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ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION DISASTER MENTAL HEALTH NEWSLETTER

ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION DISASTER MENTAL HEALTH NEWSLETTER

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Learning From The Past and Planning For The Future

MENTAL HEALTH MOMENT March 14, 2003

"You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist." - Indira Gandhi


Short Subjects
LINKS

Mental Health Moment Online

CISM/CISD Annotated Links

Gulf War Syndrome

WILDLAND FIRE INFORMATION

CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS:

NIMH Meeting Announcements

Rocky Mountain Region
Disaster Mental Health Institute -

SPRING WORKSHOP SERIES

March 22 - Religious Aspects of
Domestic Violence

- Pat Bradley, MA, NACC, LAT

April 23, 24, 25 -
Crisis Counseling, Trauma, and Response:
A Multi-level Approach

- Marguerite McCormack, MA, LPC

May 3 - Suicide Risk Assessment and Risk Reduction: Tactics For The Trenches
- Jon Richard, PsyD

NIMH Meeting Announcements

The Australasian Critical Incident
Stress Association Conference

The Right Response in the
21st Century

Location: Carlton Crest Hotel
Melbourne Australia
Friday October 3, 2003 thru
Sunday October 5, 2003
For further information
please contact the conference organisers:
ammp@optushome.com.au
Conference Website:
http://www.acisa.org.au/ conference2003/

Summer Intensive Program
Graduate Certificate in
Disaster Mental Health

Disaster Mental Health Institute (University of South Dakota)
Location: Union Building
University of South Dakota Campus Vermillion, SD
Contact: Disaster Mental Health Institute
University of South Dakota

SDU 114 414 East Clark St
Vermillion, SD 57069-2390
Phone: 605-677-6575 or 800-522-9684
Fax: 605-677-6604
http://www.usd.edu/dmhi/

Third Biennial International Conference
on Intercultural Research (IAIR)
May 16 - 19, 2003
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Contact: 2003 IAIR International Conference
C/o College of Education
NTNU, PO Box 7-763
Taipei, Taiwan 106
Tel: +(886)2-2321-3142
Fax +(886)2-2394-9243
Email: t14004@cc.ntnu.edu.tw

VIII European Conference
on Traumatic Stress(ECOTS)

May 22 - 25, 2003
Location: Berlin, GERMANY
Contact: Scientific Secretariat
VIII ECOTS Berlin 2003
c/o Catholic University of
Applied Social Sciences
Koepenicker Allee 39-57
D-10318 Berlin
Tel: +49-30-50 10 10 54
Fax: +49-30-50 10 10 88
E-mail: trauma-conference@kfb-berlin.de

Annual Conference Society for
Industrial/Organizational Psychology (SIOP)

April 12 - 14, 2003
Location: Orlando, Florida
USA
Contact: lhakel@siop.bgsu.edu

4th International Symposium on Bilingualism
April 30 - May 3, 2003
Location: Tempe, Arizona, USA
Contact:
4th International Symposium on Bilingualism
Arizona State University
PO Box 870211
Tempe, AZ 85287-0211, USA
Email: isb4@asu.edu

RESEARCHERS DEVELOPING 'SENTINEL PLANTS' TO WARN OF BIOTERRORISM

U.S. soldiers walk down a trail in a war zone. One of them pulls out a hand-held electronic device and points it at a native plant. The readings on the device indicate the plant was exposed to nerve gas sometime in the last 48 hours, allowing the soldiers to don protective gear before they suffer a lethal dose. Although such a device does not exist, it's not as far-fetched as it may sound. Under a three-year, $3.5 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Penn State scientists are laying the groundwork for genetically engineering plants that can detect and signal the presence of many harmful chemical or biological agents. "Plants make good sentinels because they can't run away," says Jack Schultz, a chemical ecologist and professor of entomology in the College of Agricultural Sciences. "Because they are rooted in their environment, plants must respond dynamically to environmental changes. And many of these responses can be observed or measured, such as changes in color, shape or growth habit, or the emitting of volatiles into the air." For more on this story, go to http://aginfo.psu.edu/News/march03/sentinel.html

PREVENTIVE WARS ARE RARE IN AMERICAN HISTORY

The Bush administration's claim that it is fighting a preventive war with Iraq now to forestall a more dangerous war later is a virtually unprecedented foreign policy move in American history and even among other nations over the past 200 years, according to a Penn State expert. D. Scott Bennett, associate professor of political science, says that the United States has virtually no history of preventive wars, not to mention preemptive strikes. Preventive wars have been just as rare for most countries in the 19th and 20th centuries, notes Bennett, co-author of the forthcoming book "The Behavioral Origins of War: Cumulation and Limits to Knowledge in Understanding International Conflict" (University of Michigan Press). His co-author is Allan C. Stam, associate professor at Dartmouth College. The researchers analyzed the reasons for 85 wars and 2,000 lower-level crises that occurred from 1816 to 1992, and found no single predominant cause for the conflicts. For the full story by Paul Blaum, visit http://www.psu.edu/ur/2003/preventivewars.html

PSYOPS: Psychological Operations

An interesting look at the psychological aspects of warfare from Medscape Psychiatry eJournal Medscape General Medicine 5(1) 2003 for full article, go to: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/449268

DHS Announces Fire Grant Application Process

Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge announced that the application process opened for fire departments to apply for the approximately $750 million in money available through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. These monies help rural, urban and suburban fire departments better train, prepare and equip themselves. For further information, go to: http://www.fema.gov/nwz03/nwz03_062.shtm

Annan appeals again for Security Council unity in dealing with Iraq

13 March – United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan made yet another appeal today for united Security Council action in ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction as the 15-member body continued to wrestle over whether to give UN inspectors more time or to declare Baghdad in default by next Monday. For the full story, go to: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=6438&Cr=iraq&Cr1=inspect

UNESCO, Russia to cooperate on education in Chechnya

13 March – The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Russian Federation are set to enter into an agreement to help restore the education system in Chechnya. For further information, go to: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=6447&Cr=chechnya&Cr1=

Florida Storm's 10th Anniversary Recalls Nearly $110M In Disaster Aid

Ten years ago this week, the "No Name Storm," with its hurricane-force winds and a tidal surge as high as 12 feet in some places, hit the Florida's central Gulf Coast on March 13, 1993. The storm caused the death of 26 people statewide, damaged or destroyed approximately 18,000 homes and caused more than $500 million in property damage. For further information, go to: http://www.fema.gov/regions/iv/2003/r4_29.shtm

Recognizing and Treating Depression in Young Children

Recent debate about the use of medication in very young children has sparked even more discussion about our ability to correctly diagnose psychiatric disorders in this age group. Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter 19(3) 2003 For the full article, go to: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/449715?mpid=10761

Holding Our Breath

Healthcare workers, inured to substandard and imprudent behavior from politicians, should strive to be America's moral compass now more than ever, according to William H. Foege, MD, MPH. Medscape General Medicine 5(1) 2003 For the full article, go to: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/450180?mpid=10761

SERBIA - SERBIAN PRIME MINISTER ASSASINATED [ shot in stomach and in back] http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,80871,00.html

IRAN - Iranians Assert Right To Nuclear Weapons http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7694-2003Mar10.html

AUSTRALIA - Cairns - dengue fever outbreak http://abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/s804340.htm

CONGO - Ebola Toll Reaches 115 Cases, 98 Deaths in Cuvette-Ouest Region http://www.brunei-online.com/bb/tue/mar11w25.htm

NEW ZEALAND - Country on alert after terror threats - Water threatened, Cinemas threatened

"The letter gives noon on March 28 as a time for a "demonstration of capability", with threats to poison tap water with cyanide, gas a cinema and use explosives " http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2321038a11,00.html

PAKISTAN - Report of bin Laden Capture Is Denied http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20030312_572.html

RUSSIA - Major terrorist attack averted in Chechnya http://www.interfax.ru/one_news_en.html?lang=EN&tz=0&tz_format=MSK&id_news=5623959

TERRORISM: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 1960-

Since the 1960s, we have witnessed terrorism used as a tool for change by a variety of groups for a variety of reasons. The number of terrorist groups has increased tenfold since 1968. The means, missions, and motives of these groups have changed over time. This has forced the counterterrorism community to adapt as well. Missions have included both the targeted audience and the targeted victim or facility. Motives have been expanded beyond the traditional definition to include three categories: political, religious, and economic. The threat is growing. The overlap between categories of terrorism persists, and is likely to continue into the foreseeable future unless strong measures are taken to stop the trends.

During the 1970s, methods of terrorism could be classified as "events of duration." These included hijacking and hostage-taking: long, drawn-out media events that included discussions between the terrorists and the governing body to whom they were making demands. One of the first international incidents that gained the attention of the global audience was when a Black September group took Israeli athletes hostage during the 1972 Olympics.

The international counterterrorism community has learned how to deal more effectively with events of duration. However, they continue to be used by some groups. Resources in the 1970s were largely supplied by Palestinian and special interest groups, as well as by states interested in spreading Marxist philosophy. Weapons typically included small bombs and firearms. Terrorists often recruited from frustrated and militant college students or activists looking for a cause to support. Targets in the 1970s were mostly individuals with ties to the desired audience. The Munich tragedy was representative of this approach. Terrorist motives were mostly political. The majority of cases fell into one of two categories: nationalist-separatist, or social-revolutionary (Schmid; Jongman, et al.,1988).

In the 1980s, methods changed to "conclusive events." These included bombings and other types of killing. These happened too quickly to allow a response by counterterrorist forces (Menarchik, 1993). Attacks were, generally, less discriminating than in the 1970s. Size and lethality of explosives used in the 1980s increased as Serorex became a favorite material of suicide bombers. This popular plastic explosive was easy to conceal, yet deadly.

The most active region of terrorism shifted from Western Europe to Latin America in the 1980s. Terrorist missions targeted Western political symbols. They were motivated partly by the emerging Islamic revolution in Iran and partly by the persistent Marxist forces in Latin America. Mutually beneficiary relationships developed between the leftist guerrillas of Latin America and the drug cartels. Other relationships developed between the Palestinian movement and the Islamic movement. The West was blamed for all of society's ills in the Middle East. This helped prime the disenfranchised in society to produce a steady flow of willing suicide bombers for groups like Hezbollah and Hamas (Simon, 1994).

Religious and economic objectives began to compete with the political motivations of terrorism. Funding was proveded to Islamic fundamentalists and other groups willing to fight the "evil" West. Narcoterrorism became prominent, reflecting a growing partnership between syndicated crime and political terrorists (Simon, 1994). Growth of illegal drug trafficking worldwide led to increased corruption at the highest levels of governments and to the punishment of those who tried to fight it. Colombia has lost four presidential candidates since 1989. Additionally, they have lost more than sixty judges, more than seventy journalists, and more than 1,000 police officers, all killed by the traffickers (Coleman, 1994).

In 1982 the United States began dealing with extortion-related product tampering. The first involved cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules. In 1978 a threat was received in Phoenix, Arizona that its water supply would be contaminated if extortion payments were not made (Simon, 1989).

In 1984 a major threat was made by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) to the Mars company. The claim was that candy bars were spiked with rat poison in protest against medical experimentation with animals. No poison was found. However, the scare cost Mars $4.5 million (Stem, 1993). In 1986 tea from Sri Lanka was reported to be poisoned with potassium cyanide by a guerrilla group.

Terrorists used chemical attacks on several occasions, primarily for large-scale economic blackmail. For example, in 1989 fruit from Chile on its way to Japan and the United States was reported to have been poisoned. Officials in Philadelphia only found two cyanide-laced grapes. However, the scare cost the Chilean fruit industry US$333 million (Kupperman and Kamen, 1989).

The 1990s began with hopes for a new era of peace. The Berlin Wall came down in 1989. This was followed by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia is no longer able to fund terrorism as it did during the Cold War. However, there have been at least seven other states that continue to snub the United Nations by sponsoring terrorism (Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria) (U.S. Department of State, 1995). Sponsoring states continue to use terrorism as a safe strategic weapon that reduces the chance of direct reprisal or punishment.

Peace processes during the 1990s have made real progress. However, this has not been without increased opposition from terrorists. As a direct result of the peace process in the Middle East, Palestinian and Israeli terrorist activities have intensified with the hopes of disrupting and derailing the Israel-PLO peace accord.

Perhaps the most disturbing development of the 1990s has been a growing partnership between organized crime and terrorism. Connections between the Cali cartel and terrorist groups such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Army of National Liberation (ELN) in Colombia and Sendero Luminoso in Peru have resulted in a deadly combination which threatens the stability of Colombia's economy.

Other connections exist between the Chinese Triads, the Russian mafias, and the Italian mafias and a variety of insurgent and terrorist groups worldwide. The Triads work with criminal groups in Russia to swap heroin for Soviet weapons (Cole, 1994). The Cali cartel works with the Russian criminal groups to distribute cocaine in Europe (Coli, 1994). An agreement was made between the Sicilian and Russian mafias in Prague at the end of 1992. This included arrangements for a global drug network, marketing of nuclear components, and creation of a lethal squad of killers from ex-KGB agents. Many of the terrorist groups have become loosely connected organizations of drug traffickers, criminals, and religious fundamentalists (Sterling, 1994; Coll, Steve and Hoffman, 1993). The group responsible for the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 was representative of the changing terrorist group characteristics (Emerson, 1993).

During the 1990s there developed an increased boldness in target and weapon selection. The target list of international terrorists expanded to include highly visible Western symbols on U.S. soil. Operating within U.S. borders, terrorists raised the level of fear. As a result, their operations had an impact on U.S. foreign policy. Most notable examples of this included the World Trade Center (WTC) bombing. in which 1,000 people were injured and eight killed; and the shooting of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employees in front of the CIA headquarters while they waited for a traffic light to change. These two events took place within months of each other in 1993. Had the WTC investigation not been so successful, a number of additional bold acts of terrorism would likely have occurred. A number of the co-conspirators were linked to another group that planned to bomb the United Nations building and the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels in New York City. The mastermind of the WTC bombing, Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, had plans to destroy eleven U.S. commercial airliners in one day in 1995 (Wallace, 1995).

The Tokyo subway gas attack in March 1995 is another example of bold weapon and target selection. In that attack the nerve gas sarin killed twelve and injured 5,500 people (Hughes, 1995).

Terrorists in the 1970s had primarily political motivations. The 1980s witnessed a rise in religious motivations with some rise in economic motivations. The 1990s was characterized by a rise in economic motivations that equaled or surpassed the political and religious motivations. The influence of growing organized crime was one reason for this shifting focus. Another reason may be that economics has become the "soft underbelly" of the Western world as a result of the growing interdependence of national economies and reliance on secure electronic banking.

Not all of the economically motivated terrorism has been high-tech or drug-related. Terrorists in Latin America have increasingly turned to kidnapping for ransom. In Colombia someone is kidnapped every six hours. In Rio de Janeiro someone is kidnapped every four days. Brian Jenkins counted a total of 6,000 kidnappings in Latin America in 1994. There were 4,000 in Colombia, 800 in Mexico, 800 in Brazil, 200 in Ecuador, 200 in Venezuela, 100 in Guatemala, and 100 in Peru. It has been estimated that $400 million was been paid in ransom over a three year period in Colombia alone (Brooke, 1995). The result has been a reluctance on the part of international corporations to establish offices in this region of the world, which has harmed the economy of the host nation.

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REFERENCES

1. Schmid, Alex P.; Jongman, Albert J. et al. (1988). Political Terrorism: A New Guide to Actors, Authors, Concepts, Data Bases, Theories, and Literature. Amsterdam: North Holland Publishing Company.

2. Menarchik, D. (12 October 1993). (Col. comments during interview of the Deputy for Terrorism Policy, ASD(SO/LIC) CT.

3. Technology Against Terrorism: The Federal Effort, p. 25.

4. Simon, Jeffrey D. (1994). The Terrorist Trap Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.

6. Coleman, John J. (21 April 1994). Statement of the Assistant Administrator for Operations of the Drug Enforcement Administration Before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics, and International Operations of the Committee on Foreign Relations In Recent Developments in Transnational Crime Affecting U.S. Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy; Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty in Criminal Matters With Panama, Treaty Doc. 102-15; and 1994 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, S. Hrg 103-606, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

7. Kupperman, Robert and Kamen, Jeff (1989). Final Warning: Averting Disaster in the New Age of Terrorism, New York: Doubleday.

8. Stem, Jessica Eve (Summer 1993). Will Terrorists Turn to Poison? Orbis, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 395-396.

9. Simon, Jeffrey (December 1989). Terrorists and the Potential Use of Biological Weapons: A Discussion of Possibilities. Santa Monica, CA: RAND.

10. U.S. Department of State (April 1995). Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1994. Washington, DC: Department of State, Office of the Secretary of State, Coordinator for Counterterrorism.

11. Cole, Richard (17 July 1994). Asian Gangs Could Be the Future of U.S. Organized Crime, Experts Warn Law Enforcement. Los Angeles Times, p. B4.

12. Coli, Steve (2 April 1994). Russian Crime Syndicates Moving West. Washington Post, p. A1.

13. Sterling, Claire (1994). Thieves World: The Threat of the New Global Network of Organized Crime. New York: Simon & Schuster.

14. Coll, Steve and Hoffman, David (2 August 1993). Radical Movements Thrive on Loose Structure, Strict Ideology. Washington Post, p. 1.

15. Emerson, Steven (13 June 1993). The Accidental Terrorist: Coping with the New, Freelance Breed of Anti-West Fanatic. Washington Post, p. C5.

16. U.S. Department of State (April 1994). Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1993 Washington, DC: Department of State, Office of the Secretary of State, Coordinator for Counterterrorism, p. 1.

17. Wallace, Charles P. (30 May 1995). Weaving a Wide Web of Terror. Los Angeles Times, p. 1.

18. Hughes, David (15 May 1995). Pentagon Study Calls for Terrorism Review. Aviation Week and Space Technology, p. 33.

19. Brooke, James (7 April 1995). Kidnappings Soar in Latin America, Threatening Region's Stability. New York Times, p. 8.

To search for books on disasters and disaster mental
health topics, leaders, leadership, orgainizations,
crisis intervention, leaders and crises, and related
topics and purchase them online, go to the following url:

https://www.angelfire.com/biz/odochartaigh/searchbooks.html

RECOMMENDED READING

Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace

by Gore Vidal


 

Book Description

The United States has been engaged in what the great historian Charles A. Beard called "perpetual war for perpetual peace." The Federation of American Scientists has catalogued nearly 200 military incursions since 1945 in which the United States has been the aggressor. In a series of penetrating and alarming essays, whose centerpiece is a commentary on the events of September 11, 2001 (deemed too controversial to publish until now) Gore Vidal challenges the comforting consensus following both September 11th and Timothy McVeigh's bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City: these were simply the acts of "evil-doers."

Additional Readings at: History of Terrorism in the search engine. Also try looking here for Psychology and Terrorism.

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Contact your local Mental Health Center or
check the yellow pages for counselors, psychologists,
therapists, and other Mental health Professionals in
your area for further information.
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George W. Doherty
Rocky Mountain Region
Disaster Mental Health Institute
Box 786
Laramie, WY 82073-0786

MENTAL HEALTH MOMENT Online: https://www.angelfire.com/biz3/news



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