Mental Health and Disasters


Book Description

A reference on mental health and disasters, focused on the full spectrum of psychopathologies associated with many different types of disasters.




Could 7/7 Have Been Prevented?


Book Description

On Monday 30 April 2007, five men were convicted of terrorist offences relating to a plot to detonate a fertiliser bomb in the UK in 2004. The arrests were the result of a police and MI5 operation codenamed CREVICE. Following the trial, the media reported that, at the time MI5 had been investigating CREVICE, the bomb plotters had been in contact with two unidentified men now known to be Mohammed Siddique Kahn and Shazad Tanweer, two of the four men who, on 7 July 2005, detonated bombs on the London transport system, killing 52 people and injuring several hundred others. This report investigates why MI5, knowing of Khan and Tanweer, did not prevent the 2005 bombings. Part A examines what happened in Operation CREVICE and subsequently. Part B describes when MI5 came across some of the 7/7 bombers and the questions these events raise. Part C of the report considers the wider picture and lessons to be learnt. The CREVICE conspirators made over 4,000 telephone-based contacts and met many people. Throughout 2004 and 2005 these were being investigated by MI5 as they pursued other plots and unearthed still more people of interest on the sidelines of each plot. Although Khan and Tanweer were amongst those of interest, though still unidentified, they were never put under surveillance as, based on what was known about them at the time, they did not merit resources being diverted to them (as opposed to other individuals known to be involved in attack planning). The Committee cannot criticise the judgments made by MI5 and the police based on the information they had and their priorities at the time. An update to the report outlines the reason for the delay in publication pending completion of other legal proceedings and gives further evidence uncovered recently.




Report of the Official Account of the Bombings in London on 7th July 2005


Book Description

On title page: Return to an address of the Honourable the House of Commons dated 11th May 2006 for the .... A report by the Intelligence and Security Committee focusing on intelligence and security issues relating to the terrorist attacks is available separately (Cm 6785, ISBN 0101678525), as is the Government's reply to that report (Cm. 6786, ISBN 0101678622).




The Blitz


Book Description

September 1940 marked the beginning of Nazi Germany's sustained attack on civilian Britain. Lasting eight months long, the Blitz was the form of warfare that had been predicted throughout the 1930s, that everyone had expected since Neville Chamberlain's declaration that Britain was at war with Germany. The ferocity of the Luftwaffe attacks, combined with images of the City of London burning are widely considered to be iconic snapshots of Second World War history. Though compared with other great moments of that war -- D-Day, Dunkirk, V E Day -- the Blitz remains curiously unexamined. Apart from fragmentary accounts and local records, there is little in the way of a comprehensive account of the Blitz experience that so many British civilians went through -- as well as the social, political and cultural implications of the bombardment. Designed to break the morale of the British population, the nightly bombings certainly did devastate. But, as Juliet Gardiner shows in this hugely important book, they also served to galvanise the nation; from those eight months of terrifying Nazi onslaught, a new determination amongst people and politicians steadily emerged. Revealing, original and beautifully written, THE BLITZ is a much-needed exploration of one of the most important moments in Second World War history.




Reducing the Threat of Improvised Explosive Device Attacks by Restricting Access to Explosive Precursor Chemicals


Book Description

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are a type of unconventional explosive weapon that can be deployed in a variety of ways, and can cause loss of life, injury, and property damage in both military and civilian environments. Terrorists, violent extremists, and criminals often choose IEDs because the ingredients, components, and instructions required to make IEDs are highly accessible. In many cases, precursor chemicals enable this criminal use of IEDs because they are used in the manufacture of homemade explosives (HMEs), which are often used as a component of IEDs. Many precursor chemicals are frequently used in industrial manufacturing and may be available as commercial products for personal use. Guides for making HMEs and instructions for constructing IEDs are widely available and can be easily found on the internet. Other countries restrict access to precursor chemicals in an effort to reduce the opportunity for HMEs to be used in IEDs. Although IED attacks have been less frequent in the United States than in other countries, IEDs remain a persistent domestic threat. Restricting access to precursor chemicals might contribute to reducing the threat of IED attacks and in turn prevent potentially devastating bombings, save lives, and reduce financial impacts. Reducing the Threat of Improvised Explosive Device Attacks by Restricting Access to Explosive Precursor Chemicals prioritizes precursor chemicals that can be used to make HMEs and analyzes the movement of those chemicals through United States commercial supply chains and identifies potential vulnerabilities. This report examines current United States and international regulation of the chemicals, and compares the economic, security, and other tradeoffs among potential control strategies.




'We Love Death as You Love Life'


Book Description

Case study of how extremist Islamist thought can capture the imaginations of young Western Muslims--a close examination of hte 7/7 bombers in London.




The Globalization of Martyrdom


Book Description

2009 Outstanding Academic Title, Choice This groundbreaking volume examines the rise and spread of suicide attacks over the past decade. Sorting through 1,270 terror strikes between 1981 and 2007, Assaf Moghadam attributes their recent proliferation to the mutually related ascendance of al Qaeda and its guiding ideology, Salafi Jihad, an extreme interpretation of Islam that rejects national boundaries and seeks to create a global Muslim community. In exploring the roots of the extreme radicalization represented by Salafism, Moghadam finds many causes, including Western dominance in the Arab world, the physical diffusion of Salafi institutions and actors, and the element of opportunity created by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. He uses individual examples from the Middle East, Southwest Asia, and Europe to show how the elite leaders of al Qaeda and affiliated groups and their foot soldiers interact with one another and how they garner support—and a growing number of converts and attackers—from the Muslim community. Based on over a decade of empirical research and a critical examination of existing thought on suicide attacks, Moghadam distinguishes the key characteristics separating globalized suicide strikes from the traditional, localized pattern that previously prevailed. This unflinching analysis provides new information about the relationship between ideology and suicide attacks and recommends policies focused on containing Salafi Jihadism.




Report of the 7 July Review Committee


Book Description

The 7 July Review Committee was set up to examine the lessons to be learned from the response to the London bombings on 7 July, and in particular communications issues. It contains a detailed analysis of the response to the bombings. There is no doubting the courage and determination of many thousands of individuals who responded to the attacks on London on 7 July. But while the people involved performed outstandingly, the systems and equipment that were supposed to support them did not. Our report makes 54 recommendations designed to improve the way such major incidents, and the people caught up in them, are managed.




Incendiary


Book Description

I am a woman built upon the wreckage of myself. In an emotionally raw voice alive with grief, compassion, and startling humor, a woman mourns the loss of her husband and son at the hands of one of history’s most notorious criminals. And in appealing to their executioner, she reveals the desperate sadness of a broken heart and a working-class life blown apart.




Al-Qaeda's Revenge


Book Description

In Al-Qaeda's Revenge: The 2004 Madrid Train Bombings, Fernando Reinares tells the story of "3/11" - the March 11, 2004, bombings of commuter trains in Madrid, which killed 192 people and injured more than 1,800. He examines the development of an al-Qaeda conspiracy in Spain from the 1990s through the formation of the 3/11 bombing network beginning in March 2002, and discusses the preparations for and fallout from the attacks. Reinares draws on judicial, police, and intelligence documents to which he had privileged access, as well as on personal interviews with officials in Spain and elsewhere. His full analysis links the Madrid bombings to al-Qaeda's senior leadership and unveils connections between 3/11 and 9/11. Al-Qaeda's Revenge, Spain's counterpart to The 9/11 Commission Report, was a bestseller in Spain.