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Report: Al Qaeda Group Bungled Test of Unconventional Weapon
fox news ^ | 1/20/2009 | Eli Lake, Washington Times

Posted on 01/20/2009 4:44:31 PM PST by tobyhill

An Al Qaeda affiliate in Algeria closed a base earlier this month after an experiment with unconventional weapons went awry, a senior U.S. intelligence official said Monday.

The official, who spoke on the condition he not be named because of the sensitive nature of the issue, said he could not confirm press reports that the accident killed at least 40 Al Qaeda operatives, but he said the mishap led the militant group to shut down a base in the mountains of Tizi Ouzou province in eastern Algeria.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: algeria; alqaeda; bioterrorism; blackdeath; plague; screwups; trainingcamps; unconventional; weapons; wmd
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To: Perdogg

We should sterilize the entire area with extremely high heat...just to be safe.

I propose that this be Obama’s opening move toward negotiation. Would be a hell of a start!!


21 posted on 01/20/2009 5:03:32 PM PST by HardStarboard ("The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule - Mencken knew Obama)
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To: autumnraine

To screw up with, or to successfully test on some insufficiently enthusiastic jihadis.

For all we know, if it was pneumonic plague, or some other contagious agent, they could have infected one (possibly willing) subject and observed the effects on the camp.

There might be dismay in AQ circles that things went awry and their bioweapons team perished, but there might equally be rejoicing at the successful test. For all we know, next week dozens of jihadis armed only with their own infection might be flying hither and thither around the civilized world, attending decadent rock concerts, taking tours of the Capitol, and the like. Even if it has only, say, a 5% mortality rate when properly treated, they could still cause more casualties and a greater strain on the economy than 9/11.


22 posted on 01/20/2009 5:04:14 PM PST by The_Reader_David (And when they behead your own people in the wars which are to come, then you will know. . .)
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To: tobyhill

“The story was first reported by the British tabloid the Sun, which said the Al Qaeda operatives died after being infected with a strain of bubonic plague, the disease that killed a third of Europe’s population in the 14th century. But the intelligence official dismissed that claim.”

Probably small pox.


23 posted on 01/20/2009 5:07:03 PM PST by Brilliant
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To: autumnraine

It certainly scares the heck out of me.

I read more about this story earlier today in the Times of India. A thread was posted here with this link:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Plague_sweeps_Qaida_camp_in_Africa/articleshow/4004140.cms


24 posted on 01/20/2009 5:09:16 PM PST by CaribouCrossing
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To: Names Ash Housewares
Successful test.

Good angle.

25 posted on 01/20/2009 5:10:22 PM PST by ex91B10 (So many opinions, so little time...)
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To: Perdogg

weaponized plague. They have something like it.

Oh. No. You said it.

God help us.


26 posted on 01/20/2009 5:10:59 PM PST by combat_boots ("In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."Aldous Huxley)
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To: cripplecreek

“Yeah it worries me but it doesn’t sound like it makes a great weapon.”

It is a bad idea for the muslims to go down this path. These are the things that will spread geometrically in third-world conditions - and so they put their own populations at risk more than any other.

And this is if we choose not to fight back.


27 posted on 01/20/2009 5:14:43 PM PST by RFEngineer
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To: Perdogg
...it is obvious that Al Qaeda has made a weaponized version of it.

Sounds about right - - probably bought it from some rogue scientist

- and decided to do a sniff test.

28 posted on 01/20/2009 5:16:14 PM PST by GOPJ ("A consensus of 100 scientists is undone by one fact." - - Einstein (take that Al Gore))
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To: cripplecreek

Maybe more info will come out...it initially was played as just an outbreak, but this is the second story I’ve seen linking it to BW.

In a setting like Algeria, plague would be an excellent terror weapon. It at least can be contained, but not before a local populace has suffered.

A wide ranging attack has probably not happened yet for precisely your reason...its too dangerous to the one that lets it loose.

I just worry how long before the Muslims don’t even care about that.


29 posted on 01/20/2009 5:16:22 PM PST by A.Hun (Common sense is no longer common.)
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To: tobyhill

Well according to islamic ways of thought, they most likely deserved it. At least I don’t have to feel pity for them - ‘allah’ (pig-Obama be upon him) decreed it.


30 posted on 01/20/2009 5:19:44 PM PST by Secret Agent Man (I'd like to tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.)
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To: absalom01; CodeToad; hiredhand; Squantos; Myrddin
Under certain limited conditions, Y. Pestis could be a very effective weapon. That is, when used against a poor people in crowded 3rd world conditions, who do not have ready access to large amounts of antibiotics and quality medical care. The plague could do enormous damage, and still be easily contained.

Plus, the use of the weapon would be deniable, with the outbreak being blamed on naturally occurring plague vectors. (Unlike anthrax, smallpox etc). If scores of flea-infested rodents were injected with Y. Pestis and released in dozens of locations around the target city, the result would be horrible to see.

31 posted on 01/20/2009 5:21:56 PM PST by Travis McGee (www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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To: absalom01; CodeToad; hiredhand; Squantos; Myrddin
Under certain limited conditions, Y. Pestis could be a very effective weapon. That is, when used against a poor people in crowded 3rd world conditions, who do not have ready access to large amounts of antibiotics and quality medical care. The plague could do enormous damage, and still be easily contained.

Plus, the use of the weapon would be deniable, with the outbreak being blamed on naturally occurring plague vectors. (Unlike anthrax, smallpox etc). If scores of flea-infested rodents were injected with Y. Pestis and released in dozens of locations around the target city, the result would be horrible to see.

32 posted on 01/20/2009 5:21:58 PM PST by Travis McGee (www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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To: absalom01

I hate to say it but anyone have any predictions about when the next hit will be? It’s gotta be soon now that Baby Killer Obama is now ‘in charge’.


33 posted on 01/20/2009 5:23:18 PM PST by Secret Agent Man (I'd like to tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.)
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To: SERKIT

Yes. If you aerosolize plague, you inhale it and develop pneumonic plague, and that has a much higher death rate than bubonic plague, which develops from entering the bloodstream.


34 posted on 01/20/2009 5:25:29 PM PST by Secret Agent Man (I'd like to tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.)
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To: RFEngineer
It is a bad idea for the muslims to go down this path. These are the things that will spread geometrically in third-world conditions - and so they put their own populations at risk more than any other.

Aren't there about a billion and a half muslims in the world? What's the mortality rate for plague, less than 50%?

I don't think it's going to worry them.

35 posted on 01/20/2009 5:25:45 PM PST by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast
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To: absalom01
Now, if they got ahold of some of that old Soviet smallpox virus, OK, that's the time to hit the panic button.

I read a book that has lengthy excerpts on the web. Google "The Demon in the Freezer". Weaponized Variola Major is scary, evil stuff. Hope it's all dead now.

36 posted on 01/20/2009 5:26:16 PM PST by Riley (The Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column.)
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To: tobyhill

Just the beginning...The fact they have this crap at all is scary. You have do have to ask...What’s the next step?


37 posted on 01/20/2009 5:27:39 PM PST by Dallas59 (Not My President)
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To: RFEngineer

They don’t care. They have a couple billion muslims, if they die, they can die for furthering Allah’s cause. If they die it’s the will of Allah they die. Nothing they can do would stop it. Besides they know that they won’t kill all muslims, and it will create so many problems in the developed countries.


38 posted on 01/20/2009 5:28:45 PM PST by Secret Agent Man (I'd like to tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.)
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To: Travis McGee

Even our cities can be hit with such weapons. Imagine restaurants, buses, trains, malls, airports, etc. being hit. We Americans travel more than most countries I have been to. A single person comes in contact with dozens of people every day over a 20 mile area. Imagine just a single week what the spread could be. I have an aunt who work with the Air Force labs performing testing on micro-critters. She likes living where she does in a remote area.


39 posted on 01/20/2009 5:30:45 PM PST by CodeToad
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To: cripplecreek

Not a great weapon, but one that would cause widespread panic in NYC if it was employed in the subway system.


40 posted on 01/20/2009 5:31:22 PM PST by RightWingConspirator (Swiftboating: Revealing inconvenient truths about Democrat candidates)
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