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Subscribe to RSSWith less than 6 months until the London Olympics, British police, fire and ambulances tested their abilitity to deal with a terrorist attack during the games. NBC's Duncan Golestani reports.
LONDON -- The bells of St Clement Danes Church on The Strand chimed on the hour at 10 a.m. Gray clouds hung low over traffic-filled streets and the cold chilled to the bone.
So a pretty typical February day in central London.
It became untypical at around 11, after two young men walked out of nearby Aldwych underground, or subway, station. A few minutes later, a public announcement instructed everybody to leave the building. The trickle of commuters leaving the station became a torrent. Some of them were irate, demanding an explanation from subway workers and police. Others held their heads or limbs, seemingly wounded and in shock.
Sirens screamed and a helicopter hovered above. Police vans, ambulances, fire trucks and a large green tent for the wounded clogged the narrow lane outside the station. Dozens of first responders -- fire fighters in helmets and black-and-yellow outfits, ambulance workers, police officers and delighted-looking bomb-sniffing dogs -- milled around on the street.
The bad news: Word was that an explosive device had partially detonated deep in the Tube.
The good news: It was all part of a two-day drill on Wednesday called Operation Forward Defensive involving thousands of emergency personnel and volunteers.
Dozens of journalists and officials were observing an exercise of how emergency services, London City Hall, transport officials, Olympic organizers, the government and counter-terrorism units would react to a terrorist attack during this summer's games. According to the scenario, there had been an "incident" in Oxford Street Station, a major transport artery, on August 8, 2012, judged to be one of the busiest days during the Olympics.
Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images
Police and fire officers gather during an exercise to test emergency services' readiness for a terror attack at the disused Aldwych underground station on Wednesday.
"We are preparing on the basis of a severe level of threat that is higher than our current threat level," James Brokenshire, a government minister for security, told NBC News on Monday.
While authorities emphasized that security drills happen all the time, the Olympics doesn't happen all the time. The eyes of the world will be on London this summer: The city's population is expected to balloon by almost one million and an estimated four billion globally are expected to watch the games on television.
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Partly because al-Qaida and related jihadi groups, right-wing extremists and Northern Irish militants are all thought to be a threat, the games will see the U.K.'s largest peacetime security operation involving tens of thousands of security officials.
The issue of security is particularly relevant to Olympics organizers. The decision to award the 2012 games to London was announced on July 6, 2005. The following morning, the city suffered its worst peacetime attack when four suicide bombers killed 52 commuters, many of them on the subway.
A constant refrain among the phalanx of officials at the drill on Wednesday was improved communications, seen as one of the failings in the response to 7/7, as the July, 2005, attacks are known.
Police, fire and ambulance vehicles line the road during an emergency services exercise at the disused Aldwych underground station on Wednesday.
"We are testing our coordination in working with other agencies," said Nicola Watson of the British Transport Police. "We are testing the communications systems on the underground service, we are testing our command and control in conjunction with the other organizations, and also we are testing the investigation into an incident t such as this."
So a major improvement has been the deployment of a digital radio system that allows first-responders to communicate more effectively and when in subway.
But the drill was a confidence-building exercise as well.
"It's ... about showing that London is ready, and demonstrate it to the world, because a world event is coming to London in a few months," David Whiting of the London Fire Brigade said.
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One person whose confidence apparently had been boosted by the drill was London mayor Boris Johnson.
"I want (everybody) to know that London's underground system is the safest in Europe," he said. "It's never been so safe."
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These conditions existed long before the International Olympic Committee made their decision for London to host the Games. I am often amused by their choices.
As a member of the Sedgwick County Community Emergency Response Team in Kansas and as a Certified Trainer for the Veterans Hospital Administration Disaster Medical Response Team Chemical, Biological and Nuclear Decontamination Team I can tell you no matter what the event - you can NEVER drill or practice too much. We do a Mass Casualty Disaster Excercise a minimum of twice a year and in conjunction with other organizations / First Responders or McConell Air Force base locally there is at least 6 exercises a year for volunteers and professionals alike to participate in. God Bless America!!!
This story is about the Olympic games in the UK - why would you write "God bless America"? More of the making-it-all-about-us and God-likes-us-better-than-anyone-else attitude which infuriates our enemies and annoys our allies.
I have no doubt that these are going to be the games where we are going to see a horrific terrorist event(s), take place, that will shock the world.
See who has been moved into that area after the July 2005.
Pray that there will have no attacks and peace will remain forever.
Why has England and other European countries allowed such mass migration of islam? The west and Islam can not and will not live in peace.
But since so many Muslims have moved into the area, possible terrorists wouldn't want to kill their Brothers and Sisters in Islam.
They don't care. Muslims were killed in the towers on September 11. By their thinking, Muslims are killed during a jihadic attack, they will go straight to paradise, so they are doing them a favor.
Its a good thing for authorities these terrorists aren't very well educated or creative thinkers. Or they would be in deep doo doo.
As for the people complaining about Islam. The majority of these terrorists are politically driven, not religiously driven. Even though they often include religious dogma is some of their statements, and use their religion to help recruit the same way we use protecting our way of life as a recruitment tool. Their way of life is their religion.
These attacks are entirely over politics, and because of the interference of the west in the politics of the Middle east. Something the west wants to keep quiet, and works very hard to blame this all on extremist religion. So the real reasons aren't made front page news. The public might start to complain that their government and industry shouldn't be interfering in the business of other countries.
It is the wests support of Israel, and the wests occupation of middle eastern countries, against the will of the people there, and the support of unpopular governments there, that has fueled the terrorism. The west has supported and armed many of these regimes so they can hold power against the will of the people there. All of these revolts lately in the Middle east, is the people turning on some of these regimes.
Not all of these regimes are supported by the west, but the west have supported the ones who are beneficial to to the west. Namely those who control important strategic territory, or are oil producers. The west totally ignores the other countries who have nothing the west wants. In Bin Laden's videos right after 911, he talks of the US forces using bases in Saudi Arabia with the help Saudi Royal Family. And blames this for the Attacks. Not because of Islam wanting to take over the world. The people there are under the thumb of the Saudi Royal family, and hate the US being in their country.
This hate has developed because of the US's support of Israel, and Israels treatment of Palestinians. The wests interference in other areas of the Middle east, and the actions of the west in the middle east since 911, has only fueled even more terroism. And will continue to fuel terrorism, as long as the west has any finger in any pie over there. Including its support of Israel.
The terrorism has NOTHING to do with Islam wanting to take over the world. This is about Politics, and sovereignty
Political? Sure omar, it's not religious. What a lie.
Unthinkable? The Muslims have already killed athletes at the olympics. (Israeli) That was 40 years ago. They have been steadily killing innocent civilians weekly since then. In what sense is it unthinkable? It is standard operating procedure for Islam to kill as many innocents as possible, day in and day out.
Tough call for Obama: The good: Apologizing for America yet again. The bad: Burning his own holy book just to create an election year effort to appear indifferent to Islam.
Firstly, Obama apologized for certain American soldiers because their behavior was absolutely unacceptable. Burning a holy book, whether Bible or Qur'an, is an extreme hate crime. As well, Obama is not a Muslim; though it would not be a problem if he was.
Secondly, Islam has never killed a single person. Al-Qaeda and other "Islamic" terrorists are as related to true Islam as the Ku Klux Klan is to true Christianity.
This respondent is a classic example of an insane person being used by the obamaites and the radical left to promote disharmony and chaos in the Nation. Sorry Jobro you failed. Hahahahahahhaaaa !
No cookie for you Jobro none !
Silly, silly, dhimmi comments. Freedom and Jobro, the Islamists love you. They always love their useful idiots. I hope they're paying you. It's stupid to work for free. I ask you this, Freedom, whose fault was Islamic insanity, slaughter and savagery before there was an Israel or an America? You have approximately 1,200 years to account for, but I'm sure you can find someone to blame. It's never the fault of the Muslims, is it?
As a Londoner - I can tell you its not a freezing day if anything its a balmy spring day - get your facts right!
I hope I'm wrong, but I would find it rather amazing if there was no terror attacks during the Olympics in London simply based on the porous EU borders and the vast number of disaffected Muslims living in the UK & nearby countries like France.
england is infested with muslims. I wouldn't attend the olympics as this is a grand opportunity for this scum to kill maim and injure hundreds . Ron Paul the only solution..................
We had a bombing at the Olympics in Atlanta. He was goog old redneck american. So I guess the muslims don't own the terrorist market. We have a number of bombings here by home grown terrorists. Yet we only talk about those muslims.
Oh, unthinkable, like 9/11, the Spanish subway bombings, the London bus bombings and the other 18,000+ deadly terror attacks since 9/11 perpetrated by the religion of pieces?
Yeah, Dennis, you're on the ball. However, I think the score is about 2,000-5,000 to 1 (18,000+ to our handful or so), Muslims in the lead, currently. Gee, I wonder why we talk about Muslims? Could it be that there's a legitimate reason? Ponder it, Dennis, ponder it.
I really don't understand why any city would want to host the Olympics in this day and age. The costs, security headaches and inconveniences to the residents seem to far outweigh any benefits.