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2005-09-26 Home Front: Tech

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Posted by Anonymoose 2005-09-26 09:54|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Define bulk, define small quantities.

Remember in the anthrax terrorist attack in 2001, among the suspects were college/university vet activities which were given small amounts for research. The stuff is maintained for obvious studies and research in medical protection of humans and animals. Something missing here in this report, guess what and why. Once again Pravda circa the 21st century at work.

Posted by Charong Speath5297 2005-09-26 11:07|| 2005-09-26 11:07|| Front Page Top

#2 non-virulent strain of anthrax

I must be missing something, why a "Non-Virulent" strain, what good is a non-poisionous poison?

Posted by Redneck Jim 2005-09-26 11:11|| 2005-09-26 11:11|| Front Page Top

#3 I would hazard to guess a few things. First being that the Army has been instructed to figure out how anthrax would and could be dispersed as a terrorist weapon. While anthrax is particularly nasty and persistent, it just doesn't disperse as easily as it should.

For example, the 1979 "Sverdlovsk Incident", resulted in almost a liter of spores being blown into the air, upwind of a city of 2M people. But less than 100 people died of the disease. The Russians still had to decontaminate the hell out of the city, but it really put a crimp into the reputation of anthrax as a bioweapon.

While the US Army is aware of this, and that anthrax is endemic throughout the entire US South, from Florida to California, and deep into Mexico, our civilian leaders are probably not so familiar with it. So the Army just shrugs and looks at it as an opportunity to learn something that may be applicable to something else someday.

As far as potential lethality goes, anthrax is nothing compared to influenza, which routinely kills between 30,000 and 50,000 Americans every flu season.

Posted by Anonymoose 2005-09-26 11:46|| 2005-09-26 11:46|| Front Page Top

#4 "It raises a serious question over how the US is going to demonstrate its compliance with obligations under the Biological Weapons Convention if it brings these tanks online," says Alan Pearson, programme director for biological and chemical weapons at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation in Washington DC.

Bitching about the U.S. always comes easy, but what about the ticking time bomb on Vozrozhdeniya Island in the Aral Sea area of the old Soviet Union? How about doing something substantial about THAT real problem, instead of moaning about some perceived problem with our military?

We've largely abided by the treaties we've signed on to, unlike others...

Posted by Bomb-a-rama 2005-09-26 12:37|| 2005-09-26 12:37|| Front Page Top

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