Biological Warfare
There is no longer a question of whether or not a bioterrorist will attack, but rather the question remains, when will they attack? “It is highly likely that a terrorist group could threaten or attack Americans with germs within the next few years,” according to President Clinton. (Solomon) Biological warfare intentionally uses viruses, bacteria, fungi, or toxins from living organisms and death or disease in humans, animals, or plants. Fermentation can be used to produce such bacterial agents as anthrax, brucellosis, cholera, meloidosis, plague, q fever, or tularemia. Other viral agents are smallpox, cimean congo HF, rift valley fever, and vee. Use of these types of viruses and bacteria are becoming widespread in many areas of the world because they can affect many people efficiently and are cost effective. Biological weapons can ve traced back to Exodus when God placed the ten plagues upon the Egyptians, as a result of Pharaoh’s refusal to free the Jews from! slavery. These plagues included blood, frogs, vermin, flies, murrain, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and the slaying of the first born. Even though this type of warfare may have had origins as early as Exodus, the methods of making these germs is describ
. Defenses are also being strengthened and permission for the use of almost three billion dollars is being proposed to Congress in order to combat these numerous varieties of biological warfare. President Clinton told government agencies in June of 1995 to be prepared for attacks from terrorists. But in March of 1996, the Senate brought up questions concerning America’s contingency plans and whether or not they are sufficient. Medical response is an aspect that is probably the most important concern, but oftentimes the most neglected area for defense. This area is neglected because of the fact that it is difficult to plan a response when different treatments are needed depending on the type of biological agent that is used. Philip Russell was quoted as saying: “Plague is different from smallpox, which is different from anthrax. We need a group of folks to go through different scenarios and think about what could be done other than counting the bodies.” (Tayl! to some extent purposeful, but is proving to be dangerous is the island in the Aral Sea of Kazakhstan. It is at this site that Soviet soldiers buried anthrax during the Cold War in a top secret operation. These soldiers assumed the anthrax would never have any effect on anyone because they had soaked it in bleach with the intention of it eventually dying off. The Monterrey Institute of International Studies calls this island “a ticking time bomb.” (Davidson) The soviet troops buried the anthrax in order to keep the international control inspectors from discovering it. Local authorities will not allow the Monterrey Institute officials to get a close enough view of the burial site; therefore, the physical state of the buried anthrax is unknown. These sixty six gallon containers that originally stored this bacteria unearthed as erosion wore away at the soil in which they lie. Animals or insect that can also cause contamination, thereby, encouraging the rapid spreadin! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Biological Warfare Course. [Online] http://www.usamriid.army.mil/education/index.html 7 October 1999 Carus, Seth W. “The Threat of Bioterrorism” [Online] http://www.sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display 7 October 1999 Clark, Jeffrey J. “Chemical and Biological Warfare” [Online] http://www.optonline.com/comptons/ceo/00098_A.html 29 October 1999 Dando, Malcolm “Biological Warfare in the 21st Century” [Online] http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/peace/dando.html 7 October 1999 Davidson, Keay “Buried
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1735
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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