[Indigsol] Olympic security forces assess "threats" to 2010 Games

[mattm-b at resist.ca]

hi,

thought i'd flag what they said about the IPSM:

"They noted a group called the Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement
planned a stop at 20 places in eastern Canada and the U.S. east cost to
promote opposition to the Games."

i wonder who/what they're talking about?  the different IPSMs aren't one
group...and here in ottawa we never planned anything against the "spirit
train" since it never came into town.

matt



<<"I think the biggest threat these guys [anti-Olympic activists] pose is
embarrassing the city in front of a global audience of three billion
people." >>

<http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=3f100bbb-8de1-4dd1-abc8-f6d266cd7f08>

Olympic security forces assess "threats" to 2010 Games

Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun

Published: Thursday, October 09, 2008

Security forces tasked with keeping the 2010 Winter Games safe are
predicting protests will escalate as the Olympics approach and have mounted
a number of "intelligence probes" to counteract threats.

The information is contained in heavily censored documents obtained by The
Vancouver Sun from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP,
the lead agency for the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit.

The "threat assessments" indicate police have identified several threats to
Olympic security, including anti-globalization, anti-corporate and first
nations activists, as well as international extremist organizations like
al-Qaida, which has already singled out the London 2012 Summer Games as a
target.

Security remains one of the biggest concerns in the lead up to the Games,
particularly since the federal government has now acknowledged it
underestimated the cost of providing security. Ottawa and the B.C.
government have been in discussions over a significant revision to the
current $175-million security budget, which may spread costs to
participating municipalities.

An April 2007 threat assessment written by 2010 Vancouver security unit's
joint intelligence group says organized crime remains "the most probable and
immediate security risk" to the 2010 Games. Written by now-Insp. Alex
Graham, the report said the unit's "current priority" is on the financial
integrity of the Games.

But he also said the ISU is tracking a number of potential domestic and
international threats and noted that Canada's increasing role in Afghanistan
has changed peoples' perceptions of Canada as a peacekeeper.

In a section titled "Foreign Extremist Groups," the report notes al-Qaida
operatives have warned Canada to withdraw from Afghanistan or risk attacks
similar to 9/11 and terrorist bombings in London and Madrid. It also noted
that the RCMP's national security branch in November 2006 said al-Qaida
terrorists intended to attack Canada and that they recently called for
strikes against Canadian oil and natural gas facilities.

"Canada is viewed as a priority target because of the country's high-profile
role in Afghanistan and its close relationship with the United States in the
war on terrorism," the report states.

The 51-page document, which broadly groups threats into financial
security/organized crime, public order, emotionally disturbed persons,
information technology security, terrorism and public health, has had all
hint of current threat levels censored.

But it gives a hint as to the RCMP's concern about safety during the Games.
In one section, it notes that the ISU "has or is conducting several
intelligence probes" but does not identify the groups targeted.

It also notes in the public order section that Vancouver's housing and
homelessness crisis "has been the impetus for numerous contentious protests"
and "protest activity is expected to increase as the Games near and
international exposure grows."

The ISU declined to comment Wednesday, saying it needed more time to
respond.

Several CSIS assessments linked vandalism against at least one Olympic
sponsor, RBC, to protests against the 2010 Games. They noted a group called
the Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement planned a stop at 20 places in
eastern Canada and the U.S. east cost to promote opposition to the Games.
And they tracked public reports about a meeting in Mexico of 1,500
aboriginal delegates from North, Central and South America who adopted an
anti-2010 Olympics resolution.

"I think you get a very definite sense that this [Olympics] is a likely
target," said David Harris, a former CSIS officer, now director of
international and terrorist intelligence programs at Insignis Strategic
Research. "Undertaking the terrorist calculus of interest for them, you come
up with some fairly startling impressions of where 2010 would figure.
Nothing that says Group X is specifically interested in and planning to do
[damage to] 2010, but as a reasonable professional surmises, one would
surely have to expect based on the evidence that this is a high risk."

Chris Shaw, a spokesman for 2010 Watch, a self-described independent
watchdog of the Games, said he's not surprised to hear that the RCMP may be
monitoring domestic protest groups, noting that the RCMP and other police
have in the past infiltrated anti-globalization organizations.

But he says they're wrong in thinking such groups are a real threat to the
Games.

"I think they're misguided because they are going after the low-hanging
fruit," he said. "To look at us as security threats is to ignore the real
threats."

Shaw, who has long been associated with anti-globalization issues and was
one of the first to speak out against the 2010 Games, said no one in his
group endorses violence, although there are some radical elements.

"I think the biggest threat these guys [anti-Olympic activists] pose is
embarrassing the city in front of a global audience of three billion
people."

jefflee at vancouversun.com

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