Is the Sky Falling Energy Security and Transnational Terrorism

Abstract

This paper will assess the extent to which transnational terrorists in particular global Jihadists associated with Osama bin Laden have been interested in attacks against the global energy infrastructure.] We then assess the extent to which terrorists have in fact targeted that infrastructure and with what effect. We then place these attacks in the context of other supply disruption events. Finally we make suggestions about a viable way ahead. Western fears about the threat posed by transnational terrorists to energy supplies certainly seem warranted. al-Qaeda has repeatedly threatened to disrupt supplies and have followed up on those threats in a few cases. For example following the attack on the French tanker Limburg in October 2002 al-Qaeda issued a statement that it "was not an incidental strike at a passing tanker but...on the international oil-carrying line in the full sense of the word. Moreover al-Qaeda sees the U.S. intervention in Iraq as strongly linked to the supply of oil. A Bin Laden audio tape broadcasted December 19 2004 proclaimed:

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 2008
Accession Number
ADA484635

Entities

People

  • D. B. Anderson
  • Michael Mihalka

Organizations

  • United States Army Command and General Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Civil War
  • Databases
  • Energy Security
  • Governments
  • Infrastructure
  • Maritime Security
  • National Governments
  • Petroleum
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Security
  • Task Forces
  • Terminals
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • United States
  • Violence
  • War

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Maritime Security/Maritime Homeland Security
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.
  • Strategic Security Studies