Once again, I must qualify: read this thing carefully. George is not saying that there's no threat. As he points out, the attack in the Japanese subway shows that chemical and biological agents are serious hazards.

But the risk is being overstated and is needlessly frightening a lot of people. Don't miss this line in particular:

While Mohamed Atta's attempts to get involved with crop dusting could conceivably point toward a secondary-attack method, they could just as well show that the terrorists found those objectives more dangerous, and with less potential for a big payoff, than kamikaze hijacking.

Some people are screaming that the bios and chems are "poor men's nukes." In truth, they're very difficult (and dangerous) to build in a basement or garage.

Actually, this is one reason (of many) why the United States lost interest in them and concentrated on nukes. Too dangerous, too labor-intensive, and too little "yield" (that's MilSpeak for "number of people killed") for the hassle and effort.

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0140/smith.php

-- Anonymous, October 11, 2001

Answers

For 'zample, there was a guy on Fox News the other morning talking about poisoning water supplies. Do you realize how many mega-gallons of stuff it would take to poison the water supply for even a modest-sized village?

Given our higher state of alert, doesn't it strike you as unlikely that someone would be permitted to drive a TANKER TRUCK up to the local H2O facility and start dumping tons of goo into the water?

Doesn't mean it CAN'T happen and that we should take no precautions; of course we should. But people are being scared needlessly.

I'd be far more worried about suicide bombers, myself.

-- Anonymous, October 11, 2001

Oral Cipro now on back order in all strengths. Pity. Excellent antibiotic now uselessly comforting the frightened. Flip side of Y2K for me.

-- Anonymous, October 11, 2001

Not only that, Carlos, but if they take it constantly ("chronically" and "prophylactically," I believe are the medical terms[g]), they could even develop a superinfection from resistant strains.

Antibiotics aren't intended to be taken like Tylenol.

-- Anonymous, October 11, 2001

Wish antibiotic overuse only affected those that do it Stephen. It's a community deal. The sea of pathogens we live in are shared by all with those in hospitals in the worst of the soup. What's saddest here is that floxins are a fairly new weapon being squirreled and swallowed while several older antibiotics are equally effective against anthrax. Worst of both worlds. Fishing with your best bait in a pond of dummies.

-- Anonymous, October 11, 2001

LOOK WHO HAS RETURNED FROM Y2K LIMBO TO SAVE YOU ALL:

http://www.y2kwomen.com/bioterrorism.html

	Karen Anderson's Y2K Women Today Information for Women on Living Life Simply, Safely and Securely in the Year 2000 and Beyond
Especially For Women

Y2K Women Today -- A Letter from the Publisher of The Bio-Terrorism Manual

Recommendation from Dear Karen Issue #96: Bio-Terrorism: "Secrets for Surviving the Coming Terrorist Germ Warfare Attack on US Cities" by Duncan Long. I have arranged for you to get a discounted price of $47, plus $3.95 s&h (mention you heard about this from "Dear Karen..." and your confirmation number is B-DK-1 to get the discount price). Order information at the bottom. General Singlaub says: "Prepare for additional terror attacks, including biological (germ warfare) and chemical in the weeks directly ahead"... Excerpt: Gen. Jack Singlaub, the former U.S. supreme commander of all U.S. forces in Korea, told NewsMax that additional, more significant attacks against the U.S. could take place in the next several weeks. He warned that an escalation of terror which might follow such an elaborate scheme as we have already seen unfold might include the use of chemical or biological weapons of mass destruction. General Singlaub said that he shared the views of NewsMax national security consultant, Col. Stanislav Lunev, who has also issued a similar warning. "This is my view," he said,"There is a possibility of a biological or chemical attack. The view that additional attacks are likely is shared by the U.S. government. Fox News reported last evening that "lawmakers were told in classified briefings that additional attacks are 'possible if not probable' and they should not assume a false sense of security. This message has been conveyed with a very deliberate and serious level of magnitude." "This is really war, Gen. Singlaub told NewsMax.com. Singlaub himself witnessed the fireball explosion at the Pentagon, he lives just a quarter-mile from the military complex.   Do you know why the U.S. government is quietly stockpiling a powerful new antibiotic drug called cipro, which happens to be the best known medical antidote for anthrax? Do you know why all U.S. military servicemen are now rapidly being vaccinated against anthrax? Although the federal government won't publicly admit it, privately top government officials acknowledge they are expecting a series of devastating terrorist biological attacks against U.S. cities that could result in literally tens of millions of deaths in a matter of days! As U.S. Army Colonel David Franz recently told Diane Sawyer and Sam Donaldson on ABC's PrimeTime, "The likelihood of a biological attack in the U.S. is now extremely high." And as Dr. Michael Osterholm, chief of disease epidemiology at the Minnesota Department of Public Health also told PrimeTime, "I can tell you it is not a matter of IF this will occur. It's a matter WHEN...and how much panic and how much death are we willing to accept at the time that it occurs...It will be the closest thing to a living hell that I could imagine." Attorney General John Ashcroft has now confirmed that the U.S. government is preparing officials in 120 major U.S. cities for the coming attacks. "We are now in the process of completing training and exercises for the nation's largest 120 cities under the Domestic Preparedness Program," he testified during the recent Senate hearings on terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. Unfortunately, in all of the government's preparations, there is not one program for teaching American citizens how to survive these devastating terrorist germ warfare attacks! The federal government is merely teaching selected agencies within each of these 120 cities how to handle the horrible aftermath of such an attack, including how to clean up the dead and dying ... how to seize control of key industries and utilities...how to limit panic and enforce public curfews...etc.! Why the Federal Government Is Afraid to Let You Know the Truth... Government experts claim there is not much they can do to give average American citizens the skills they will need to survive the coming terrorist germ warfare attacks against U.S. cities. According to FBI Supervisory Special Agent Steve Barry, "It's not that we want to withhold information. But there is no 'one size' fits all solution. We don't want people reacting to a blueprint that doesn't fit every situation." But former UN nuclear weapons inspector David Kay - an outspoken opponent of those who feel the American public cannot be taught how to survive the coming attacks - vehemently disagrees with the FBI's assessment. He recently stated, "Politicians haven't gotten on board yet to warn the public...This is shameful, considering the fact that there are a number of simple steps that can be taken by civilians to limit their exposure and

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2001