Did bin Laden buy bioterror? 1999 testimony says he did

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | October 21, 2001 | Erin McCormick and Lance Williams

[sarcasm]

Evidence in an Egyptian terrorism trial two years ago included claims that Osama bin Laden already had dangerous biological agents in his arsenal.

Moreover, a ranking terrorist affiliated with bin Laden told a journalist during that trial that the Saudi-born financier of terror and his top aide, Islamic Jihad leader Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, had purchased biological and chemical agents and drawn up a list of 100 U.S. and Israeli targets on which to unleash them.

[syriacus]

since it would take an awful lot of bad stuff to effect an entire water system.

http://www.mercola.com/2003/sep/3/water_safety.htm

If terrorists were smart, they'd make sure to contaminate specific parts of the water system.

[creepycrawly]

Yes, of course. But it would still take large quantities of just about any substance (including human sewage or cattle-farm runoff) to be effective.

[syriacus]

syriacus:If terrorists were smart, they'd make sure to contaminate specific parts of the water system.

Perhaps they are pretty smart

Report: Terrorists considered plan to poison water supplies

LAS VEGAS Before Nine-Eleven, terrorists discussed recruiting treatment plant workers to poison water supplies in major urban areas.

That's according to a federal bulletin sent out yesterday to law enforcement and water agencies nationwide.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal quotes the four-page document as detailing discussions by unnamed terrorists who had been under government surveillance. [snip]

"Terrorists thought it would be futile to attempt to directly poison a large water reservoir because of the dilution factor," the bulletin states. "Rather, they focused on the possibility of poisoning the water during the water treatment process."

Terrorists spoke about inserting an unnamed poison into water during the chlorination process. "To accomplish this objective, they discussed recruiting insiders to work with them," it reads.

[creepycrawly]

You are absolutely right. I still consider it to be far fetched and extremely difficult to pull off, but one that certainly demands our attention.

My main contention is that people are afraid that our reservoirs are in great danger. As we both point out, it's not that simple.