Cruise Ship Terrorism?

NewsMax ^ | 12/03/02 | Christopher Ruddy

[Heartlander2]

Cruise Ship Terrorism? Terrorism can't be behind the spate of cruise ship virus outbreaks.

Nope. Impossible. That's the verdict of our officials in Washington.

"There's nothing that we've seen thus far to suggest this is any sort of bioterrorism," Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the AP. "Though it's not common that we see these outbreaks of this sort of magnitude, it's certainly not unheard of."

What's their proof?

They have none, really. Just their guess.

Last week I spoke with a very prominent Washington journalist, who suggested the cruise ship outbreaks may be a dry run by terrorists before they use more deadly viruses.

His surmise was made before another two ships, including Carnival's Fascination, returned to port carrying as many as 170 ill passengers.

The passengers on Fascination were hit with the Norwalk virus, a gastrointestinal virus that has been around for decades. But it has never seemed to target cruise ships as it has in the past several weeks.

So far, more than 1,000 passengers have been stricken by the virus while on cruise ships.

Holland America's The Amsterdam ship was struck several times with the virus. Decontamination has not seemed to work.

Disney has spent millions on its ship, the Magic, hoping to decontaminate it once and for all.

So far three ships have been hit hard (apparently others have had smaller outbreaks). All three ships were operated by different cruise lines and all sailed from different ports.

Still, the feds are firm in their conclusion. The Miami Herald reported that "CDC officials have said there is no evidence that the cruise ship outbreaks are the work of terrorists."

Still, they don't have any evidence that it isn't.

Let's not forget that this is the same CDC that that has yet to say boo about the West Nile virus, though scads of evidence points to terrorism.

Dr. Ken Alibek, former head of the Russian bioweapons program, thinks so. And so does Sen. Patrick Leahy, who recently said credible evidence points to West Nile as a test of our defenses to bioterrorism.

Sad to say, the American public is the last to know. The media won't carry any discussion of West Nile as a bioweapon. They practically censored any discussion of the snipers being Muslim terrorists. And now the cruise ship outbreaks.

Now is neither the time for censorship of important matter nor the time for hysteria. While we shouldn't jump to any conclusions about the Norwalk outbreaks, we should not immediately exclude terrorism.

How about keeping an open mind, following the evidence, asking good questions. Even if it isn't terrorism, why not use these outbreaks as a test to see what we can learn from them.

[NEWwoman]

Yes, it seems to resemble Legionnaire's Disease. Except it happened on two different ships. But it's possible each ship has the same problem.

[cmsgop]

Holland American's service staff is hired specifically from Indonesia and Malaysia, countries with predominantly Muslim populations. It only takes one.

How Comforting, A family member leaves tommorow on a Holland America Ship........Ekk!!!!

[ErnBatavia]

Giving people the "Squirts" isn't much in the way of terrorism IMO....besides, this sort of thing has gone on for years with cruise liners.

[livius]

I don't think it's terrorism, but there may be one or more "Typhoid Mary" types out there - that is, infected people who go from one cruise ship to another, meet other cruise ship passengers in port, etc. (I don't know where these ships docked.)

Also, folks, remember what your mother told you: wash your hands! A simple measure that saved many lives when it was discovered in the 19th century.

[tracer]

Thanks for the info. Nothing yet in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Are you, too, in the public health business??

[tracer]

Bingo!!

[Lokibob]

No, but I slept in a Holiday Inn Express last night. LOL

[John Jamieson]

Would could a couple of terrorists do with a rented high wing plane and a couple of automatic guns over a major airport with 500 planes loaded with fuel and most with passengers? Airport strafing would be cheap and easy. Terrorists version of a C130 gunship. They'd probably get away too.

[TomB]

I can't imagine Osama or Saddam targeting a cruise ship with a "FLU LIKE" virus. They would use smallpox or something much bigger.

Finally a voice of sanity.

Yes, Osama is to blame. In a year and a half he's gone from driving planes full of people into buildings full of people to ruining people's vacations.

Oh the humanity!

[NEWwoman]

Giving people the "Squirts"

Haven't heard that expression before now. But its so descriptive without being 288 (too gross).

P.S. You make a lot of sense.

[lelio]

In a year and a half he's gone from driving planes full of people into buildings full of people to ruining people's vacations
What OBL and his ilk want to do is to spread fear, and what's more likely to strike fear into people: another airplane attack (not likely to happen again) or to spread a mysterious disease that no one knows how it got there.
Plus this operation involves paying off a handful of shiphands that make $5-10/hr. Give them a canister of the disease in a liquid and tell them to walk around the ship, spraying it like perfume. Operation costs maybe $10k total.
However it doesn't get that much of a bang and that's one of the reasons I doubt if al-Qaeda is involved. Why play around and get the US more angry at you?

[TomB]

What OBL and his ilk want to do is to spread fear, and what's more likely to strike fear into people: another airplane attack (not likely to happen again) or to spread a mysterious disease that no one knows how it got there.

Well, with the exception of this thread, there doesn't seem to be alot of fear, only ruined vacations.

Sorry, no dice.

[ErnBatavia]

Haven't heard that expression before now. But its so descriptive without being 288 (too gross).

Believe it or not, that term was the 'restrained and abbreviated' one.....insert before it the name of a Pennsylvania town known for it's confections and you've got the whole package!

[NEWwoman]

LOL!

[woofie]

bump

[lelio]

there doesn't seem to be alot of fear, only ruined vacations
ruined vacations which turn people off to cruises, which mean less revenue in the future, etc. Not to mention the potential class action lawsuits.
While it might not be AQ, I believe it is intentional as multiple ships have had incidents.

[Yankee]

Osama?

I doubt it.

More like International Communists to give folks the Trotskys.

Have these ships visited the same foreign ports along their routes?

The article only states that the cruises originated from different ports.

Also, I wonder if the various cruise lines purchased stores and provisions from a common source.

[Stone Mountain]

Still, they don't have any evidence that it isn't.

Absolutely terrible logic here. You can't prove a negative.

[Caipirabob]

How Comforting, A family member leaves tommorow on a Holland America Ship........Ekk!!!!

Actually it's my favorite cruiseline. They simply have the best service hands down. Still there were people who I could easily pick out as Muslims among them.

[Caipirabob]

How Comforting, A family member leaves tommorow on a Holland America Ship........Ekk!!!!

Actually it's my favorite cruiseline. They simply have the best service hands down. Still there were people who I could easily pick out as Muslims among them.