Panel Says: Biological Terror Attack on U.S. Likely by 2013

[J_UNTITLED]

From Yahoo! News (The Associated Press)

"The United States can expect a terrorist attack using nuclear or more likely biological weapons before 2013, reports a bipartisan commission in a study being briefed Tuesday to Vice President-elect Joe Biden. It suggests the Obama administration bolster efforts to counter and prepare for germ warfare by terrorists.

"Our margin of safety is shrinking, not growing," states the report, obtained by The Associated Press. It is scheduled to be publicly released Wednesday.

The commission is also encouraging the new White House to appoint one official on the National Security Council to exclusively coordinate U.S. intelligence and foreign policy on combating the spread of nuclear and biological weapons.

The report of the Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism, led by former Sens. Bob Graham of Florida and Jim Talent of Missouri, acknowledges that terrorist groups still lack the needed scientific and technical ability to make weapons out of pathogens or nuclear bombs. But it warns that gap can be easily overcome, if terrorists find scientists willing to share or sell their know-how.

"The United States should be less concerned that terrorists will become biologists and far more concerned that biologists will become terrorists," the report states.

The commission believes biological weapons are more likely to be obtained and used before nuclear or radioactive weapons because nuclear facilities are more carefully guarded. Civilian laboratories with potentially dangerous pathogens abound, however, and could easily be compromised.

"The biological threat is greater than the nuclear; the acquisition of deadly pathogens, and their weaponization and dissemination in aerosol form, would entail fewer technical hurdles than the theft or production of weapons-grade uranium or plutonium and its assembly into an improvised nuclear device," states the report.

It notes that the U.S. government's counterproliferation activities have been geared toward preventing nuclear terrorism. The commission recommends the prevention of biological terrorism be made a higher priority.

Study chairman Graham said anthrax remains the most likely biological weapon. However, he told the AP that contagious diseases — like the flu strain that killed 40 million at the beginning of the 20th century — are looming threats. That virus has been recreated in scientific labs, and there remains no inoculation to protect against it if is stolen and released.

Graham said the threat of a terrorist attack using nuclear or biological weapons is growing "not because we have not done positive things but because adversaries are moving at an even faster pace to increase their access" to those materials.

He noted last week's rampage by a small group of gunmen in Mumbai.

"If those people had had access to a biological or nuclear weapon they would have multiplied by orders of magnitude the deaths they could have inflicted," he said.

Al-Qaida remains the only terrorist group judged to be actively intent on conducting a nuclear attack against the United States, the report notes. It is not yet capable of building such a weapon and has yet to obtain one. But that could change if a nuclear weapons engineer or scientist were recruited to al-Qaida's cause, the report warns.

The report says the potential nexus of terrorism, nuclear and biological weapons is especially acute in Pakistan.

"Were one to map terrorism and weapons of mass destruction today, all roads would intersect in Pakistan," the report states.

In fact, commission members were forced to cancel their trip to Pakistan this fall. The Islamabad Marriott Hotel that commission members were to stay in was blown up by terrorist bombs just hours before they were to check in.

"We think time is not our ally. The (United States) needs to move with a sense of urgency," Graham said."

[quexos]

Is it the same panel of experts that said there was WMD in Iraq ?

There shoudn't be the need of a panel of experts to say that dangerous materials of whatever type should be off-limits to the masses and well guarded because it is obvious. Explosives, guns, biological agents etc ... should all be off-limits to the public. In some countries it is common sense, but not in others.

[DetroitSportsFan]

By 2013 huh?

[ground chuck]

why is pakistan still on the map, oopps did i just type that.

[dpomp]

Originally Posted by quexos

Is it the same panel of experts that said there was WMD in Iraq ?

There shoudn't be the need of a panel of experts to say that dangerous materials of whatever type should be off-limits to the masses and well guarded because it is obvious. Explosives, guns, biological agents etc ... should all be off-limits to the public. In some countries it is common sense, but not in others.

i grow sick of your hidden anti american CRAP. at first i didn't mind and actually agree with some stuff you say but you keep getting worse and worse.

look biological attacks are real. these "panels" don't just sit around and make stuff up. they use intel provided by troops on the ground and other resources. if the word likely is used, it's wise to listen up. i believe the word likely was used pre-911 and everyone acted the same way. look what happened. i for one as an american, and as an inhabitant of the earth hope i never see biological warfare. thats about as close to an apocolyptic world as you can get.

[camper]

Originally Posted by dpompeo

i grow sick of your hidden anti american CRAP.

You're kidding, right? You really think it's ever been hidden?

And as for the bio-stuff, yeah...that's some nasty crap. I'm also still wondering what happened to those briefcase nukes Russia "lost" back in the late '90s, early '00.

camper

[dpomp]

Originally Posted by camper

You're kidding, right? You really think it's ever been hidden?

he (or she) always trys to hide it by saying little things like "well the rest of the world does something good unlike another country i know". and then when someone confronts him about it, he's like "i have nothing against america i swear!" or "i wasn't talking about america i was talking about some other country"

[stockstar1138]

lulz, world ends in 2012 anyways.

[camper]

Originally Posted by dpompeo

he (or she) always trys to hide it by saying little things like "well the rest of the world does something good unlike another country i know". and then when someone confronts him about it, he's like "i have nothing against america i swear!" or "i wasn't talking about america i was talking about some other country"

Maybe I'm just reading the wrong threads then, because if something was ever a veiled comment then the veil was exceptionally thin.

camper

[fighthefutureofhd]

a panel says it so it must be true. time to board up the windows, hide the valuables, put on our tin foil hats, grab the duct tape, and hunker down in the basement/bomb shelter.

[My_Two_Cents]

Originally Posted by dpompeo

he (or she) always trys to hide it by saying little things like "well the rest of the world does something good unlike another country i know". and then when someone confronts him about it, he's like "i have nothing against america i swear!" or "i wasn't talking about america i was talking about some other country"

That's because the last time he/she was blatently ripping on the US, he was banned for a month.

[My_Two_Cents]

Originally Posted by quexos

Is it the same panel of experts that said there was WMD in Iraq ?

There shoudn't be the need of a panel of experts to say that dangerous materials of whatever type should be off-limits to the masses and well guarded because it is obvious. Explosives, guns, biological agents etc ... should all be off-limits to the public. In some countries it is common sense, but not in others.

There you go again with your (now subtle) anti-American crap. You know, a lot of us get real sick of it. It's obvious from a lot of your posts that you are a sad, lonely individual looking for whatever attention you can get, but for Christ's sake, find something meaningful to do with your life bsides knocking the US every chance you get. I'm starting to think it's more jealousy than anything....

[Deadset]

Originally Posted by quexos

Is it the same panel of experts that said there was WMD in Iraq ?

There shoudn't be the need of a panel of experts to say that dangerous materials of whatever type should be off-limits to the masses and well guarded because it is obvious. Explosives, guns, biological agents etc ... should all be off-limits to the public. In some countries it is common sense, but not in others.

Count in another that tires of you anti-US sentiments. How many times are you going to bash the US? Jealous? Do you see anyone from the US openly bashing Belgium? Get over it and take it to a political board. Though I take with a grain of salt...coming from a self proclaimed dropout who is unemployed living off of country assistance...

"Were one to map terrorism and weapons of mass destruction today, all roads would intersect in Pakistan," the report states.

Now just point, aim and shoot.

[mikejet]

Anyone who wants to know why all these Middle-Eastern countries hate us need to watch Charlie Wilson's War.

[My_Two_Cents]

Originally Posted by mikejet

Anyone who wants to know why all these Middle-Eastern countries hate us need to watch Charlie Wilson's War.

They hate us because we are not like them. Plain and simple. It is pure religious/cultural racism, nothing more.

[mikejet]

Originally Posted by Ricshoe

They hate us because we are not like them. Plain and simple. It is pure religious/cultural racism, nothing more.

It's not that simple. The US had excellent relations with Iran before. Also with most of the Middle East. The Cold War changed all of that.

[Uniquely]

Originally Posted by Ricshoe

They hate us because we are not like them. Plain and simple. It is pure religious/cultural racism, nothing more.

Ohs noes....... they hate us for our freedom.

There's a a lot more to it than just culture and race. Quite a bit of it stems from when we provided military forces to assist Israel in creating their homeland.

Imagine Tibetan monks decided that Ohio was their right and proper homeland given to them by their God, and the U.N agreed that was the case and said go ahead....... you can have Ohio. Then, surpisingly Ohioans didn't want to leave Ohio so the Tibetan monks got the Chinese military to help them forcibly remove the Ohioans so that they could set up house...... well.... I think that many Americans would be quite resentful, angry and indeed very violent about it for decades as well.

Not saying they are right or moral, but ignoring the history behind much of the trouble and attributing it soley to cultural differences will never help resolve the situation.

[mikejet]

Originally Posted by robinandtami

Ohs noes....... they hate us for our freedom.

There's a a lot more to it than just culture and race. Quite a bit of it stems from when we provided military forces to assist Israel in creating their homeland.

Imagine Tibetan monks decided that Ohio was their right and proper homeland given to them by their God, and the U.N agreed that was the case and said go ahead....... you can have Ohio. Then, surpisingly Ohioans didn't want to leave Ohio so the Tibetan monks got the Chinese military to help them forcibly remove the Ohioans so that they could set up house...... well.... I think that many Americans would be quite resentful, angry and indeed very violent about it for decades as well.

Not saying they are right or moral, but ignoring the history behind much of the trouble and attributing it soley to cultural differences will never help resolve the situation.

Plus the fact that we ignored Afghanistan after their war with Russia. We supplied them with everything they needed to fight, nothing they needed to rebuild. It's part of the resentment that lead to 9/11. In a way, our constant involvement in Iraq is this administration tryign to make up for it's past errors.

Before we would just fight then leave and not look back. this made people angry. Now we are trying to fight and help fix and people are angry again. I fully understand the reasons for wanting to stay in iraq but don't support them.