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Weapons of Mass Destruction: Chem Bio Traditionally, Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) were Chemical, Biological, Radiologic and Nuclear (CBRN). The people of the world don’t want them used on us—they are cheap ways to kill and maim lots of people at once. And so international treaties were created to try to prevent their development (sometimes) and use. First was the Geneva Protocol of 1925, banning the use of biological and chemical weapons in war. The US and many nations signed it, but it took 50 years for the US to ratify it, so we believed we were not bound by...

N THE AFTERMATH of September 11, more than several former national security and intelligence officials fashioned new careers as critics of the Bush administration's war on terror. Among the more prominent of these former officials is Daniel Benjamin, who worked for the National Security Council from 1994 to 1999. Benjamin's criticism flows from his belief that prior to the war in Iraq, as he wrote in Time magazine earlier this year, "there was no pre-existing relationship between Baghdad and al-Qaeda." Still worse, the invasion of Iraq has made us "less safe" and "above all, the invasion and occupation of Iraq--have...

AL ASAD, Iraq (May 9, 2006) -- The Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Marines with Marine Aircraft Group 16 (Reinforced), 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, conducted training April 25, in Al Asad, Iraq, to enhance their skills under varied conditions. The CBRN Marines have in place an incident response team to deal with situations that involve the use of the four agents. "We've taken traditional Nuclear, Biological and Chemical doctrine and modified it for use in a nontraditional NBC threat environment," said Sgt. Chad W. Jenkins, response team leader, CBRN, from Portland, Ore. "Here, we have to stay ready to defend...

Well, it appears that Messrs. Clinton and Bush have [much] in common.... Both have warned -- Mr. Clinton first, of course -- that the nexus between rogue states like Iraq and terrorists like al Qaeda poses the greatest threat to America. On this point, in fact, Mr. Clinton has much more in common with Mr. Bush than he does with John Kerry. According to 9/11 Commission co-chairman Thomas Kean, Mr. Clinton believed with "absolute certainty" that Iraq provided al Qaeda with weapons of mass destruction expertise and technology in the 1990s. He believed it as president when he ordered the...

<p>Concerns are growing that Al Qaeda or a related group could detonate a "dirty bomb" that would spew radioactive particles across an American or European city, according to intelligence analysts, diplomats and independent nuclear experts.</p> <p>Although safeguards protecting nuclear weapons and components have improved, experts said the radioactive ingredients that are wrapped around conventional explosives to create a contaminating bomb remain available worldwide, often stored in non-secure locations.</p>