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| Terror Networks & Islam |
| Technical hurdles the main obstacle between Binny and biowarfare |
| 2004-12-30 |
| Hoping to hasten the doomsday their leader foretold, scientists who were members of Japan's Aum Shinrikyo cult brewed batches of anthrax in the early 1990s and released it from an office building and out the back of trucks upwind of the Imperial Palace. But the wet mixture kept clogging the sprayers the Aum Shinrikyo scientists had rigged up, and, unbeknown to them, the strains of anthrax they had ordered from a commercial firm posed no danger to anyone. Frustrated by their failure at biowarfare, they turned to a less arduous method of mass killing -- chemical attack -- and in 1995 killed 12 Tokyo subway riders by releasing sarin gas in the tunnels. The cult's experiences demonstrate just a few of the myriad technical obstacles that terrorists who might try to manufacture biological weapons could face, problems that would confound even skilled scientists who tried to help them, biological warfare experts say. Locating virulent anthrax specimens with which to brew an attack-size batch would be difficult given the medical community's caution about suspicious buyers. Smallpox could be next to impossible to obtain because it is thought to exist in only two secure sites, in Russia and in the United States. Creating aerosolized microbes also requires expertise in many arcane scientific disciplines, such as culturing and propagating germs that retain their virulence and "weaponizing" them so they float like a gas and enter the lungs easily. But specialists also say it is all but inevitable that al Qaeda or another terrorist group will gain the expertise to launch small-scale biological attacks and eventually inflict mass casualties. Information on the mechanics of creating bioweapons is easily accessible on the Internet and in technical manuals, and the equipment to do the job is readily found. Many brew pubs, for example, have fermenters that can cook up deadly germs. Advances in bioscience, and the rapid dissemination of this knowledge worldwide, are making it easier for even undergraduates to create dangerous pathogens. Creating microbe weapons is more challenging than producing the simplest implements of terrorism -- conventional explosives or chemical weapons -- but much less difficult than the most technically daunting -- nuclear weapons -- experts say. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #4 Well, this Whopper is history. Thanks Frank! |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-12-30 10:50:53 AM |
| #3 agreed that a successful attack would be horrendous, but you actually have greater risk from food handlers not washing their hands after using the restroom. E Coli - is not your friend |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-12-30 10:09:19 AM |
| #2 Biowar is terribly misunderstood, and just not cost effective when directed against people. It has so many downsides and drawbacks that it just isn't worth it, compared to more conventional attacks. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2004-12-30 9:59:32 AM |
| #1 You know, All these reports abt. binny and bioweapons has me convinced of one thing- It is extremely unlikely. First of all, the technical skill to produce and deploy is hard. Very hard for these guys. Its easier, and has a higher likelyhood of sucess to brew up some nitro-urea and rent a ryder truck... Secondly, (talking thru hat here) when you get right down to it, bioweapons aren't all that effective. Scary as hell, yes. Able to cause Hausfraus and beurocrats to keel over from fright, yes. But actual mass casualty generators, no. As the anthrax attacks after 9/11 demo'd, you arent likely to kill lots o' people. (BTW, I wonder how the FBI investigation is going? is it filed under cold cases yet?) As an additional consideration, all the scare mongering abt Smallpox ignores one little fact-- we are much more capapble of handling disease outbreak than we were in 1918. Public health measures are much improved, and persional medical care will greatly increase survival rates. Lastly, I would suggest that anyting put out by anyone associated in any way with the CIA be taken with several spoonfulls of salt, if past performance is any guide. |
| Posted by: N Guard 2004-12-30 9:59:23 AM |