Navy SEAL Commander Behind Bin Laden Killing: Keystone XL Vulnerable To Terrorism

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Dave Cooper, Command Master Chief SEAL (Retired) for the Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), has authored a threat assessment concluding TransCanada‘s Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is potentially at-risk of a terrorismย attack.ย 

In the report, Cooper concluded operational security vulnerabilities for the pipeline have been overlooked by the U.S. government. Cooperย โ€” ย most famous for overseeing theย Abbottabad, Pakistanย Osama Bin Laden raidย as the commander of Navyย SEALย Team Six โ€” wrote the report as a consultant for billionaireย Tom Steyer‘s advocacy groupย NextGen Climate Action.ย 

โ€œThe very nature of Keystone XLโ€™s newsworthiness, should it ever be built, increases its attractiveness as a target to terrorists: Keystone XL, aside from being a ‘soft’ target just like any other pipeline, has a built-in emotional impact that canโ€™t be denied or wished away,โ€ he wrote in the report’sย introduction.

โ€œThat simple fact, a newsworthy proposal that engenders strong passions, should clue in pipeline owners and government officials to the very real possibility of intentionalย attack.โ€

For the report, Cooper utilized a โ€œred cellโ€ methodology, parlance for U.S. special operations forces performing pre-mission reconnaissance, using open source data readily available to terrorists on the internet. In so doing, the special operations forces snuff out operational security (โ€œOpSecโ€ in military lingo) weaknesses, which they use as actionable intelligence in defenseย missions.

In the report, Cooper explained he โ€œdesigned [the methodology this way] to showcase weaknesses in the current reality by exploiting the same information to which an outside terrorist group would haveย access.โ€

Cooper’s probe included a due diligence trip out three redacted Great Plains locations*, where Phase I of the Keystone Pipeline Systemย is currently operational (the northern leg of Keystone XL is Phase IV).ย Going out into the field, Cooper came away shocked by hisย discoveries.

His findings raise a troubling question: have real Keystone XL terrorism threats been ignored, while non-violent activists have been labeled potential eco-terrorists? Cooper offered his take on this question toย DeSmogBlog.

โ€œNo Sightโ€ of Active Securityย Program

Cooper said he mapped out his entire Nebraska trip by using a maps of the Keystone Pipeline System he foundย online.ย 

โ€œIn military parlance, the site visit at [redacted] was a ‘cold shot,’ done with no advance preparation or planning, using only information and intelligence gathered from publicly available sources,โ€ wroteย Cooper.


TransCanada Keystone Pipeline System; Image Credit: Wikimediaย Commons

โ€œ[redacted] was selected because it has both a valve and pumping station for the operational Keystone 1, it is somewhat near Keystone XLโ€™s route, and it is roughly similar to the proposed Keystone XL โ€“ with presumably the same level of security as the proposedย pipeline.โ€

Once on the ground, Cooper found absolutely nothing indicating an active securityย program.ย 

โ€œI was able to freely approach, then stand at a Keystone 1 pump station for over 15 minutes snapping photos,โ€ he wrote. โ€œI was not approached, questioned or even noticed at anyย point.โ€

Cooper concluded that in a worst case scenario, a dozen terrorists could cause a seven million gallon spill by attacking the pipeline at three points. And that’s if TransCanada were to have perfect execution of shut-downย protocol.

KXL and FBI/DHS Fusionย Centers

In concluding his report, Cooper pays homage to domestic intelligence agencies for practicing predictive policing.ย 

โ€œThis assessment also cannot speak for the innumerable and valiant efforts of our intelligence agencies, those who strive daily to defeat terrorists ‘upstream’ before they can actually act on their designs,โ€ wrote Cooper. โ€œTheir persistent actions in our defense could very well thwart any such pipeline attack during the terroristsโ€™ observation, orientation and decisionย phases.โ€

DeSmogBlog has reported on these predictive policing efforts as it pertains to Keystone XL. And the results, put mildly, haven’t beenย pretty.ย 

Documents obtained by Bold Nebraska and reported on here in June 2013 revealed TransCanada and the Nebraska-based Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Fusion Center labeled non-violent activists as possible candidates for terrorism charges and other serious criminalย charges.

This tension existing between protecting national security and protectingย civil liberties brings ire toย Shahid Buttar, executive director for the Bill of Rights Defense Committee.

โ€œThroughout the 1990s, the principal targets of US counter-terror investigations were environmental activists who planned non-violent acts,โ€ he toldย DeSmogBlog.ย 

โ€œIf the northern leg of Keystone XL pipeline becomes operational, the security concerns of fossil fuel companies could be used once again,ย like they were in Pennsylvania only a few years ago,ย to justify government intelligence agencies undermining the constitutional rights of environmentalists to peacefully organize andย dissent.โ€

Asked about these concerns by DeSmogBlog,ย Cooper agreed withย Buttar.

โ€œThe focus on protesters and activists is somewhat shortsighted,โ€ he said. โ€œIt’s not like activism is a gateway drug to terrorism and it amounts to profiling (like racial profiling). Just following around protesters or activists isn’t the answer. What you see is all thereย is.โ€

โ€œAn activist’s intentions typically revolve around disobedience in all its forms. While most might get arrested, it’s typically for stuff like trespassing. A real meanย bunch!โ€

A recent historical case study and parallel is also instructive andย sobering.


Boston Marathon bombers Dzhokhar Tsarnaevย and Tamerlan Tsarnaev; Photo Credit: Wikimediaย Commons

The Boston-based FBI/DHS Fusion Center pouredย massive amounts of resources into monitoring Occupy Boston activists rather than the would-be Boston Marathon bombers, as revealed in a May 2013 investigative report published by NBCย News.

Mr. Cooper Goes toย Washington

According to an article appearing in National Journal, Cooper has already presented his findings to both U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and U.S. Sen.ย Martin Heinrich (D-NM).ย 

NextGen spokesman Mike Casey told DeSmogBlog that NextGen alsoย delivered a copy of the report to Carlos Pascual,ย Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs for the U.S. Stateย Department.


Carlos Pascual, U.S. State Department Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs; Photo Credit: U.S. Stateย Department

The letter delivery โ€”ย as opposed to an actual meeting โ€”ย took place after Pascual cancelled a meeting they had set late on the afternoon of Friday, May 30. They had planned to meet the followingย Monday.

NextGen has provided DeSmogBlog with a copy of that tersely-craftedย email.

According to Casey, the State Department told NextGen the next opening it had for a meeting was inย mid-August.ย 

โ€œThe State Departmentโ€™s review of the Presidential Permit application for the proposed project โ€“ and the ultimate determination of whether granting a permit serves the national interest โ€“ will take a number of factors into consideration, including the national security of the United States,โ€ the State Department told The Huffington Post.

โ€œSerious Nationalย Conversationโ€

Cooper concluded the threat assessment by highlighting why he took on theย study.ย 

โ€œMy goal in releasing this version of the assessment is to provide federal of๏ฌcials and the public with the information on this vulnerability to take it into account โ€“ and take steps to address it,โ€ he said in a press release provided to DeSmogBlog. โ€œWe need a serious national conversation about what we do to head off anย attack.โ€

But this is also a tale about where best to pool resources โ€” and where not to โ€” in the name of national security. Cooper has opened a new chapter in the ongoing saga that is the debate over Keystone XL‘s northernย leg.

*An earlier version of this story said Cooper visited the Sand Hills. The locations he visited are redacted for national security purposes. We regret theย error.

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Steve Horn is the owner of the consultancy Horn Communications & Research Services, which provides public relations, content writing, and investigative research work products to a wide range of nonprofit and for-profit clients across the world. He is an investigative reporter on the climate beat for over a decade and former Research Fellow for DeSmog.

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