful about our conclusions and hypotheses made. I was watching the American political drama television series “Madame Secretary” and in that episode, the President of the United States, following an incident in one of the country’s embassies abroad (Bulgaria) compatible with an acoustic weapon attack (remember the US Embassy in Cuba incident?), wanted to retaliate within 24 hours by attacking all the Russian satelites and most probably start the WWIII. The thing was that this decision was not compatible with his overall character, behavior and the way he was responding to crises. So, Madame Secretary and many from his Cabinet persuaded him to have a CT scan that revealed that there was a benign brain tumor pushing on his frontal lobe that was altering his behavior and made him too aggressive and irrational. The President submitted to surgery and everybody lived happily ever after. Immediately, the case of Turkey’s President came to my mind; could this be the case for his hostile rhetoric against Greece, Cyprus, France, EU – just to name a few? He thinks that he is the superhero of a super empire with unlimited military and financial (latest ranking from Moody’s: B2 from B1) capabilities that allow him to bully everybody. I am only grateful that he has no nuclear weapons (for the time being) to his possession and that his Pakistani allies will not give them one or two because I am confident, that if he had them, he would not hesitate to push the button … it is so annoying, to have so many problems with a progressing pandemic and at the same time to have to face and offensive neighbor along with a chronic illegal immigration situation without the support of your own (you know those we belong together to the West). After all, it is only a CT scan! Let us all hope that simple logic will prevail in all aspects of our global mess and that the following months will be close to our previous normal (?) lives. In the meantime, be alert CBRN First Responders! You are living in a period that almost all aspects of CBRNE are materializing one way or the other. The big one – whatever this is – might be in the next corner! The Editor-in-Chief www.cbrne-terrorism-newsletter.com 6 HZS C2BRNE DIARY – September 2020 What Foreign Islamic State Women Think About Guilt and Responsibility By Vera Mironova Source: https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-foreign-islamic-state-women-think-about-guilt-and-responsibility Aug 19 – After the March 2019 fall of Baghuz, the last stronghold of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria, more than 20,000 non-Iraqi or Syrian members of the group surrendered to coalition forces. Males were separated from their family members and imprisoned, while females and young children were moved to camps for displaced people. Although both groups have been in custody for more than a year, many home governments of foreign fighters still have not decided their fate. There is a lot of discussion in media, policy circles and government regarding what to do about these so-called fighters and their affiliates, but the opinion of the fighters themselves is often absent from this discussion. And although the Islamic State members themselves could be perpetrators of one crime or another, their opinions and the rationale behind them should not be ignored. Keeping the grievances and opinions of these people in mind is important particularly if policymakers are looking further into the future, focusing not just on near-term counterterrorism trials but also on deradicalization and preventing the group from remerging.
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