U.S. Has New Concerns About Anthrax Readiness

NY Times ^ | Dec. 28, 2003 | JUDITH MILLER

[FairOpinion]

"The officials said their fears had intensified in part because they now recognized that anthrax spores could be more widely dispersed than previously believed. In addition, they said, terror suspects with ties to Al Qaeda have told questioners that the group has been trying to obtain anthrax for use in attacks.

One indication of concern was a secret cabinet-level "tabletop" exercise conducted last month that simulated the simultaneous release of anthrax in different types of aerosols in several American cities.

The drill, code named Scarlet Cloud, found that the country was better able to detect an anthrax attack than it was two years ago, said officials knowledgeable about the exercise. But they said the exercise also showed that antibiotics in some cities could not be distributed and administered quickly enough and that a widespread attack could kill thousands. "The exercise was designed to be very stressful to the system, and it was," a senior government official said."

===

This is why the info about CIA considering that the 2001 anthrax attack was international terrorism -- the government seriously thinks there may be another one, which they won't be able to pin on Hatfill.

And I bet they would find the same thing with a smallpox attack, that they couldn't distibute the vaccines fast enough.

[FairOpinion]

PING

[FairOpinion]

"According to an article by Milton Leitenberg, a biological warfare expert at the Center for International and Security Affairs at the University of Maryland, computer hard drives and handwritten notes seized at the home where Mr. Mohammed was arrested included an order to buy anthrax, along with other evidence of an interest in acquiring anthrax and other dangerous germs."

===

PING

[Peach]

It does not seem wise to broadcast the fact that we may not be ready for such an attack.

[FairOpinion]

Well, the NY Times printed it.

But I agree with you, we shouldn't broadcast our vulnerabilities.

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

Happy Anthrax Awareness Month!

The sheer volume of anthrax stories being written reminds me of the build-up prior to the 2001 attack/trial run.

[Thud]

ping

[FairOpinion]

Lots of stories about anthrax, dirty bombs, even actual nukes -- do you get the feeling the government is trying to prepare us?

They probably know that these are real possibilities and they may or may not be able to prevent them.

[muawiyah]

It wasn't a trial run. It was the real thing.

[Nita Nupress]

Two years after the anthrax letter attacks, senior administration officials say they have fresh concerns about the nation's vulnerability to terrorist attacks with the deadly germ.

I think the drones are one of the main things Homeland Defense is worried about. Have we found any of the UAVs/drones in Iraq yet?  If not, maybe that's because they've already been sent here. Just how big are those things, anyway?

 

Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion.

Press Association
December 17, 2003, Wednesday
SECTION: HOME NEWS

'CLASSIFIED BRIEFING WARNED SADDAM WEAPONS COULD HIT U.S' - SENATOR

Mark Sage, PA News, in New York

The Bush Administration told senior politicians before the Iraq war that Saddam Hussein had developed the means to strike the east coast of America with weapons of mass destruction, a Senator has claimed.

Democrat Bill Nelson said he was among around 75 Senators who received the classified briefing shortly before a Congressional vote last October, which authorised the removal of Saddam by force.

He said the Senators were told that Iraq had developed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) which could dump biological or chemical agents, including anthrax, on east coast cities, including Washington and New York.

"They have not found anything that resembles an UAV that has that capability," Nelson said in a conference-call press briefing, reported by the Florida Today newspaper.

The Tallahassee Senator said the intelligence contradicted other reports senators had received before the war.

"If that is an intelligence failure... we better find that out so we don't have an intelligence failure in the future," he said.

The White House directed questions about the matter to the Department of Defence, which declined to comment.

President Bush referred to UAVs, otherwise known as drones, during a speech in October last year.

He warned of a "grave threat" from a "growing fleet" of the vehicles which might be used to carry out a September 11-style attack.

He said: "We have also discovered that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas.

"We are concerned that Iraq is exploring ways of using UAVs for missions targeting the United States."

But Senator Nelson said the classified briefing went further, warning that Iraq had actually developed ways of hitting the eastern seaboard with drones.

[FairOpinion]

"I think the drones are one of the main things Homeland Defense is worried about. Have we found any of the UAVs/drones in Iraq yet? If not, maybe that's because they've already been sent here. Just how big are those things, anyway?"

==

Good point. They can be so small and fly low enough to fly below the radar and not be detected until way after it's too late.

[cgk]

Happy Anthrax Awareness Month!

---

WPtG: Tell me about it. We have Saddam in custody, so now we can tell the sheeple where it REALLY came from? Oh. And don't forget - there's more of it. Where, we're not sure. But we got the head guy, so we're fairly sure we'll have it soon.

Pinging the group as seen on another thread.

[cgk]

Lots of stories about anthrax, dirty bombs, even actual nukes -- do you get the feeling the government is trying to prepare us?

Yes. Because no matter how many terrorists they stop/catch/kill - there are more of them, and sooner or later one will get through. I have faith in the government's ability to catch SOME of them - not all.

[JustPiper]

officials say they have fresh concerns about the nation's vulnerability to terrorist attacks with the deadly germ.

This is the worry

[Nick Danger]

[eno_]

They probably know that these are real possibilities and they may or may not be able to prevent them.

That is, of course, the whole purpose of shaping public opinion. In many ways, chemical and biological weapons are far more devastating than nukes. I would not think twice about visiting Hiroshima or Nagasaki - I'd get zapped by more radiation in a granite building, or in the plane on the way there. On the other hand, would you go visit a chem/bio-weapons test range? Even if it has been unused for decades?

We are lied to, routinely. We are lied to to shape our behavior based on some bureaucrat's idea of "minimizing disruption." To hell with your life or your family's life. "Homeland" security is only coincidentally concerned with your security, if other priorities don't get in the way.

[eno_]

If the government is unable to protect citizens from an anthrax attack, it is better for awareness of that fact to become widespread so that more people are able to take care of themselves and to plan for any social unrest that might accompany such an attack.

[aristeides]

Only now the government is like the boy who cried wolf. Nobody with any sense believes it any longer.

There are penalties for habitually lying.

[TrebleRebel]

...don't know if you got pinged...