General warns Israel could face 'isolated' Iraqi biological attack

The Jerusalem Post ^ | Feb. 6, 2003 | THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFF

[yonif]

Maj. Gen. Amos Gilad, the government's spokesman for a prospective US-led war against Iraq, said today that the main threat to Israel would be an "isolated serious incident" such as a missile strike, an air attack or a terrorist using germ warfare.

At the same time, Gilad suggested in an interview, that Saddam Hussein, though "dangerous" and liable to take drastic action with his back against the wall, has been deterred in the past from attacking Israel with chemical weapons for fear of "very serious" retaliation.

"We must prepare for a missile strike, for isolated serious incidents, such as an isoalted missile, or an isolated air strike or a small terrorist who can disseminate one germ or another," Gilad told Israel Radio.

"With his back against the wall, there were assessments he could resort to taking action that would put his stamp on history," Gilad said. "All his steps are well known, so preparations must be accordingly."

"If there is an assessment that he has a missile capability, even limited, that [a missile would be] capable of bearing chemical or biological weapons, we must prepare to protect the home front and the response front," Gilad said.

But a response would have to be decided on a case-by-case basis, he added.

Gilad assessed that Iraq lacks a nuclear capability though it strives to achieve one.

[Gamecock]

I think the term is suicide by proxy