Posted on 05/23/2002 7:42:19 AM PDT by Printers Angel
On the heels of terrorist alerts for New York landmarks, Ohioans were warned yesterday to add food and farmland to the growing list of potential targets.
An attack on crops and farm animals is inevitable, law-enforcement and emergency officials were told during a homeland security conference at the Hyatt Regency.
"Terrorists seem to like the big-bang result,'' said Dr. David Glauer, state veterinarian. "The release of a biological agent is easy.''
As an example of how contagions can spread, Glauer pointed to foot and mouth disease that killed livestock in the United Kingdom.
And Ohio recently banned poultry from Virginia and North Carolina because of a highly contagious avian flu, he said.
Glauer warned farmers to be on high alert, from making visitors sign in to locking up farm equipment to building fire walls in home computers to keep hackers out.
He advised the nearly 200 law officers present that it's important to run background checks on migrant laborers who are not U.S. citizens. Glauer cited the Sept. 17 arrests in Detroit of two illegal aliens living in Canton.
Federal agents later raided the Holmes County poultry farm where they worked, looking for accomplices.
In federal court last month, Edward Seitz, a special agent with the U.S. State Department, said Karim Koubriti, 23, and Ahmed Hannan, 33, were planning to hurt American businesses, especially Jewish- owned ones. He didn't elaborate.
They had airport sketches, false identification and plans to kill former Defense Secretary William Cohen during a visit to Turkey.
"I don't think it's going to take another three to five years'' before there is another terrorist attack in the United States, Lt. Gov. Maureen O'Connor said.
"Homeland security starts with hometown security, and hometown security starts with you,'' said O'Connor, chief of the Ohio Security Task Force. "I don't think we should be scared. That's the wrong message to send.''
In recent weeks, terrorism warnings have been reissued for high-rise apartments and nuclear power plants. O'Connor declined to name possible targets in Ohio.
Steven A. Wagner of the state Health Department said the public has to begin thinking about the possibility of quarantines and mass care. Ohio hospitals have been asked to expand emergency response planning into adjoining counties and regions, he said.
"A big bang doesn't necessarily mean a lot of people,'' he said.
As an example of widespread panic, Wagner cited the 6,000 false "white powder'' reports investigated in Ohio last fall when deadly anthrax was found in Florida, New Jersey, New York and Washington.
Now, he's worried about threats on Ohio's food and water supplies.
We can't do that, it's their serve.
PING
a lot of farmers would do the Triple S on someone attempting to hurt their farm...
Shoot, Shovel, Shutup
Or thow the remains into the hogpen.
I like that solution.
Ive heard rotting flesh is good for the soil.
While the media likes to believe that all these warnings are merely a response by the administration to criticism, I suspect they are actually meant to prepare the public for a war that will start in earnest by this fall.
I also suspect Bush is in Europe laying the final plans and actually assessing each leader's response for himself. I don't think he just happens to be meeting with all these world leaders because he likes to travel...
Lol- When do we get to the "terminate them" part? I'm looking forward to that :)
I realize it's painfully slow, but keep the faith. Our folks are making progress. And remember that we'll never know everything they've accomplished.
Some veterinarian. Hoof & Mouth doesn't kill livestock. Only crazed government thugs do.
Just another gov.thug demanding control.
Thanks for that tidbit--it's actually better than I thought.
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