**October 18, 2006 FEMA Emergency Management Higher Education Project
Activity Report**

\(1\) BUCKS COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE, DOYLESTOWN PA \-- STARTING
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AAS:

Received today, from Edward Wurster, Director of Certification and
Curriculum at Bucks County Community College, an email stating that an
Associate of Applied Science Degree in Emergency Management is now
scheduled to begin this-coming January 2007. Called Mr. Wurster for more
information. He anticipates a \"huge program\" based on the success of
several previously taught emergency management courses at BCCC. Mr.

Wurster also notes that BCCC has an active engagement with area high
schools, particularly in the area of \"protective services\" and that a
number of high school students have indicated an interest in an
emergency management program. It is anticipated that most of the January
2007 students will come from the ranks of emergency services personnel
\-- the primary audience populating the previous emergency management
pilot course offerings. The January 2007 courses will be class-room
based, but will in the fairly near future transition to a distance
learning format as an additional option to the class-room based courses.
For additional information, Edward Wurster can be reached at:

<wurstere@bucks.edu>.

\(2\) CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS:

Conservative Booknotes. \"Death-Defying Feat.\" Human Events, October
17, 2006. Accessed at:
<http://www.hebookservice.com/blogs/conservative-booknotes.asp?month=10&year=2006#article493>

\[Interview with Robert Spencer, author of recent book \"The Truth About
Muhammad: Founder of the World\'s Most Intolerant Religion. Excerpt:
Interview Question: \"Even if Muhammad\'s example is particularly
dangerous, isn\'t indicting his character the exactly wrong tactic to
take? Why shouldn\'t we Americans, Westerners, and Christians downplay
the negative features of Islam, and emphasize what Muslims have in
common with us? Isn\'t it smart (even if it may be something of a
stretch) for President Bush to keep insisting that Islam is a religion
of peace? Surely we can\'t afford a war with the whole Muslim world?\"
Spencer: \"This is, of course, a widespread view, but I couldn\'t
disagree with it more strongly\...\"\]

\(3\) CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS \-- UNITED KINGDOM:

Cowell, Alan. \"Blair Criticizes Full Islamic Veils as \'Mark of
Separation\'.\" New York Times, October 18, 2006. At:

[[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/18/world/europe/18britain.html?th&emc=th]{.underline}](http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/18/world/europe/18britain.html?th&emc=th)

\[Excerpt: \"His remarks reflected a sense that British society is
heading toward ever deeper fissures between Muslims and non-Muslims,
evoking questions about the nation\'s readiness to embrace Muslims, and
Muslims\' willingness to adapt\.... Blair said. \'People want to know
that the Muslim community in particular, but actually all minority
communities, have got the balance right between integration and
multi-culturalism\'.\"\]

\(4\) HOMELAND SECURITY:

Carafano, James Jay. \"Missing Pieces in Homeland Security: Interagency
Education, Assignments, and Professional Accreditation.\" Executive
Memorandum, No. 1013, October 16, 2006, Heritage Foundation, 2 pages.
Accessed at:

[[http://www.heritage.org/Research/HomelandDefense/em1013.cfm]{.underline}](http://www.heritage.org/Research/HomelandDefense/em1013.cfm)

\[Excerpt: \"Homeland security is a new core competence of government.
The professionals that lead the effort must have three essential skills:
Familiarity with a number of diverse security-related disciplines (such
as health care, law enforcement, immigration, and trade) and practice in
interagency operations, working with different government agencies, the
private sector, and international partners; Competence in crisis action
and long-term strategic planning; and A sound understanding of
federalism, the free-market economy, constitutional rights, and
international relations.\" {Amongst recommendations}: \"A program of
education, assignment, and accreditation that cuts across all levels of
government and the private sector with national and homeland security
responsibilities has to start with professional schools specifically
designed to teach interagency skills. No suitable institutions exist in
Washington, academia, or elsewhere. The government will have to
establish them. They should include:

\* A government \'brick and mortar\" national/ homeland security
university co-located with existing facilities at the National Defense
University in Washington, D.C.;

\* A U.S. Coast Guard senior service college established as part of the
university and equivalent to the other service war colleges;

\* A short-term elite interagency \"planning\" school; and

\* A year-long continuing education initiative similar to the Defense
Department\'s Seminar XXI program.\"\]

\(5\) NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION \-- IRAN:

Sokolski, Henry. \"Disarming the {Iranian} Mullahs.\" Weekly Standard,
October 23, 2006. Accessed at:

<http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/012/822ekmzd.asp>

\(6\) PREPAREDNESS:

American College of Emergency Physicians. \"Both Military and Civilian
Families Unprepared for Disasters - New Survey Presented at ACEP\'s
Scientific Assembly.\" October 18, 2006. Accessed at:

[[http://www.acep.org/webportal/Newsroom/NR/general/2006/101606d.htm]{.underline}](http://www.acep.org/webportal/Newsroom/NR/general/2006/101606d.htm)

\[Excerpt: \"American citizens are unprepared for a terrorist attack or
natural disaster, and there are no significant differences among
military, retired military and civilian families regarding preparedness
for disasters, according to a new survey released today during the
annual meeting of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) in
New Orleans.\"\]

Grivette, Craig. \"In Case of Emergency\...Government Must Integrate
Homeland Security and Emergency Services Methods Into IT Daily.\"
Government Technology\'s Public CIO, October 10, 2006. Accessed at:
[[http://govtech.public-cio.com/story.print.php?id=101580]{.underline}](http://govtech.public-cio.com/story.print.php?id=101580)

\[Excerpt: \'After a bio-terrorism event, you will likely not be able to
access health services Web sites for information due to capacity
constraints, yet you will be able to check your Lotto numbers instead.\'
\-- Anonymous senior IT state official commenting on his state\'s
inability to prioritize IT services effectively.\"\]

\(7\) WAR ON TERROR:

Forest, James J.F., et al. (eds.). Terrorism and Counterterrorism: An
Annotated Bibliography, Volume 2. West Point: Combating Terrorism
Center, September 11, 2006, 180 pages. Accessed at:

[[http://www.ctc.usma.edu/CTC_Bibliography_2006.pdf]{.underline}](http://www.ctc.usma.edu/CTC_Bibliography_2006.pdf).

Pipes, Daniel. \"Op-Eds Now More Central in War Than Bullets.\" Jewish
World Review, October 18, 2006. Accessed at:
[[http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1006/pipes101806.php3]{.underline}](http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1006/pipes101806.php3)

\[Excerpt: \"Opinion leaders are the new flag and general officers.
Therefore\...Western governments \'need to see public relations as part
of their strategy\'.\"\]

Steyn, Mark. \"A Dark Globalism - How Islamist Terror Spread Its
Tentacles Worldwide.\" New York Post, October 17, 2006. Accessed at:

<http://www.nypost.com/seven/10172006/postopinion/opedcolumnists/a_dark_globalism_opedcolumnists_mark_steyn.htm>

\[Excerpt: \"Hitting stores this week is his {Mark Steyn\'s} new book,
\"America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It\" - a grim look at
the West\'s fecklessness in the face of the threat from radical Islam.
The Post is happy to give its readers a taste with this excerpt - THE
EDITORS.\"\]

Wright, Lawrence. \"The Master Plan - For The New Theorists of Jihad, Al
Qaeda is Just the Beginning.\" The New Yorker, September 4, 2006, 11
pages. Accessed at:

[[http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060911fa_fact3]{.underline}](http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060911fa_fact3)

\[Excerpt: \"As the writings of Abu Musab al-Suri, Abu Bakr Naji, Fouad
Hussein, and others make clear, the tradition of Salafi jihad existed
before bin Laden and Al Qaeda and will likely survive them; yet, from
the beginning of the war on terror, the strategy of the Administration
has been to decapitate Al Qaeda\'s leadership. Bruce Hoffman, who is the
author of \'Inside Terrorism\' and a professor at Georgetown
University\'s School of Foreign Service, told me, \'One of the problems
with the kill-or-capture metric is that it has often been to the
exclusion of having a deeper, richer understanding of the movement, its
origins, and our adversaries\' mindset. The nuances are absolutely
critical. Our adversaries are wedded to the ideology that informs and
fuels their struggle, and, by not paying attention, we risk not knowing
our enemy\'.\" Note: The writer is the author of \"The Looming
Tower.\"\]

\(8\) WAR ON TERROR \-- AFGHANISTAN:

Department of Defense. \"News Transcript: Presenter: Commander, NATO\'s
International Security Assistance Force, U.K. Army Gen. David
Richards.\"

October 17, 2006. Accessed at:

[[http://www.defenselink.mil/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=3757]{.underline}](http://www.defenselink.mil/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=3757)

\[Transcript of teleconference between Pentagon Press corp. and NATO
Commander in Afghanistan, General Richards. Excerpt: \"Where are we
today?\.... I think we have now established the psychological ascendancy
over the Taliban in a military sense\.... If we can\...start to persuade
moderate opinion \-- which is still a vast majority in this country,
they want us to succeed\...\"\]

Scheuer, Michael. \"The West is Running Out of Time in Afghanistan.\"
Terrorism Focus, Vol. III, Issue 40, October 17, 2006. Accessed at:

[[http://jamestown.org/news_details.php?news_id=201]{.underline}](http://jamestown.org/news_details.php?news_id=201)

\[Excerpt: \"As in the 1980s, the Afghans publicly and correctly point
out that the U.S.-led coalition is increasingly facing a \'nation in
arms\'.\"\]

\(9\) WAR ON TERROR \-- IRAQ:

PBS Frontline. \"The Lost Year in Iraq.\" 16 Oct 2006. At:

[[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/yeariniraq/]{.underline}](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/yeariniraq/)

\[Note: While the program video is accessible via the website noted
above, so is a book-length collection of interviews and documents on the
first \"lost year\" of the war in Iraq \-- a term which Paul Bremer
rejects in his interview. Amongst the interview transcripts to be found:

L. Paul \"Jerry\" Bremer \-- 32 pages

T. General Jay Garner \-- 16 pages

Robert Blackwill, former U.S. Ambassador to India and NSC staff \-- 13
pages

Rajiv Chandrasekaan \-- author of Inside Iraq\'s Green Zone \-- 20 pages

Anthony Cordesman, Center for Strategic and International Studies \-- 13
pages

James Dobbins, former State Department official and RAND Corp \-- 18
pages

Michael Gordon \-- New York Times Chief Military Correspondent \-- 14
pages

Thomas Ricks \-- Washington Post Pentagon correspondent \-- 25 pages

Amongst other materials there is also a 21-page Timeline of events in
Iraq from April 2003-June 2004.

\(10\) WAR ON TERROR \-- SOMALIA:

Washington Post (Editorial). \"Somalia Simmers - Al-Qaeda Terrorists
Find Haven Under an Islamic Regime, and a Regional War Threatens.\"

October 18, 2006. Accessed at:
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/17/AR2006101701473.html?referrer=email>

B.Wayne Blanchard, Ph.D., CEM

Higher Education Project Manager

Emergency Management Institute

National Emergency Training Center

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Department of Homeland Security

16825 S. Seton, K-011

Emmitsburg, MD 21727

\(301\) 447-1262, voice

\(301\) 447-1598, fax

wayne.blanchard@dhs.gov

[[http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu]{.underline}](http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu)

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