Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
In the past, the terrorist needed to physically see the target through actual pres-
ence. With the proliferation of computer applications such as Google Earth and
streaming webcams, surveillance can be conducted from one's own home computer.
Maintaining “eyes on the target via technology” also lessens the risk that the terrorist
operative will be caught.
One can also argue that intelligence collection emphasizes an institutional
knowledge, in which the terrorist looks to understand how operations were con-
ducted in the past and looking backward to see weaknesses and vulnerabilities in
plans that are going forward.
One of the most detailed and eye-awakening acts of
preoperational surveillance was conducted by Dhiren Barot
aka Issa al-Hindi (see photo) against major business and
financial targets along the East Coast in the summer of
2000. al-Hindi compiled detailed surveillance notes. He
was able to do so because he was the epitome of the “Gray
Man,” someone who fails to stand out, who seems bland,
almost boring, causing no thoughts or suspicions. He blended into crowds with
ease and, as his actions showed, was difficult to spot. Not an engineer or an archi-
tect, al-Hindi, through his detailed research, was able to find the critical nodes
of each building and considered a number of different ways to attack his targets.
Below are a few examples of the notes he took regarding some of his targets.
CiTig r o u P Ce n Te r : n e w Y o r k
“These four giant external columns are nine stories high, raising the building
some eight stories above ground level. Together with the concrete inner core,
they uphold a 26.6 foot/8 meter deep trust platform. For your information,
these trusts have been the subject of criticism amongst architects and building
safety specialists who have coined a saying which states, 'don't trust the trust.' ” 7
Th e n e w Y o r k S To Ck e x Ch An g e
Inside the New York Stock Exchange, al-Hindi noticed a number of cameras
that led him to write, “There are round, tinted opaque (black) glass ones
[cameras] thus allowing freedom of rotation without public knowledge of
which direction they are turning.” 7 al-Hindi was very concerned about these
cameras as he thought every camera was a working camera; which makes the
point that any type of deterrent may stave of a future attack.
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