Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: EternalHope
I want to know about HIM

Check some of what he had to say back in 1997. I don't remember seeing this ever posted but his own words are quite telling. It is rather long but contains a wealth of information about HIM and what he had to say 5 years ago about bio attacks.

The Washington Times August 11, 1997, Monday, Final Edition

"Biological terrorism is a real threat" By Fred Reed

The terrorism racket grows more interesting. What with trials of terrorists in New York for the bombing of the World Trade Center, and now the fellows who were going to blow up Manhattan's subways, things don't look as safe as they might.

A sort of terrorism that hasn't gotten a lot of attention, but may yet, is bio-terrorism. Remember the petri dishes of raspberry Jell-O or whatever that were left outside B'nai B'rith and tied up Washington for most of a day? And that wasn't even real. A fellow I know is Steve Hatfill, a medical doctor with years of experience in the Third World, and therefore with the diseases to be found there. What would happen, he wonders, if terrorists, with or without the support of governments like Iraq's, tried to use diseases as biological weapons against America? How would they do it? Is it really possible? Dr. Hatfill has thought carefully about bio- terrorism. He made some intriguing points. To wit: There exist at least four reasonably distinct levels of possible biological attack. The first is the B'nai B'rith variety, in which no real organisms are used. ("Hello. This is Abdul. We have put anthrax in the food at Throckmorton Middle School." In fact, Abdul hasn't.) We empty public buildings for bomb threats. How about for anthrax threats? After all, sooner or later one might be real.

The second level consists in the release of real bacteria or viruses, but without the intention of infecting many people. For example, a bad guy might spray plague bacteria around the men's room in the World Trade Center. Probably only a few people would get it, and perhaps none would die - but it would take only one plague case to shut down the entire building, especially if the bug had been sprayed on several floors. Then the call comes: "Let our man loose, or we'll do a school."

The third level consists in trying to get a lot of people sick, and maybe dead, but not necessarily to start a self- sustaining epidemic. Anthrax spores put into the ventilation system of a movie theater would do the trick. The result would be horrendous panic even if only 100 people got sick or died. After all, if it worked in a theater, what public place would be safe? The fourth level consists of a self-sustaining, unstoppable epidemic sweeping the nation. While that idea makes good copy, it isn't likely.

Most serious diseases are containable or self-limiting. Some have to be transmitted by contact, which can be prevented. Others are spread by coughing, but most don't last long outside the body, and so on. The important point is that you don't need a raging epidemic to paralyze a city. Remember B'nai B'rith. Dr. Hatfill points out that the comparatively high quality of American medical facilities doesn't necessarily provide protection against even a smallish outbreak of nasty diseases.

The first patients would get excellent care in the small number of places that are set up to handle such diseases. The ensuing wave of very sick people would swamp the system. They would not get good care. How hard, really, would it be to carry out a bio-attack? Not very, Dr. Hatfill says. Culturing bacteria is easy and almost universally understood. Getting the culture past customs would be no problem. You could almost certainly just carry it in a small bottle in your pocket. Dr. Hatfill, who is familiar with such things, showed me how to culture bacteria with supplies that can be bought at Safeway.

A bright high-school student could manage it. For that matter, nasty bugs indeed can be found wild within the United States in certain animal populations that don't transmit them to humanity. Since this isn't a school for terrorists, I'll let it go at that. And, Dr. Hatfill says, spending on public health has been diverted from prevention and control of epidemics to such things as discovering why certain groups commit suicide more often than others. Rates of vaccination are down, he says. Some extraordinarily unpleasant bugs are out there. Some are old ones traveling by the most dangerous disease vector known - a Boeing 747. People here do not have the natural resistance to these diseases that people who live in their regions of origin have. Others are emerging diseases about which little is known. The United States is, he believes, becoming more, not less, vulnerable to such pathogens. Few police, in fact few people of any kind, are prepared to deal with bio-terrorism. Something to think about, no?

13 posted on 06/28/2002 9:12:14 AM PDT by freeperfromnj
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies ]


To: freeperfromnj
Thanks for the info. After reading your post and the excellent info available on this elsewhere on FR, it looks less likely that this guy is a bad guy. He has an interesting background (and/or an exagerated resume), but that is to be expected from someone in his line of work.

One possibility is simply that the FBI has trampled on his reputation as a way to get Daschle and Barbara Rosenberg off the FBI's back.

After looking over the currently available info, I still believe the FBI knows the source full well: Iraq. Since admitting this would mean immediate war, they are waiting for the right time to come clean.

27 posted on 06/28/2002 11:53:36 AM PDT by EternalHope
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson