BIO-TERRORISM USA:24 July 2001
BIO-TERRORISM USA:
Bio-Terrorism "Dark Winter" Scenario Reviewed By Officials
By Paul Anderson, EmergencyNet News Correspondent
Washington, DC (EmergencyNet News) -- A bio-terrorism attack simulation, entitled "Dark Winter," was reviewed publicly yesterday in DC. The scenario detailed a hypothetical release of smallpox, which eventually spread to 25 states. The simulation was carried out last month at Andrews Air Force Base, with present and former government officials participating.
The panel which carried out yesterday's briefing, included former deputy secretary of defense John Hamre, Oklahoma governor Frank Keating and former senator Sam Nunn. They presented their conclusions to the members of the House Subcommittee on National Security. Needless to say, the conclusions reached were sobering, according to both participants and reviewers.
Although a number of well-respected terrorism experts have recently decried the "hype" of government preparations for a potential bio-terrorism attack carried out within the United States, the terrible facts remain...the United States is presently not prepared to manage such an incident. Apparently, the "Dark Winter" exercise again verified that many problems concerning interagency communications, coordination, and cooperation still remain.
ERRI's Clark Staten, who has been studying and lecturing on the topic of Chemical, Biological, and Nuclear (CBN) terrorism for more than ten years said, "It can be frightening...the more one knows about the potential threats, our country's current capabilities, and future preparedness plans...the more concerned one can become." "To our knowledge, there has not been one exercise, involving an intentional bio-agent release, that has successfully demonstrated a comprehensive capability to effectively manage such an incident," Staten continued.
Staten said that in the near term, it is far more likely that terrorists will use AK-47's and conventional explosives to carry out their murderous intent. But, he said that the high-impact/low probability threat of a chemical, biological, or improvised nuclear attack can not be totally discounted. "Admittedly, it won't be your typical 'bad guy' who carries out a chemical or biological attack...it will be a diabolical genius or a small group of people...maybe with the support of a so-called 'rogue nation' or a transnational terrorist organization...and who want a major 'body count,' who will carry out one of these attacks," Staten concluded.
According to former Senator Sam Nunn, who had sat on the Senate Armed Services Committee for more than two decades, the exercise raised more questions than answers. Certainly, many experts agree that much progress has been made in regard to "Homeland Defense," in the past five years. But, those who really understand the potential magnitude and implications of a major biological attack, as was clearly illustrated by the "Dark Winter" scenario, say that there is still much work to be done if America can hope to really be prepared for such an event...
ERRI Counter-Terrorism Operations Archive
ERRI Hazardous Materials/WMD Archive Page
External Links:
Briefing memorandum for the hearing, Combating Terrorism: Federal Response to a Biological Weapons Attack at: http://www.house.gov/reform/ns/web_resources/briefing_memo_july_23.htm
A Plague on Your City: Observations from TOPOFF, Center for Civilian and Biodefense Studies, 2001;32:436-445. can be found at: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/CID/journal/issues/v32n3/001347/001347.html
© EmergencyNet News Service, 2001. All rights reserved. May not
be redistributed or otherwise published without the expressed permission of ERRI/EmergencyNet
News.
Emergency Response & Research Institute
6348 N. Milwaukee Ave., #312
Chicago, IL. 60646
(773) 631-3774 - Voice
(773) 631-4703 - Fax
(773) 631-3467 - Modem/Emergency BBS On-Line
http://www.emergency.com - Main Webpage
webmaster@emergency.com - E-mail