Countering Terrorism

Countering Terrorism
There are currently more than 1500 terrorist
organizations and groups being monitored in the United
States. Terrorists by definition kill people and
destroy property in order to advance a political
agenda. We must make every effort to protect American
citizens from these attacks. In the future that will
require both state of the art measures to monitor
terrorist activities and the movement of materials
used for these activities, but also response scenarios
in the event of an actual incident. The United States
has consistently set a good example of no negotiations
with terrorists and attempting to bring alleged
terrorists to trial. We need to support humanitarian,
political, and educational efforts to decrease the
incidence of terrorism across the world. That includes
measures to eliminate the production and deployment of
nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. We need to
maintain a high level of vigilance to protect the
security of the United States.

The FBI is the lead agency in the the fight against
terrorism. This FBI has been very effective in
coordinating the efforts of other agencies. They have
been successful in finding the perpetrators of
terrorist activity and preventing many terrorist
incidents. The problem is that no federal agency can
be expected to find all of the terrorists, before they
commit violent crimes. The bombing incidents at the
World Trade Center and Oklahoma City are two examples.

In both of these incidents, conventional explosives
technology was used to kill people and destroy
property. There are current efforts coordinated by the
FBI to obtain intelligence on the groups that would
use these methods and intercept them before the
incidents occur. These incidents will continue to
require concerted efforts by national and
international law enforcement agencies. But there are
possible incidents that could lead to greater loss of
life. Those incidents would occur if terrorists used
biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons.

Bioterrorism
Bioterrorism is using biological warfare agents to
commit terrorist crimes. There are various estimates
of the effects of terrorists releasing various
biological weapons on an unsuspecting population. The
Johns Hopkins University Center for Civilian
Biodefense suggest that the three most likely
biological agents that could be used include smallpox,
anthrax, and plague. There are several other bacteria,
viruses, and biological toxins that are also
considered candidates for biological warfare or
terrorism. On October 1, 1999 Dr. Kanatjan Alibekov, a
former Soviet military officer who was second in
command of their biological weapons division appeared
on ABC News Prime Time Live. He had defected from the
Soviet Union in 1992. He wrote a classified report at
that time that this program had produced hundreds of
tons of anthrax and several tons of small pox virus
and plague bacteria. He said that the Russians were
continuing to actively work on biological weapons.

This allegation was subsequently denied by Russian
officials. The most significant threat from biological
weapons currently has to do with the security of the
Russian supply of these materials. Because these
weapons are inexpensive to produce and deploy there
are concerns that they may be the agents of choice for
some states that sponsor terrorist activity. The World
Health Organization has estimated the lethality of
these weapons. The lethality of smallpox, anthrax, and
plague are given in the table below:
Agent
Case Fatality Rate
Treatment and Prevention
Smallpox
30%
Vaccination
Anthrax
80%
Vaccination, Antibiotics
Plague
50%
Vaccination, Antibiotics
The Working Group on Civilian Biodefense has concluded
that of the total number of known biological agents
only a few would be suitable as weapons of mass
destruction. Various estimates about the lethality of
these agents are available. A 1993 report by the
Congressional Office of Technology Assessment
estimates that an aircraft release of 50 pounds of
anthrax spores over a large metropolitan area would
result in 130,000 to 3 million deaths. This is the
same magnitude of the expected casualties expected in
a nuclear attack. The main problem in the case of a
biological weapon attack is recognition of the illness
and taking the appropriate treatment measures. Some of
the symptom presentations are difficult to figure out,
and any delay in diagnosis can lead to further poor
outcomes and further spread of the illness. If the
attack is not announced, the only early sign may be a
large increase in serious respiratory disease in a
community.

Nuclear Terrorism
Nuclear terrorism is a consequence of nuclear
proliferation and advanced technology. As early as
1980, the Soviet Union and the United States produced
working suitcase sized nuclear weapons that could be
used for the purpose of terrorism. The United States
subsequently disposed of these weapons. Dr. Alexie
Yablokov gave testimony to the Research and
Development Subcommittee in 1997 and asserted that
these suitcase bombs exist and that many were
unaccounted for. The Committee Chairman,
Representative Curt Weldon said that in other contacts
as many as 132 of these devices were built in Russia
and that