Word: weaponed
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...good idea for the U.S. to begin vaccinating all Americans again? Though it could neutralize one major bioterrorist weapon, there are strong arguments against it. The shots themselves carry risks. Historically, for about two out of every 1 million people inoculated, the vaccine's weak virus strain caused brain infection and death; others developed a mild but still unpleasant poxlike viral infection. More worrisome is the fact that the number of people most vulnerable to these adverse effects--those with compromised immune systems, such as patients in chemotherapy or with AIDS--has increased considerably since the last mass inoculations. Most...
...technical answer is that the threat is still considered to be remote; there is no hard evidence that any terrorist group, including bin Laden's, has a finished nuclear weapon in its arsenal. But not long ago, anthrax seemed a distant threat. And it is possible for the bad guys to assemble an atom bomb with contraband uranium and off-the-shelf parts. "It's not particularly probable, but it's possible,'" says Anthony Cordesman, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "The difficulty is that we are dealing with a wide range...
...would take about a year to complete the job. "There's little question that the only remaining obstacle is the acquisition of the material," says Paul Leventhal, the institute's president. Less than 110 kg of active ingredients could yield 10 kilotons of explosive power--a Hiroshima-size weapon. Even if the terrorists didn't get the recipe quite right, a 1-kiloton yield could still devastate a city. And forget the suitcase: a truck will do, or a container ship to float the bomb into an American port...
...tank plinking" of the Gulf War): special forces plan to pick off one individual at a time, starting with Mullah Omar and working down the command chain of Taliban leaders protecting bin Laden. The first wave of lightning special-ops strikes was, as much as anything else, a psychological weapon designed to boost American spirits and faith in the government, silence suspicions that the public might go wobbly after seeing American blood shed, and send a message of ruthless resolve that can be heard in Afghanistan's deepest caves. In that sense, it also marked a beginning. So be prepared...
...fact, after days of reassuring messages that anthrax was not an immediate threat, Tom Ridge, the new director of homeland security, said yesterday, "It is clear that the terrorists responsible for these attacks intended to use anthrax as a weapon...