Word: anthrax
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...lungs and cause large, painful blisters to form on his face and body. Only a tiny drop of the nerve gas Tabun will make a stricken combatant twitch and convulse; then his lungs will fill with liquid, and his diaphragm will collapse, causing suffocation. A dose of inhaled anthrax spores will bring on hemorrhaging, then shock and very likely death...
...that occurs, his troops would almost certainly let fly with shells loaded with chemical weapons -- mustard gas that sears and blisters, nerve agents that cause death in minutes, or even biological killers like anthrax and botulism. Experts still argue whether Iraq has biological warheads for its bombs or shells, but thousands of chemical weapons have been stored along the front in Iraq and Kuwait...
Biological agents could be a different problem. Iraq is believed to possess some of them, including typhoid, cholera and botulin toxin. In open air, most of those die within hours. So does anthrax, an infectious, spore-forming bacterium that Saddam is also believed to possess. But if spores of anthrax penetrate the ground, they can survive in a dormant state for decades, waiting for new victims...
...become infected. He would be more likely to launch germ attacks against specific targets, such as airfields, command centers and ships, or against civilian populations in an attempt to cripple oil production. Even then, the Iraqi leader would need to choose his weapon carefully. Some hardy microbes, such as anthrax and plague, can infect an area for years, which would make it dangerous for Iraq's troops to move into a territory that had been captured with the help of germ warfare...
...confined to the Middle East; they would hit targets in Europe, Japan and the U.S. Nor would the terrorists confine themselves to the classic means of bomb and bullet; they too might resort to biological warfare. Some analysts conjure up nightmare visions of a light plane scattering anthrax powder around the Washington area...