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 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.