US Agriculture Still Vulnerable To Terrorist Threat – FBI
KANSAS CITY (Dow Jones)--U.S. agriculture has a long way to go toward hardening itself to a terrorist threat, FBI Deputy Director John Pistole, said Monday.
"The threat from agroterrorism may not be widely recognized, but the threat is real and the impact could be devastating," said Pistole, according to The Associated Press.
U.S. agriculture must remain vigilant and never become complacent, said Pistole at the second International Symposium on Agroterrorism, which is being held in Kansas City this week. The costs are too high, he added.
A terrorist threat could come from any direction, he said. In addition to foreign groups like Al-Qaida or Hezbollah, there are the home-grown terrorist groups as well.
Over the last five years, the U.S. and other countries have weakened Al-Qaida, but it's not dead, he said. The terrorist organization has had its finances disrupted; some safe havens have been removed, and some leaders have been captured, but it's organized and could strike at any time, Pistole warned.
Most of the home-grown groups are small and loosely defined, he said.
The domestic terrorists also have a more varied ideology, Pistole said. Some are driven by animal rights issues. Some have environmental protection on their agenda, and some groups just hate the government, he said.
Ideas that groups like Al-Qaeda won't strike agriculture are misplaced, he said. Some of this group's strongholds held paperwork examining just such a possibility as a way to kill people and to cripple an economy.
While there was no "specific communicated threat at this time," the "absence of a communicated threat does not prove the absence of a threat," he said, according to The AP.
Agriculture employs one of every eight people in the U.S., so anything that hinders domestic consumption or exports has a huge effect, Pistole said.
"The bottom line is that agriculture, just like buildings, bridges and tunnels, is a critical infrastructure in need of defense," he said, according to an AP report.
The way to strengthen the agricultural industry is to "build partnerships" before an attack and to prepare, Pistole said. Preparations at all levels from the smallest producer up to law enforcement agencies should include plans for deterring an attack, training to detect an attack, ways to minimize the effects of an attack and ways to recover quickly from an attack, he said.
Pistole said police departments, the FBI, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Homeland Security already are partners in investigating and finding solutions for agroterrorism.
Source: Lester Aldrich; Dow Jones Newswires; 913-322-5179; lester.aldrich@dowjones.
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