London gas attack O.o

we need a pre-emptive strike on all terror suspects

ah dont worry it iwll be ok

yeah it'll be ok re: terrorism, but its still the tube, and therefore shit!

does cananda get alot of terrosim threats? im moving there next yr...

who the heck would want to blow up canada ;o


Safest place to be is New Zealand, theres where the Royal Navy has orders to set sail for is Britain comes under nuclear attack

Well, if it's a vote....if it were to happen I would like to see it in Chirac's face. But that's just me.

III. The Security Preparations for the Olympic Games of 2004 in Athens.

The success of the Olympic Games has become for Greece a ‘National Aspiration’, which is mutually pursued by the political leadership and the Greek people. The successful execution of the games will benefit Greece in many ways and significantly raise the country’s image and identity abroad. Therefore, of major importance is to successfully handle the security factor, a key feature of the Games, since the country will be judged on this aspect, possibly with excessive zeal.

The preparations of the Greek authorities for the 2004 Olympic Games are eventually assuming a significant momentum and proceeding with accelerated speed, despite the occasional negative publicity in the foreign media. This publicity has alerted Greek public opinion -and to a certain extent international opinion- to the issue of the police’s ability to guarantee the safety of the athletes and the international visitors and to protect the international standing, reputation or position of Greece.

Notwithstanding this somehow ‘negative’ climate, the Olympic Games’ security plan has been published by the press, consisting of the following four interrelated plans:
1. Strategic Plan: This covers the provision of security-- in the widest possible sense during the Olympic Games-- for VIPs, athletes, and the sports grounds. It deals with anti-terrorism measures, specific measures against criminal activity in general, measures for providing security for transport in general and for the transport of athletes and VIPs outside the sports grounds, such as in operas, cinemas and museums. It deals, in short with recognizing, identifying and detecting all possible dangers and preparing model scenarios on how to avoid them.
2. Directional Plan: This contains instructions for the security personnel – police officers, members of the armed forces and trained volunteers. It entails, for instance, training and instructions on how to react, respond or use special equipment, if a bomb is discovered under a vehicle. Major importance is given to the points of entrance to the sports grounds of the Olympic Games, including special magnetic doors able to detect weapons and explosives. There will be specially protected entrances for the general public, the officials and the media in order to avoid problems such as those that arose in Australia, when a few people tried to grasp the Olympic flame. Determined, as absolutely necessary, in order to achieve maximum protection, is the immediate notification to the Greek authorities by all foreign representations and all their members of all their movements. The chain of command of the security personnel is defined and clarified. Two persons will be in charge on every Olympic ground: one will be in charge of the organizational committee and the other will be in charge of security. They will be in constant communication, and the individual in charge of security will be in constant touch with headquarters.
3. Tactical Plan: This includes the coordination of all involved mechanisms, such as athletes’ transportation and fire protection where the games are in process, the replacement of vehicles, safe movement or transportation of the injured or wounded to the hospitals, etc. In order to avoid problems, the scenarios include every possible element or the slightest detail. All hospitals will be on duty throughout the Olympic Games.
4. Operational Plan: This plan is considered the most crucial, and deals with the security measures depending on the ‘target’. The measures foreseen cover all the water games, the press villages, and all the grounds in which the athletes will be moving or circulating in. This plan includes all the last-minute movements for those involved in the security apparatus, such as the police, the army and the volunteers. It requires non-stop training and the constant formulation of possible or probable scenarios, either on paper or mock cases.

The planning of the 2004 Olympic Games is a major challenge and simultaneously a headache for the Greek security services, but even more so for the Greek government, which is determined to have the safest Olympics ever. Many foreign experts and security services have visited Greece and participated in the Greek authorities’ training procedures. For instance, ATHENS 2004 has hired, as consultants/advisors, a number of security experts from the past host cities-- Sydney and Salt Lake—for the security planning operations.

The Greek government has invested 600 million euros in the security infrastructure and the necessary hardware. This is by far the largest budget throughout Olympic history. This sum does not include staffing/personnel, training and operational costs. During the Olympic Games over 45,000 security personnel will be working to provide total security on a 24-hour basis.

The three basic Security Agencies are:


The Hellenic Police which created a special police unit, the “Olympic Games Security Division” (OGSD) in order to unify all security forces under a single, responsible command structure.
The “Secutity Division” established by Athens 2004, having as its principal responsibility to support the work of OGSD as well as to coordinate and integrate the OGSD plans with those of the functional areas of ATHENS 2004.
The Olympic Advisory Group (OAG), the seven-nation task force with extensive experience in security planning of previous Olympic Games and other large athletic events, also working with ATHENS 2004 and OGSD. The seven nations comprising the task force are Australia, France, Germany, Israel, Spain, the UK and the US. The OAG meets regularly to discuss planning, technology and training issues. The OGSD organizes operational readiness exercises and specialized training with the contribution of government agencies from the above mentioned countries.

According to the above, almost 50,000 persons are being trained to providing security at the 2004 Olympics: 17-20,000 persons from the police; 7,000 persons from the army; 7,000 firemen and port police; 7,000 volunteers; and 5,000 private security experts. This number includes the 3-4,000 secret service agents, as well as the security guards of foreign athletes, who will be allowed to carry their own weapons (the latter are not trained in Greece). The Australian authorities, as was noted in the press, did not accept the same demand (that foreign bodyguards may carry arms) by the Israeli and the American secret services for the Olympic Games in Sydney in the year 2000.

The General command will rest with the Chief of Police and the General Director of Security for the Olympic Games. All security bodies will be under their command, and the army will function administratively and in civilian clothing.



I don't think being on an advisory board with 6 other countries makes us the ones in charge of security in Athens. The burden of security still lies squarely on Greece.

BTW...where will Greece be in the opening ceremonies parade of countries? Historically, Greece is always first due to the fact that the very first Olympic games were held there. The host country is always last in the parade. So what will Greece do? Go in first then run to the back of the line and go in again? Split up the olympic team? What?