by seemslikeadream » Mon Aug 15, 2005 10:41 am
Run for your lives -- Charleston will blow up this week. This is only a test. Or an Internet rumor. It's not exactly clear which. <br><br>For the past week, conspiracy theorists have been spinning an elaborate tale of how the U.S. government will turn a terrorism drill in Charleston into a nuclear attack.<br><br>Why? To give the country a reason to invade Iran, of course.<br><br>If this makes no apparent sense, then your other car isn't a black helicopter and you've never mistaken Crab Bank at low tide for a grassy knoll.<br><br>Still, this chatter has stirred up folks all over the Lowcountry, worried that nuclear fallout could seriously ruin their weekend. Officials with Charleston County, the states's emergency management personnel and even the Department of Defense have gotten worried calls from folks scanning the skies for mushroom clouds over Fort Sumter.<br><br>trouble is, as with most conspiracy theories, the facts often get in the way.<br><br>Local officials say no drills are planned this week, and the state Port Authority says no plans have been made to detonate any nuclear weapons in the harbor.<br><br>"We're not aware of that, "Port spokesman Byron Miller said.<br>The rumors began with a Northern Command press release about a terrorism training exercise that began: "Here's the scenario...A seafaring vessel transporting a 10-kiloton nuclear warhead makes its way into a port off the coast of Charleston, S.C. Terrorists aboard the ship attempt to smuggle the warhead off and detonate it."<br><br>If this sounds familiar, perhaps you remember "Special Bulletin," a 1983 movie with roughly the same plot and and set in Charleston. Perhaps the terrorists don't have a manual, just cable television.<br><br>The Web site says the idea is that the exersise was intended to "go live" and be used for cover for a real attack. For proof, they say terrorism drills were planned in the United States on 9/11 and in London on 7/7<br><br>Problem is, the terrorism drill, which will focus on bad guys getting nukes, will take place this week at Fort Monroe in Hampton Roads, Va. -- about 400 miles up the coast. Charleston was apparently mentioned on a lark. The organization charged with homeland defense has no plans to stage a drill in the Lowcountry. <br><br>"We have no planned exercises in Charlston, "said Lt. Jody Vazquez with the Northern Command.<br><br>Of course, those who think the New World Order is more than a boy band say that is exactly what they would say.<br><br>As is ofter the case in the world of conspiracy theories, nothing is ever simple. The story, as reported on internet sites such as prisonplanet.com and total911.info, says that the recent firing of a four-star general, ostensibly for sexual misconduct, was actually an attempt to thwart a military uprising against "neo-con hawks in an attempt to prevent further global conflict."<br><br>The general, Kevin P. Byrnes, was head of Fort Monroe's Training and Coctrine Command. And, according to these internet sites, Byrnes was leading an isurgency bent on stopping the United States from escalating global conflict.<br><br>Other details, such as why Iran would blow up Charleston, are not explained in these theories. Perhaps they hate us for oour freedom -- or our sweetgrass baskets and Spanish moss.<br><br>Fueling the speculation locally is the fact that there actually was a sort of terrorism drilll here on Aug 5. More that 100 state, local and federal officials gathered at the Passenger Terminal to discusss a weapons of mass destruction attack. But it was all just talk.<br><br>It was a tabletop exercise, there weren't police out running around all over the place," said Joe Farmer, spokesman for the state's Emergency Management Division.<br><br>So, the bottom line is that Charleston probably isn't really going to blow up this week.<br><br>The only explosion you are likely to hear will come from the Convention and Vistors Bureau, which can't be very happy that people are online posting sentiment such as " I guess it would be a good idea to not be in Charleston, S.C., for the forseeable future.<br> <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.charleston.net/stories/Default.aspx?newsID=36369">www.charleston.net/storie...wsID=36369</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br> <p></p><i></i>
