Portland and TOPOFF 4: 10/18's Bomb Scare a Diversionary Tactic?

Some interesting speculations bouncing around on the web on the Portland 10/18 bomb scare that was eventually played down by the media. So I've been thinking about it myself...

Short of the story is that a vehicle or vehicles (see article links below) used in the TOPOFF 4 exercise parked near the Doubletree Inn in downtown Portland was alerted on by bomb sniffing dogs three times. The reason the dogs were around in the first place was because they were checking things out in advance of Chertoff's arrival - making sure things were "a-okay" for the big man's stay at the Doubletree. Lo and behold a dog found a suspicious circumstance (funny how these things seem to keep happening) and one thing led to another. The situation was played down eventually because, well, the vehicle(s) was used in the exercise or was driven by someone that had participated in the exercise or something like that as no one seems to clearly know but it doesn't really add up very well...

I'm wondering...:
1. How many vehicles were really involved? One makes more sense to me but in some cases I read several...
2. Why did the incident take place before 2 p.m. while the exercise was still in progress and people were still participating but the vehicle was utilized by an exercise participant and it just so happened to be parked at the same hotel that Chertoff was checking into to...?
3. Why did this happen on the same day that Chertoff was to arrive?
4. How did the vehicle get so close to the actual exercise activities that elements used in the bombing portions of the exercise would have gotten "baked" into it? Seems odd that your private/rental vehicle would get that close to the material...
5. If the individual driving the vehicle had participated in bombing activities weren't they wearing protective clothing and going through detox before they left the site? Wasn't that what the exercise was supposed to be about?
6. Why did they shut down the metro rail service (MET) and several blocks surrounding the hotel? Is that normal procedure? I've read of other bomb scares and I can't recall that they've shut so many services down and closed such a large area. Usually it's localized - what did they really know?
7. Why did this incident occur the same day that the Port Arthur refinery had an explosion? Is that merely a coincidence? And gas prices rose almost immediately... Amazing stuff, that.

Is it possible that the bomb incident was a diversionary tactic to actually dismantle a bomb? (see email conversation links below) It's an interesting perspective and one that I'm not discounting. Especially considering all the activities that have occurred to date - Bent Spear, the U.S.'s Iranian spy satellite that was brought down that ended up in Peru - too numerous to list but all covered up or quickly dismissed... Maybe there were too many eyes on Portland so plans were changed?? I'd like to think so...

There is also some chatter that the Pakistan suicide bombing on Thursday was a planned event and that the three (TX, OR and Pakistan) were all linked. Hmmm I wonder... Certainly wouldn't discount that one too quickly either.

Pretty soon we can purchase our tickets online at Ticketmaster outlets, get our popcorn and drinks and watch these events happen - all while the USG officials run around us telling us it isn't real or planned or they don't know anything about it or someone else did it or that we're just a bunch of conspiracy "theorists" or psychotic left-wingers or right-wingers or overzealous U.S. Constitution/Bill of Rights supporters... Well, maybe they are right as I now hear the Twilight Zone overlaid by God Bless America music playing in my head so I guess it's time to go...

One vehicle articles:
http://portland.metblogs.com/archives/2007/10/bomb_scare_in_l.phtml
http://www.kptv.com/news/14371272/detail.html
http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2007/10/police_are_closing_off_several.html
http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/topstories/index.ssf?/base/news-21/1192741158263760.xml&storylist=
http://www.kptv.com/news/14371272/detail.html?rss=ptl1&psp=news (contains video)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21381867/
http://blog.oregonlive.com/oregonianspecial/2007/10/bomb_scare_disrupts_topoff_dri.html (contains video)

Multiple vehicles articles:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/19/america/NA-GEN-US-Terror-Exercise-Scare.php
http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=119273894391244600
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_101807_news_bomb_squad_lloyd.182b1a7d5.html (contains video)

Interesting email conversation between Theresa Mitchell of KBOO radio and Capt. Eric May:
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2007/10/367091.shtml (this was the original indy posting by a concerned citizen; there are several responses)
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2007/10/367149.shtml (this was posted by Theresa in which she asks for witnesses to post information)

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