[sig226]

One paragraph was edited to make it fit as an excerpt. It's long, but an interesting read.

[The_Reader_David]

Stratfor is usually spot on in their analyses, but in this case there is a gaping hole in their analysis:

They assume that al Qaeda would need to deploy ‘weaponized’ biological agents in the way that a rational Western power or Soviet-style dictatorship would deploy them: attempting to infect the enemy from afar.

The Qutbite cult of martyrdom which has reinterpreted the Quran in light of the French existentialist notion of absolute commitment so that killing infidels trumps the Quranic prohibition on suicide allows al Qaeda a delivery system not available to non-Muslim powers: infect operatives with a highly contagious, virulent strain of virus or bacterium with a moderately long incubation period during which the infected person is contagious, and have them go on a last all-expense paid vacation involving lots of air travel between cities in the US and other nations on AQ’s enemies list and plenty of visits to crowded attractions.

[krogers58]

The current heads of the Pakistani ISI should understand that if al Queda were to launch a biological attack, or used any weapon of mass destruction against American civilians, it would pose an existential threat to their country. Given what we've recently discovered in their complicity in terrorist attacks, they and their citizenry are fair game for retaliation. In the event of such an attack emanating from Pakistani soil, the political outcry for retribution would be so great, that we wouldn't invade their country and depose their government. I think, IMHO, that a full scale retaliatory nuclear strike would be in their future. If they think going into the tribal areas and losing a few thousand soldiers is bad, they are ignoring the capability of the US government, and its citizenry for sheer and utter retaliation.

[smokingfrog]

Is all the money we are spending to produce the anthrax vaccine a waste of money then? Is the govt. doing it just because they fear they will be criticized for not having it in the case of another attack?