Saudi group wants Canadian oil facilities hit

[Mike Baker]

Saudi group wants Canadian oil facilities hit
Updated Wed. Feb. 14 2007 11:20 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Al Qaeda's Saudi wing is calling for attacks on all oil suppliers to the United States, listing Canada among its targets.

In a message posted on its website, the al Qaeda Organization says Canada's oil and natural gas facilities should be attacked in order to "choke the U.S. economy."

"It is necessary to hit oil interests in all regions which serve the United States not just in the Middle East. The goal is to cut its supplies or reduce them through any means," reads the posting on the organization's Arabian Peninsula e-magazine.

"We should strike petroleum interests in all areas which supply the United States ... like Canada."

Canada is the main supplier of both oil and natural gas to the U.S. Mexico and Venezuela are the other western nations singled out in the group's call to arms.

The al Qaeda organization was behind the failed February 2006 suicide attack on the world's largest oil processing plant at Abqaiq in Saudi Arabia. Officials said two tonnes of explosives were used in that attack.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service says it's aware of the posting, but will not comment on whether they consider it a legitimate threat.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070214/oil_terror_070214/20070214?hub=TopStories

 

[geo]

If it wasn't that Saudi Arabia is a major oil producer and supplier of oil to the west, would have proposed that, for every well AQ would blow up, we'd blow up one of theirs BUT, obviously that won't work.

How about, for every pipeline or well they dissable, we send the bill to the Saudi royal family and have the cost of repairs deducted from the AQ extremist's family piece of the action.  (obviously that would be "real popular" with some groups)

 

[brihard]

Meh. Attacks on our soil are inevitable. Their capacity to cause real damage is quite minor- I doubt they can do anything we won't have fixed in a week anyway. It would cause a small blip in our supplies for a few days, and a larger blip in the stock markets. That's really all we're looking at here; besides the obviously new precedent of Jihadi attacks here at home, which will simply galvanize the population for a harsh response.

 

[flamingbear]

The damage will be on the futures & stock markets, business types are quite skilled at over reacting to a situation. 

 

[Bigmac]

      They know just threatening to attack our energy resources will drive oil prices up. That is their goal so public pays more at the pump and puts pressure on politicians. I wonder what the gas price will be tomorrow? Good time to invest in energy stocks!

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

That is probably just what they did before they posted that.....

 

[brihard]

      They know just threatening to attack our energy resources will drive oil prices up. That is their goal so public pays more at the pump and puts pressure on politicians. I wonder what the gas price will be tomorrow? Good time to invest in energy stocks!

Energy stocks themselves wouldn't necessarily go up due to prices hiking- in response to a security threat I expect market value of energy stocks would drop a bit due to speculation about an unstable future value. They won't do much at all though until the threat is very credible.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Energy stocks themselves wouldn't necessarily go up due to prices hiking- in response to a security threat I expect market value of energy stocks would drop a bit due to speculation about an unstable future value. They won't do much at all though until the threat is very credible.

Buy low (or lower)....

 

[warspite]

If they're stupid enough to attack us on our home turf, then they can be the ones to deal with it when the Canadian Armed Forces come knocking on their door with a measage from the Canadian public. We may not be the most militaristic society but I really believe you don't want to mess with us, we tend to win.

 

[CrazyCanuck]

If they're stupid enough to attack us on our home turf, then they can be the ones to deal with it when the Canadian Armed Forces come knocking on their door with a measage from the Canadian public. We may not be the most militaristic society but I really believe you don't want to mess with us, we tend to win.

Except the Canadian public has a habit of white flag waving whenever they get a bloody nose. Any attack on Canadian soil could be highly successful in hastening our withdrawal from Afghanistan, especially if the terrorists state that as one of their main goals.

 

[gaspasser]

Can't see it happening, the stench of the Saint John's river would send them back home reeching up thier pita and humous.
Then there's the fact that most of us are a bit chilly these days with snow, jihadis and timmies don't like the cold.   ;D


As for a hit on our soil, we're like the cute bear cub; cute and cuddly until you pee us off. Then look out.


And thanks warspite for using the old logo for the Canadian Forces.  Reminds me of the good days when aggression was the norm.  Not to mention the fact that you could say words like Airborne and Parachute Regiment....oops, off topic.



Grrrrr, just try it!!! And we'll bring it to your doorstep....oh wait, we're already there!!!  

 

[midget-boyd91]

Except the Canadian public has a habit of white flag waving whenever they get a bloody nose.

Where is this coming from?  I seem to recall a certain time in a little known decade of the 1970s that had a problem called the FLQ. There was no white flag.. but we did put the war measures act in place and put the forces on the streets, all the while arresting members of the problem.

 

[George Wallace]

Except the Canadian public has a habit of white flag waving whenever they get a bloody nose.

Where is this coming from?   I seem to recall a certain time in a little known decade of the 1970s that had a problem called the FLQ. There was no white flag.. but we did put the war measures act in place and put the forces on the streets, all the while arresting members of the problem.

And of course you will remember that the last Liberal regime did away with the War Measures Act.

 

[midget-boyd91]

And of course you will remember that the last Liberal regime did away with the War Measures Act.

Dont worry, I remember that one.  I was just pointing out the fact that when we had a "bloody nose" we did not throw up a white flag, we stood tall and fought the problem.

P.S: Not meaning for that to sound rude or sarcastic, its just hard to use a certain tone of voice while typing.

 

[geo]

To stir the pot, Pakistan has indicated they are repatriating all Afghan refugees by 2008 or 2009.  Result will be AQ & TB will no longer have a solid base within which they can hide (we can hope) - give them a war on two fronts - and allow some work to be done with PRTs .... so long as the returning refugees are kept under some control

 

[CrazyCanuck]

To stir the pot, Pakistan has indicated they are repatriating all Afghan refugees by 2008 or 2009.  Result will be AQ & TB will no longer have a solid base within which they can hide (we can hope) - give them a war on two fronts - and allow some work to be done with PRTs .... so long as the returning refugees are kept under some control

I don't believe them nor do I trust them

 

[3rd Herd]

Do they not realize how many gun carrying red necks inhabit this province. Or how many guns are around rigs, survey crews, sismic trucks for "bear" protection. Or that many of those on rigs, survey crews, sismic trucks have had prior lives killing figure 11s. I wonder if history will repeat itself. When the Soviets were thought to be ready to overrun various northern mines, various mining companies formed "Ranger" detachments and as part of TOE given a few GPMGs. I can see tomorrow's employment wanted adds, "Qualified C9 Gunner required by TJs Oilfield Service Company, must be able to shoot from the hip".

 

[Osotogari]

I guess there's a lot of underestimating of the impact any attack would have on the national economy as a whole, not to mention the envirionmental impact that would happen if any thought at all would be put into it.

I just hope that good Canadian Muslims continue to root out the wahabists in their midst.

 

[Flip]

Frankly the notion of "choking off" the flow of oil seems a bit goofy.
The scale of the effort would require terrorists to have B-52s.

9-11 caused barely a ripple in the US economy even though
Americas' economic strength was the target.

An attack would be primarily symbolic.  The call to attack us is symbolic.

The enemy would have to be hoping we would cave like Spain did after the attacks there.
Sadly some of us would want to. Then again - some of us would be ready to believe
it was done for environmental reasons. - I digress.

The whole point of terrorism is to motivate a response out of all proportion to reason.

It wouldn't work of course. It would be silly to think that it might.
In fact such an act would probably help us politically.

And yea, as usual the whole thing would likely work out badly for the bad guys.

I suspect Osama has doubts about the wisdom of starting what he did.
I also think that Canadians have run his blood pressure up a bit.

We must be doing something right. ;D

 

[The Bread Guy]

I guess there's a lot of underestimating of the impact any attack would have on the national economy as a whole, not to mention the envirionmental impact that would happen if any thought at all would be put into it.

That's a good point - in spite of our doing heavy lifting in AFG, what do you think the US's response would be if there's even one terrorist attack in Canada?  Unless we jump all over it, it would be too easy for them to say, "ya know, we don't want them coming over here, too", and shut down the border to trade.  Not so much skin off America's nose, but lots off ours.

Apart from wanting to protect Canadians in general, I'm guessing that's one reason why The Honourable Stockwell Day (and others) seem to be taking this seriously:

Toronto Star:  Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government said it takes seriously an Al Qaeda faction's call for attacks on oil production facilities in Canada and other Western Hemisphere countries to stop the flow of petroleum to the United States.  "We've always said that Canada is not immune to threats. We take this threat seriously," Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said yesterday outside the Commons.  Day said it is possible to protect "all of our assets, both human and structural."  He said government and private industry were keeping a watch on oil pipelines to prevent terrorist actions. But he declined to say exactly what security measures were being mounted ....

Ottawa Citizen:  The federal government is taking seriously a terror group's call for jihadists to attack Canada's oil and natural gas facilities to starve the United States of energy, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said yesterday.  "We've always said that Canada is not immune to threats. We take this threat seriously," he told reporters outside the Commons, adding "it's possible to protect all of our assets, both human and structural."  He did not elaborate on what new measures the government might take to protect the energy facilities, most of which are owned by private industry and located in Alberta.  What is clear is that the economic, political and human costs of a successful attack could be staggering.  In terms of lives lost and damage, a strike would almost certainly have to occur in a city, notably Edmonton and Montreal, key points in Canada's massive oil and gas pipeline system, says a threat assessment of Canada's oil and gas infrastructure ....

Reuters:  Canada's oil and gas industry and regulators responsible for overseeing the bulk of production were taking a threat by al Qaeda seriously on Wednesday, but had not raised security levels as a result.  Industry regulators, including the National Energy Board and Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, said they are in a state of heightened awareness following a Web posting by a Saudi wing of al Qaeda, which called for attacks on oil suppliers to the United States.  "Given the nature of the threat, there is really no direct evidence that Alberta infrastructure is being targeted and clearly, the information we get from intelligence agencies is what we base our decisions on," Alberta EUB spokesman Darin Barter said.  The board oversees oil, gas and oil sands facilities within Alberta, the country's biggest producing province ....