Sri Lanka government only too happy to help them out
John Robb reports that the Tamil guerrilla air force has turned to systems disruption, attacking oil infrastructure north of Colombo. This is the third air raid by the Tamil homebuilt light aircraft, but previous raids targeted air force and army personnel. It is also not the first time they have targeted infrastructure and global trade, with previous suicide attacks on shipping and the international airport. However, what is really interesting is the government response.
News reports suggest that, on learning of the raid, the authorities cut power to the entire capital city. I don’t think the Tamil Tigers have ever succeeded in doing that before. And to make things worse, the defence forces started randomly spraying anti-aircraft shells, lighting up the sky with tracer and mid-air explosions and contributing to public panic. It’s either a case of attempted “security theater”, or simply a desperate, panicked overreaction.
Think the pilots used Google Earth for navigation and target selection? Looks like it would be indispensable in planning such an operation.
And in Australia, Eric Flis reports that two Sri Lankan men living in Melbourne have been arrested on terrorism-related charges. It may seem like a localised island war, but the Tamil Tigers have global reach due to the Sri Lankan diaspora.
Infrastructure attacks, systems disruption and the world of Brave New War
Meanwhile in New Zealand, anti-coal-mining protesters, finding previous attempts at publicity unsuccessful, attempted to disrupt infrastructure themselves, welding and cementing themselves to rail tracks and occupying a coal train, delaying it by 3 hours and wasting a lot of police and fire-service time. This is why I see a threat from anarchist, anti-globalization, environmentalist and other left-wing extremists in terms of Global-Guerrillas style systems attacks.
And in San Francisco, the vulnerability of the freeway system was demonstrated when a petrol tanker caught fire and melted right through a vital road link above. The fire and subsequent collapse drew comparisons to the 9/11 collapse, and raised questions about the integrity of steel in response to massive fires of this kind.
I am reading Brave New War at the moment. It offers an intriguing and sometimes chilling view of the future, and with events like the above, I am finding it ever more convincing.
