Posted on 09/22/2001 8:20:51 AM PDT by Nita Nupress
I should have known. ;-) Next time I'll page you and make it easier.
Or, are we just "useless eaters"?
From what I understand, the civil defense system was dismantled after the Cold War was declared over. I think it's time to start rattling a few political cages. Get them to stockpile antibiotics, manufacture vaccines, and make potassium iodide tablets available to the poor slobs not in the military.
It is being done now, it was done in the subways of Tokyo several years ago by Aum Shinryuko(sp?) and Saddam/Usama almost certainly have programs running. The most difficult part, and that nobody apparently has a solution for yet, is getting the agent into an aerosol solution so it can be easily sprayed. Just creating large amounts of the agent is simple, and a load of botulinum toxin, for instance, could be used to poison pretty much anything, from rivers to individuals.
How would terrorists go about creating and using these biological weapons?
1) In a hospital in Iraq, elite soldiers from Saddam's special weapons divisions would collect samples of diseased tissue suspected to contain the "right" diseases.
or 1) In a hospital in America, one of Usama's "sleepers," a doctor, would collect samples of diseased tissue, and would then smuggle it out of the country.
2) They would move these to secret labratories where they would separate out a colony of diseased cells, and then grow them en masse in vats full of agar or other growth media.
3) They would then remove everything but the harmful agent (bacteria or poison created by the bacteria)
4) Smuggle these into the US the same way drugs and illegals are smuggled in. With only one small capsule, packed with the agent, it would have a very good chance of making it into the country.
5) Once inside America, the agent would be expanded, possibly put in multiple containers, and set in aerosol or some other delivery mechanism
6) Set in crop duster with a banner trailing behind it, and fly over a packed football stadium. Or fly over the stadium before anyone arrives, and then let them sit in it. Who would notice a plane making a single pass near an empty stadium, high in the air and letting the wind carry the agent onto the seats?
Or: 6) release agent in a major airport, in the hopes the disease would be spread widely across America
Or: 6) release the agent in the Capitol building (or any of the congressional office buildings), killing hundreds of legislators and paralyzing the American government
These things can be carried out by pretty much any college graduate with a degree in biology, although a team, including a Ph.D. or two would not be impossible to obtain and would be much more likely to succeed. The methods of growing large amounts of biologial matter are no secret, they are exceedingly simple. The materials are for the most part easy to acquire, some could be had from culinary suppliers, all they would have to do is pretend to be interested in cooking and order them from catalogues straight to their homes. I don't know how hard agar is to make, but it's just made of seaweed (I think), it would not be hard to produce. The rest can be bought straight from dozens of scientific supply companies (of course, that would arouse suspicion, so they would not be able to buy them directly).
But what if a well-liked "sleeper" unit began teaching a high school biotech class? (there are such things) She wouldn't even "look like a terrorist," to the people out there who think hijabs and turbans are signs of support for Usama, because she would be like the terrorists who hijacked the planes. They attempted to fit in to our culture as much as possible to avoid scrutiny, as would she--she would wear NY Yankees baseball caps and pretend to be a "real New Yorker," and most people would buy it. Over the summer "oops" all of the materials disappear, smuggled over our southern border in a truck that won't be inspected. By the time school officials realize the material is missing, the teacher is long gone (she took a vacation at the start of summer, and didn't bother coming back), and the material is safely in the terrorists' labs.
Even curbing access to such equipment wouldn't be enough, because any engineer currently working for a biotech firm could pack his bags, move to Iraq, and start building similar machines for Saddam, although they wouldn't be as good as those built by scientific supply companies (and wouldn't come with warranties).
If they can successfully make biological weapons, they will use them, the idea of a doomsday weapon appeals too much to the fatalistic, apocalyptic terrorists. We have to stop them from making these weapons, we can't allow terrorists or terrorist states the privacy and security to develop these horrendous weapons. The UN weapons inspectors we had in Iraq were not enough, even when we had them. We need to keep these people on the run. If they have any permanent facilities, they could grow the agents. If they have any networks, they can attempt to smuggle the samples out and full containers into the US.
How much would you like to bet that somewhere in England, a Muslim terrorist (or any other kind of terrorist) has a vial of cow drool that might contain foot and mouth disease? Or has the sample already been smuggled out? (this particular disease wouldn't kill people, but could cause great harm to our livestock--we might have to all become vegetarians, a fate worse than death)
What a glorious way to die ... and in the eyes of ol Bin Laden .... what a way to get your biggest ambitional obstacle out of the way. Folks .... us follow the logic .... pretend that our foe ... might just be the Anti-Christ, or a minion, or just the reincarnate of Hitler ... then consider that these recent event are probably purpose driven ... intellectually directed ... pure evil. Then ... consider that, in order for someone to direct, plan, and execute a deed so dispicable as to hope to kill 50k+ people at the WTC .... I would submit that this person has achieved the pinnacle ... the very acme and personification ... of evil.
My point .I think ... he .. may think .... that we believe we have him ... right where he wants us.
Bottomline ... we had better watch out for the trap ... cause given the logic .... there just might be one.
It makes you wonder why Bill Clinton didn't do this during those eight years he was in the White House, doesn't it? I just read something on another thread (Build Bio-Defense System Now) that makes it glaringly obvious how long Clinton has known of the hazards we face:
It isn’t only the Pentagon that believes there is a risk the U.S. could be attacked by anthrax.
In 1993, the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), a research agency controlled by Congress, published a report titled, "Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction—Assessing the Risks." It concluded that America could be vulnerable to a biological attack launched by a nation-state like Iraq or by a terrorist group.
"Potential biological warfare agents are readily available locally or internationally from natural sources or commercial suppliers," said OTA. "Sophisticated research and development [is] unnecessary to produce commonly known agents."
The bottom line on biological weapons: "Enough for a large arsenal may cost less than $10 million."
The most chilling page in the OTA report featured a map of Washington, D.C. It compared the potential lethal consequences of exploding a 1-megaton hydrogen bomb near the Nation’s Capital versus dispersing 300 kilograms of nerve gas or 100 kilograms of anthrax. The hydrogen bomb would kill 570,000 to 1,900,000 people. The gas would kill 300 to 8,000 people. But the anthrax would kill from 130,000 to 3 million, depending on weather conditions.
And a terrorist could deliver that anthrax with a small private plane.
"[I]n principle," said the OTA, "biological weapons efficiently delivered under the right conditions against unprotected populations would, pound for pound of weapon, exceed the killing power of nuclear weapons."
It almost makes you wonder if Clinton left us undefended for a reason.
Here's a helpful table I found:
Examples of Biological Agents
| AGENT | INCUBATION PERIOD | SYMPTOMS |
|---|---|---|
| Anthrax (bacillus anthracis) | 1-5 days | High fever, fatigue, vomiting, |
| labored breathing, bleeding, lesions | ||
| Brucellosis | 5-60 days | Fever, chills, joint infections |
| Ebola virus | 4-16 days | High fever, delirium, joint pains, |
| bleeding from orifices, convulsions | ||
| Plague (yearsinia pestis) | 2-3 days | Fever, chills, headache, delirium |
| Tularemia (francisella tularensis) | 2-10 days | Fever, prostration, weight loss |
| Smallpox | 10-14 days | Malaise, fever, headache, backache, |
| vomiting, rash, lesions | ||
| Botulinum toxin | 1-5 days | Nausea, diarrhea, respiratory |
| (clostridrium botulinum toxin) | paralysis, blurred vision | |
| Ricin | 2 hours | Abdominal pain, vomiting, |
| diarrhea, dehydration |
Sources: Colonel David Franz, David McClain, and Major Julie Pavlin, "Clinical Recognition and Management of Patients Exposed to Biological Warfare Agents," Journal of the American Medical Association, August 6, 1997; Leonard Cole, "The Specter of Biological Weapons," Scientific American, December 1996.
The scenario you laid out is something to think about. And I'm not taking my eyes off China, either. I'm sure they'd love to grab Taiwan right about now.
Nice comments. Thanks.
What really worries me, is if we do get attacked by biological weapons, it could be very hard to identify the attacker. They would be long gone before symptons even occur. How would we retaliate if we don't even know for sure who attacked us? Of course we would have some general ideas on who it was, but there are quite a few terrorist groups and it could be any one of them.
I guess we would just have to attack them all. HARD!
I believe (not pontificate) that Tiawan's purpose might just be a distraction. A more in-casual observerer might conclude that China just might have eyes on the oil and mineral deposits of Indonesia. Especially in the light of their investments in shipping .... Cosco ....Lond beach Naval Shipyard ... Panama ...both ends
I believe (not pontificate) that Tiawan's purpose might just be a distraction. A more in-casual observerer might conclude that China just might have eyes on the oil and mineral deposits of Indonesia. Especially in the light of their investments in shipping .... Cosco ....Long beach Naval Shipyard ... Panama ...Ummmm ...both ends
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