9/11 Style Attack on the G8 in 2000

Sargon

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In Nago, Okinawa, Japan, from 21st July until 23rd July, 2000 there was a G8 meeting. Present were the following:

Bill Clinton, US President
Tony Blair, UK Prime Minister
Gerhard Schröder, German Chancellor
Vladimir Putin, Russian President
Jean Chrétien, Canadian Prime Minister
Jaques Chirac, French President
Giuliano Amato, Italian Prime Minister
Yoshiro Mori, Japanese Prime Minister

More than a year before than OTL attacks, a plane crashes into the conference venue when it is in session killing all 8 leaders and their respective staffs. For good measure, another hits Congress in the US, killing many Senators, Representatives and possibly even the Vice President if he's there, and one hits the UN building in New York killing loads of prominent people from many countries.

Likely effects?


Sargon
 
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IIRC, Al-Quaeda considered attacking the Genoa G8 Summit in the summer of 2001 but the AA batteries dissuaded them.
 

Sargon

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No other takers? C'mon, eight of the world's most significant leaders have just been taken out - that's bound to cause something massive.


Sargon
 
G8 summits usually have the sort of security you would need to stop any such 9/11 attacks (even pre-9/11).

Inclusive of no fly zones (if applicable), numerous cordon sanitaires, AEW and fighter coverage and, if close to shore, such as at a very posh beachfront hotel, usually a guard ship or two of some sort (navy, police, coastguard, depending on the nation in question). SF members are around and about alongside the police etc. and entire SF units are on-call (if not also on-site).

Importantly, you also have a lot of regular police to deal with potential demos and traffic control etc., which means a lot of eyes all about the place.

That's in addition to whatever the US deem sufficient to protect the president when attending meeting overseas (which is usually OTT, so it's all on-hand).

Only chance is someone going bang during a walkabout with un-vetted crowds - but that'd only be one or two, and doubtful the US president (for a number of reasons).
 

Sargon

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Doesn't have to al-Qaeda, could be a pilot with a grudge from the base near there and that being the only place hit...the other attacks not happening. Let's say it happens. IIRC the civilian airport isn't that far away either. Would they have time to react? There are quite a few middle easterners in Japan too....migrant labour is a big thing there.


Sargon
 
Doesn't have to al-Qaeda, could be a pilot with a grudge from the base near there and that being the only place hit...the other attacks not happening. Let's say it happens. IIRC the civilian airport isn't that far away either. Would they have time to react? There are quite a few middle easterners in Japan too....migrant labour is a big thing there.


Sargon

In Japan, I should imagine an airborne USAF/USN (if not Japanese) combat air patrol would be in a position to intercede*. And such aircraft operate in pairs, so even in the outside chance a rogue military pilot started acting funny there's another one there, in addition to numerous other ways to deal with such a scenario.

*And the Japs already had a terrorist threat of sorts to deal with. Most host nations normally over-do the security in any case, because of the embarrassment any incident would cause them.
 

Sargon

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They do have experience of dealing with terrorist threats, but there have also been incidents of glaring incompetence. The recent collision of one of their Kongo class DDG's springs to mind when the Captain fell asleep and the watch got mixed up. It was the JMSDF Atago IIRC. Apparently the latest in a series of military gaffes that saw the head of the JMSDF fired. We could say something unfortunate like that happens, except with the JASDF.

Otherwise let's just abandon the scenario as I'm obviously not going to have the interest of seeing what happens with the G8 knocked out.


Sargon
 
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