Free Republic

The postal system, including the branches that serve government offices, remains vulnerable to mailings of ricin and other poisons despite efforts to improve security since the anthrax attacks of 2001, government investigators and other experts said yesterday. Even so, they said that in contrast to the hazards of infectious agents like anthrax, the risk posed by these other substances was more a matter of disruption than of mortal danger. Many experts consider the public health risk posed by a mailed poison much smaller than that from a mailed germ, particularly the easily lofted spores of anthrax, which can multiply explosively...

<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) --A Department of Homeland Security advisory issued Thursday warns that al Qaeda is working on plans to hijack airliners flying between international points that pass near or over the continental United States.</p> <p>A Department of Homeland Security official said most of the flights fitting this description originate in Canada, and that U.S. officials have been working with Canada over the past month to ensure it is improving screening and other security measures.</p>

The FBI is warning that terrorists might try to poison food or water supplies, and senior bureau officials said al-Qaeda was determined to attack Americans at home even though the organisation appears to have a relatively small US presence. The FBI has not detected any individuals or cells actively planning attacks such as those almost two years ago that killed some 3000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. Most al-Qaeda operatives in the US provide logistical support such as travel documents, recruitment and fund raising, Larry Mefford, the FBI's chief counterterrorism official, said today. "My view is, it's very...