Posted on Sun, May. 25, 2003 By Jennifer Lin The Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer

In the deep channel of the Delaware River, hulking tankers with names like Agamemnon and Ophelia haul more than a million barrels of crude oil a day from Venezuela, Nigeria, Canada and the North Sea.

Oil tankers dominate the river, but since 9/11, the safety of those vessels along 120 miles of waterway has become the focus of the most intensive port security mission since World War II.

Although Houston and New Orleans handle far more crude, Philadelphia holds a geographic niche, importing and refining more oil than any other East Coast port. Recently, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security labeled the Delaware River a "high threat" port.

The biggest fear here is that a terrorist attack on an oil or chemical tanker could shut down the river and interfere with refinery operations that supply the Northeastern states.

The seven refineries in the Philadelphia region process enough crude to meet a third of the oil demands for the vast market from Washington, D.C., to Maine.

"If you damage the capability of the Delaware River system to refine oil, you'd have a significant impact on the overall economy and not just Philadelphia's," said John Veentjer, a former captain overseeing the U.S. Coast Guard in Philadelphia.

Or, as homeland security expert Stephen Gale, with the Foreign Policy Research Institute, put it: An attack here could create "an economic choke point."

Last Tuesday, the nation raised its homeland security warning to "Code Orange." But even with the ongoing state of alert since 9/11, the nation's 361 ports remain dangerously exposed to the threat of terrorist activity.

On the Delaware River, the maritime industry has identified weak points in security. The local Coast Guard station is running more patrols and boarding more vessels. Shippers are developing new ways to track cargo, vessels and crews. And the port authorities, usually rivals, are working as partners to combat terrorism.

But the task of building an effective, tighter security shield, not only for the Delaware River but for all ports, far exceeds the funds available from private and public sources.

The federal government is spending $367 million for security projects - for all 361 U.S. ports.

This month, the homeland security department kicked in another $75 million for "high threat" ports, with $6.4 million promised to Philadelphia for Coast Guard operations as well as grants to the maritime trade.

But even with that extra money, the total federal dollars for port security are well below the $6 billion that the Coast Guard has estimated it will cost to improve security for vessels, terminal facilities and port operations.

Any disruption in the maritime trade on the Delaware River - the 10th-busiest port in the country - could jeopardize more than $19 billion in imports and exports, as well as $1.5 billion in local wages, revenues and taxes, according to local port authorities.

Stretching from the sandy anchorages of the Delaware Bay to the swift, rocky waters off Trenton, the Delaware River port system is one of the most challenging in the country to secure.

In addition to refineries, the waterway has eight major bridges and the nation's second-largest nuclear power station in Salem, N.J. Of the 38 terminals on the river, 14 receive oil or chemical tankers. And recently, military cargo started moving through the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal.

Adding to river traffic is the flotilla of weekend pleasure boats. Small craft speed up and down the river or anchor outside the shipping channel, making it hard to distinguish a possible attacker from a boater dashing to a waterside bar.

"Even though this is a modest-sized port, there is a lot that makes us vulnerable," said Gale, the terrorism expert.

Protecting the oil and chemical tankers that ply the Delaware River is the responsibility of the Coast Guard, whose mission has changed radically since 9/11.

For the Coast Guard, the task of policing the nation's waterways has eclipsed all other missions such as search and rescue operations and drug interdictions, according to a recent report by the U.S. General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress.

The result is the Coast Guard is stretched too thin, the GAO said, lacking the manpower, vessels and funds to be all things to all people.

The aging fleet in Philadelphia, including two tugboats, a 175-foot cutter, and a handful of patrol boats, was not designed with homeland security in mind, former Coast Guard officers explain.

"Some of the assets they are working with are pathetic," said Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R., N.J.), chairman of the House subcommittee on Coast Guard and maritime transportation. "There are cutters commissioned in World War II, and while their helicopters may look shiny and new, they have a tremendous number of operational hours on their airframes."

On the Delaware River, the Coast Guard has had to turn to local law enforcement units to help patrol sections of the waterfront and rescue boaters. This winter, it asked the Camden Fire Department not to put its fireboat in dry dock in order to respond to rescues.

"Before 9/11, about 2 percent of our missions were port-security related," said Capt. John Sarubbi, who has headed the Coast Guard's Philadelphia operation since June. "Right after 9/11, that number jumped to 60 percent of what we do on a day-to-day basis."

Sarubbi said the local Coast Guard command has called up more than 100 reservists and stepped up patrols by boat, car and helicopter.

It also started a port security committee to address the terrorism threat, bringing together FBI agents, state troopers, police, and firefighters with river pilots, oil terminal operators, security experts, and port officials.

"If you measure success in terms of the number of patrols you do on the river, it doesn't paint the whole picture," Sarubbi said. "You've got to use information, intelligence... and you have to be partners. That's how I'm approaching it."

Today, every vessel that enters the Delaware River must notify the Coast Guard 96 hours in advance, listing its crew, cargo and previous port calls. Agents for the Coast Guard, FBI and CIA analyze the information to decide which "high interest vessels" the Coast Guard should board and escort to destinations.

Nationally, the Coast Guard has boarded more than 2,000 vessels for security reasons since Sept 11. On the Delaware River, about 90 high-interest vessels, mostly tankers, were boarded in the 20 months since the attacks.

Sarubbi said a boarding team is put on the bridge and in the engine room to gain "positive control" of vessels. This is done, he said, to "make sure a vessel is not taken over by the crew or some unscrupulous individual and used as a weapon."

Terrorists in the Middle East already have shown an interest and capability for striking maritime targets.

On Oct. 12, 2000, a small boat carrying explosives slammed into the USS Cole off the coast of Yemen, killing 17 U.S. sailors. Two years later, on Oct. 6, 2002, a French supertanker, the Limburg, was rammed near Yemen, dumping 90,000 barrels of oil.

Fears of a disaster like the Cole or Limburg weigh heavily on the Delaware River port community. Last month, the local Coast Guard command and law enforcement officials walked through what would happen if there was an attack like the Cole bombing on the Delaware River. Two other terrorist drills are scheduled for later this year.

A participant of the first Coast Guard exercise said the drill revealed how easily a terrorist in a small boat could pass suspicion and hit a target.

"A fast boat going down the river - no one would even make a call. It would just be a pleasure boat on the river," the participant said.

In one of the few positive outcomes of 9/11, the specter of terrorism has forced the fractious Delaware River port community to work together.

"We've never had the cooperation that we do now," said William Boles, security manager for the Port of Wilmington. "We're getting along as a region and forgetting about our own turfs."

If there's an attack, he said, "we'll all suffer."

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Monday, May 19, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Special United Nations (UN) delegate for Colombia, James Lemoyne has set the cat among the pigeons, announcing that the 30+ year old Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) should be NOT be considered a terrorist group. 

"Despite the methods the group uses, it's is an error to think that FARC are just terrorists as the Colombian government calls them or narco-traffickers because the backbone of the guerrilla movement consists of persons ideologically committed." 

Lemoyne says he is in favor of a dialog between the government and guerillas and hasnot ruled out a UN role as a Good Officer because he says the UN's job is to facilitate dialog and communication. "The FARC has a political project and so does the Colombian government. ... the Self-Defense Units of Colombia lays no claim against the State that legitimizes them as a political force."

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias has not yet defined his position towards the conflict and has fallen short of accepting the FARC as a belligerent group, while recognizing that Colombia is in a state of civil war. 

During the presidency of Andres Pastrana, Chavez Frias said Venezuela was prepared to act as facilitator in peace talks.

Venezuelan governments since Carlos Andres Perez (second administration) have allowed FARC to set up an office in Venezuela also based on the belief that Colombia was in civil war ... since 9/11 the tide has turned against the Colombian guerrillas as regards their generally recognized status among Latin American States as semi-belligerent. 

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and George Bush have initiated a campaign to have FARC declared as a terrorist organization and therefore to be treated as such with an influx of massive USA military aid.

oregonlive.com Margie Boulé 05/11/03

Either I am on the list or I am not. This is not rocket science. So what kind of research is required? Does this mean a minute examination of my entire life? RALPH PRATT PORTLANDER WHO SUSPECTS HE IS ON THE LIST OF SUSPICIOUS NAMES BUT HASN'T BEEN ABLE TO FIND OUT YET Perhaps it's just coincidence, but some people found it funny and ironic last Sunday when soloist David Nelson stepped forward at the Willamette Master Chorus concert and sang, "Nobody knows the troubles I've seen."

Just that morning, in this column, readers learned of the problems men named David Nelson have been encountering at airports across the country and around the world since the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001. Since then, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration has put together two lists of names of people to be scrutinized before being allowed to fly on commercial air flights. One is a "no fly" list, rumored to have about 300 names. The other is a list of "selectees," who are to be questioned, searched and cleared before being allowed to travel. The second list appears to be much longer.

Last week TSA spokesman Nico Melendez confirmed the existence of the lists but would not answer questions about when they were created, what criteria were used to add names or how names are added or removed.

One thing is clear, however: the name David Nelson is on one of those lists. The 18 Oregon men interviewed for last week's column all said they had been questioned and delayed whenever they flew. And they were just the beginning. After the column ran, one David Nelson, a professor at OSU, wrote that he's not been bothered at airports. But many other David Nelsons reported they'd been hassled and delayed every time they flew in the last few months. Some missed connecting flights. A number were told their name is on a list of suspicious people.

For some, the column was an explanation. "Thanks for letting us know why it took something short of a strip search at the airport when my husband, Dave Nelson, and I flew to Hawaii in March," wrote Shirley Nelson of Gresham. Dave and Shirley thought it was just bad luck when Dave was pulled aside every leg of their trip. Shirley says "he'll think hard about future air travel until his name is removed from the list."

Most David Nelsons agree there is a need for heightened security at airports. What bothers them is there's no way to clear themselves for future flights, and no way to get their name removed from the list. "They should have some clue about the person" they're seeking, wrote David A. Nelson, who works at Tektronix. "A basic description, for example. At least then the Davids who do not fit the description could get a quick pass. . . . Better yet, after hassling each of us once, create a leave-these-guys-alone list."

But reader David D. Gray says that would never work. "What permanent ID do you provide . . . that can't be transferred or modified by terrorists? Photo ID? Like the ones routinely faked by terrorists? . . . I suggest leaving the job up to the people in charge and experienced in doing it. . . . I think they're doing the right thing."

But are they?

Last week The New York Times reported civil rights advocates have filed suit in San Francisco, demanding the government provide reasons why "hundreds of people -- some of them vocal critics of the Bush administration -- have ended up" on the airport lists. The article cited and quoted antiwar demonstrators and other political critics who claim their names are on the lists.

Of course, many people who are not activists or terrorists or security threats are discovering their names are listed. Like Portlander Lois Kincaid. "I found out about it on my last flight, May 2," Lois wrote. "I have been so relentlessly hassled in airports, I finally asked an intelligent-looking agent what the deal was. His reply? 'You're on a list of suspicious people.' " Lois flew to Caracas, Venezuela, with a group of 10 Americans recently. "I was the only one checked, and I was checked in every single airport. . . ." At one, Lois says she was "terrified" when "agents came at me snapping on rubber gloves."

Since she hadn't known about the existence of any lists, Lois "made up a scenario -- that because I'm female, small, blond, and nearly 60, I'm the exact opposite of what they're looking for. Therefore, by checking me they defy accusations of stereotyping."

Nice try, but the truth is probably that she shares a name with a suspected terrorist or other person objectionable to government agencies.

More amazing to Lois is that her son appears to be on the list as well. He's a commercial pilot "who flies the C-5 in the Air Force Reserves. . . . If he can be trusted to fly the largest aircraft in America and for the military, no less, should he not be trusted to board a commercial aircraft?"

Portlander Ralph Pratt suspects he is on the list, too, because of constant airport delays and searches. After reading last week's column he e-mailed the TSA to ask. "Your e-mail requires research," was the response.

"Either I am on the list or I am not," Ralph said. "This is not rocket science. So what kind of research is required? Does this mean a minute examination of my entire life?"

At least he may get an answer. Sharon Cunning called the TSA (866-289-9673, a number the agency provided last week) to ask if her name was on the list. "They would not give me any information," she says. "The woman said, 'You have to buy a ticket and find out if they give you a boarding pass or not.' "

The existence of secret government lists, with no way citizens can find out if their names are on them, or how their names got on them, with no way to remove their names . . . Lois Kincaid finds the situation "Orwellian."

Dennis Radke finds it ominous. "Given sufficient time, is it unreasonable to expect we Americans will be required to carry travel papers inside the U.S., just as residents of Nazi Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union" did? "So what are the collective David Nelsons' options: going to . . . court and petitioning for a change of name?"

"Isn't this proof Osama has won?" asks Glen Evans. The administration "has instigated procedures that have removed our freedoms, and we have accepted them without a whimper."

Well, not exactly. Many David Nelsons are exasperated, and a lot of readers are sympathetic and concerned. "This country has gone crazy on security matters," says Nina Rae Cleveland of Salem. "It wouldn't be so dangerous for us if there were a way to clear our names, which I hate to say because we shouldn't have to."

"Sounds like a list . . . from a 1950s story," wrote Kim Schafer of The Dalles. "The TSA is acting like a man named McCarthy. And a list you can get on and not off of sounds like the obit page."

Most David Nelsons and non-David Nelsons seem to agree: The list has created an absurd situation. To make that point even more clearly, several readers suggested all the local David Nelsons should make reservations for a single flight somewhere. "One flight for all David Nelsons," wrote Judith Lenhart. "Wouldn't that be something?" Margie Boule: 503-221-8450; marboule@aol.com

By MARCELA ROJAS THE JOURNAL NEWS (Original publication: May 9, 2003)

NEW CITY — Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, New York City Fire Chief Dan Daly was so angry at the loss of 50 of his friends that his first thought was to pick up a gun, he said.

"I decided to pick up a microphone instead," the Ossining resident told members of the New City Rotary Club this week.

Daly recounted his own efforts and those of fellow firefighters to rescue the living and recover the dead at Ground Zero. The slide presentation, which featured rarely seen photos taken by New York City Police Officer Vincent Caminara, was one of dozens Daly has given in the aftermath of 9/11.

"Giving these talks is part of my own healing process," Daly said, who retired from his post at Engine 52 in the Bronx last November. "There is value to keeping the lessons of 9/11 alive. In the 16 acres of devastation, there were a lot of stories of tragedy, but a lot of inspirational stories as well."

As part of its antiterrorism initiative, Daly was hired by the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in March 2002 to speak to students, government leaders and civic groups throughout the world about his personal experiences in dealing with the terrorist attack on New York. He has traveled extensively throughout Latin America, including tours of Nicaragua, Venezuela, Paraguay and Brazil, giving speeches on the need for all nations to stand strong against terrorism. Daly's next scheduled stop is Tibet, he said.

"Over 80 nations lost people in the Trade Center attacks," he said. "This wasn't an attack against the U.S., but humanity. In my talks, I have found there to be a strong solidarity for the victims of 9/11 and Americans in general. It is important that all nations bond together in these times."

Etched in his memory are such tragic events as finding a woman's hand sticking out of the rubble, he said.

"There was a wedding band on her hand and that made it more real for me," said Daly, 54. "She had a husband. She may have had kids. She had a wedding ceremony. A life. This wasn't just a piece of flesh."

Other heartwrenching memories included attending 343 funerals, one for each of the New York City firefighters who lost their lives in the rescue efforts. He paused during the slide presentation at a photo of several firefighters carrying deceased Fire Department Chaplain Mychal Judge out of the wreckage.

"The most difficult was seeing a young boy or girl holding their father's helmet and knowing they would never come back," he said.

Equally as memorable were the lessons of teamwork, strength and compassion borne out of the tragedy, he said. Daly recalled working side by side with firefighters who came from Chicago to help out. He spoke of returning to the firehouse at 3 a.m. to find hundreds of lighted candles and bales of flowers left by 200 residents.

"It is said that New York City firefighters stood tall," he said. "But that pile would have never been moved if it weren't for the community."

Some Rotary Club members found Daly's presentation difficult to bear and left the luncheon. Most, however, stopped eating to view the sobering shots of dozens of people jumping out of the burning skyscrapers and others on the ground covered in blood and ashes.

"All those colors on the slides show the complete sacrifices these firefighters made," Rotary Club President Frank Borelli said. "It is a real honor to have Dan here and to share those experiences with us because everyone in some way has a connection to 9/11."

Daly's love of public speaking did not come easy, he said. Over a six-year period, he worked out his communication struggles with the Westchester Toastmasters in Harrison. Daly then began public speaking on behalf of the FDNY and later developed a public speaking program for firefighters, he said.

Two months after Sept. 11, Daly began speaking to local school children of his own volition.

"I saw how the school kids were taking a big hit with this," he said. "I wanted to show them that there is hope for this world."

The State Department caught wind of his work as a volunteer speaker and asked him to join their efforts in sharing with the world the tragedies and triumphs of 9/11.

Daly said he was moved to work for the U.S. government because of the deep loss he felt from losing his firefighter friends and because he wanted to take steps toward preventing another such tragedy.

"Capt. Daly connects with people throughout the world, at every level," said Patricia Harrison, assistant secretary for educational and cultural affairs. "His grace and eloquence in retelling the experience of a firefighter working at Ground Zero reached audiences in person and on TV and in print. The people of New York and the Fire Department of New York could not have had a better representative than Dan Daly."

Daly will speak at the Toastmasters 7444 at 12 p.m. Tuesday, at the New York Life Building, 27 E. 27th St. To attend, e-mail: jsimms@uwts.org.

Send e-mail to Marcela Rojas

Posted on Sat, May. 03, 2003 GLENN MCKENZIE Associated Press

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria - Hostages left offshore oil rigs where striking Nigerian workers held them captive for weeks - signaling a peaceful end to the standoff Saturday.

Some essential staff would remain behind on the four oil-drilling platforms, but "everyone else, they are departing in phases," said Guy Cantwell, a spokesman for rig owner Transocean Inc., based in Houston.

The evacuation "is continuing and we are going to do it as quickly as we can," Cantwell said.

Many of the 170 Nigerian and 97 expatriate hostages - including 35 Britons, 17 Americans and two Canadians - traveled Saturday with their 100 captors on boats and helicopters to port cities in the oil-rich southern Niger Delta.

Nigerian oil workers took the hostages on installations 23 miles off Nigeria's southern coast as part of a wildcat strike launched on April 19 over grievances with Transocean's management.

Company officials and strikers' representatives negotiated the captives' release Friday, after which the first hostage was soon freed.

The strikers have demanded the reinstatement of fired workers and that they be transported to the rigs by helicopters, not boats.

Their principal concerns will be addressed at a later date, according to a communique issued after Friday's talks.

Sweaty and bedraggled, the released hostages told of threats, tedium and discomfort, although there were no immediate reports of injuries.

Some hostages had earlier expressed fears their captors may kill them or blow up the rigs if security forces tried to storm the facilities.

"It was tense at the start, but the last few days weren't bad," said Mark Richards, a Transocean employee from Portsmouth in the United Kingdom. "There was some intimidation," he said, without elaborating.

"This was not that bad. Sometimes it's worse," said another oil worker, Luis Peraza of Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, who had been on board Nigerian rigs during two previous strikes.

Two other helicopters carrying hostages were seen in Warri, another port town. Two ferry boats containing more than 40 expatriates and Nigerians landed at the port of Onne, near Port Harcourt.

A Nigerian labor leader who helped negotiate the hostages' freedom said he believed all captives were expected to leave the rigs on Saturday.

The captives were from several companies, including Transocean, Shell Oil Co., TotalFinaElf and U.S.-based Baker Hughes.

Sabotage and hostage-takings by community activists, labor groups and others demanding compensation for land use and alleged environmental damage are common in the southern delta, where nearly all of Nigeria's oil is drilled.

Despite the region's vast petroleum stores, most residents remain desperately poor. Nigeria is one of the world's largest oil exporters and the fifth-largest producer of U.S. oil imports.