Emergency.Blog

Poison Suicide Gas Sends At Least 90 to Hospital

11:35, Thursday April 24, 2008

INTERNATIONAL HAZ-MAT NEWS/ ERRI ADVISORY

Poison Gas Suicide Puts 90 In Hospital

JAPAN: Some 90 residents of an apartment block in Japan had to be taken to hospital after a teenager committed suicide by making poisonous hydrogen sulphide gas. The 14-year-old was said to be the latest person to kill herself by the method, which has received much recent media attention in the country.

Reports say websites have sprung up showing people how to make the poisonous gas with bathroom cleaning products. Police found a container of such a product in the girl's apartment that they believe may have been used to make the gas, according to the fire department.

The apartment block filled with a "rotten egg" smell from the hydrogen sulphide gas the girl made up and released.

More than 100 residents were evacuated from the building, with most - including the girl's mother - taken to hospital.

The fire department said it found a note on the door of the girl's apartment which read: "Poisonous gas being produced".

Japan's public broadcaster says 40 such suicide case have occurred this year, citing figures from the country's suicide prevention association.

The country's suicide rate is among the highest in the world, with the annual figure from the past nine years higher than 30,000, according to police data.

-- Source: http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1313891,00.html

RELATED

Apr 24 03:18 AM US/Eastern

LEAD: 1 girl dies, 120 evacuate after her suspected suicide by gassing

KOCHI, JAPAN (Kyodo/AP): A 14-year-old girl was found dead Wednesday in an apparent suicide by gassing in Konan, Kochi Prefecture and about 120 neighbors were forced to evacuate, police said.

Of the 120 people, 90 people were taken or went on their own to hospitals, the police said. At least three people, including a woman, 38, believed to be the girl's mother, were hospitalized.

A 27-year-old woman who lives in the condominium briefly became unconscious, but her condition is not life-threatening, firefighters said. Others are suffering mild symptoms such as sore throat and other conditions.

The police suspect the girl may have committed suicide at her home, where she lived with her mother, in a five-story condominium in the city. A note was posted on the front door of her home that said, "Gas is being generated. Do not open."

The girl was found lying in the bathroom wearing a school uniform and hydrogen sulfide was coming out of a box placed in the bathroom, according to the firefighters.

The police said they received initial reports from condominium residents about an abnormal odor at around 19:45 p.m. Wednesday. After residents were evacuated, the condominium buildings were kept off- limits until Thursday morning, the firefighters said.

The police have conducted an autopsy on the girl and found that she died of gas poisoning. According to a friend of the girl, she came to school only several days after the new school year started earlier this month.

Hydrogen sulfide, which can be made by using common detergent or liquid bath agents, is used increasingly in suicides, accompanied by alert notices indicating that gas is being generated.

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ERRI hazardous materials specialist comment by Chief C. L. Staten: If it happens in Japan, it could happen elsewhere. If it has not already, something like this could appear in a video on FaceBook, MySpace, or some other "social network" site and the idea could then soon spread around the world. We are concerned that, potentially, this sort of idea could be adopted for use in some sort of "school violence threat" by a disillusioned/despondent student...or other nefarious person. This information regarding the dangers of routine household products, used to produce poison gases, should be noted and studied by Haz-mat crews and shared with other emergency first responders. Caution is urged about this one...DO NOT...REPEAT...DO NOT...TRY THIS AT HOME.

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Additional/Previous Reference/Data:

4/17/2008

Japanese fad: rotten-egg suicide gassing

"Traditionally" Japanese suicide with been done in the past couple of decades with carbon monoxide -poisoning with leaving a small, burning, charcoal grill in a confined space or commonly inside a rented automobile.

However, there has been a new fad in the past few months to mix Japanese SunpoleR toilet cleaner and MUTOUHAPPU (calcium sulfide) bath salts to produce deadly poisonous hydrogen sulfide gas. The problem is that poisonous hydrogen sulfide-the rotten-egg gas-produces a lot of collateral damage killing the rescuers. family members, firefighters, and police officers. It even endangers people in other apartments below the suicide room since the gas is heavier than air.

[This case follows a spate of 26 incidents in which 27 people have allegedly killed themselves by mixing detergents and generating hydrogen sulfide since the beginning of this year, police said.]

-- Source: http://news.3yen.com/2008-04-17/japanese-fad-rotten-egg-suicide-gassing/

U.S. Skeptical of Colombian 'Dirty Bomb' Claims

March 5, 2008

U.S. Skeptical of Colombian 'Dirty Bomb' Claims

U.S. Authorities Seek Access to FARC Leader's Seized Computers and Documents

By RICHARD ESPOSITO and VIC WALTER

WASHINGTON, DC: Skeptical U.S. law enforcement officials are seeking access to computers and documents that authorities in Colombia say show the leftist group FARC sought "50 kilograms of uranium" for a possible dirty bomb. The material was seized by Colombian police in a raid into Ecuador that killed FARC commander Raul Reyes and has led to talk of war by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who has moved troops to the border with Colombia.

U.S. intelligence officials, while they did not comment directly on the possibility of FARC engaging in the illicit uranium trade, cautioned that reports of FARC attempting to acquire materials for a radioactive dirty bomb should be treated with extreme skepticism.

The evidence of FARC's participation in the uranium trade was first alleged this week by Colombia's national police chief, Gen. Oscar Naranjo, who also said that evidence seized proved Venezuela had interfered in Colombia's affairs by providing $300 million in support to FARC.

Source/continues: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4395397&page=1

Reports about the original allegations from Colombian V.P. Francisco Santos are linked here.

U.S. Cities At High Risk For [Bio] Terrorist Attacks Identified

Mar. 5, 2008

U.S. Cities At High Risk For [Bio] Terrorist Attacks Identified

ScienceDaily: A University of Arizona researcher has created a new system to dramatically show American cities their relative level of vulnerability to bioterrorism.

Walter W. Piegorsch, an expert on environmental risk, has placed 132 major cities -- from Albany, N.Y., to Youngstown, Ohio -- on a color-coded map that identifies their level of risk based on factors including critical industries, ports, railroads, population, natural environment and other factors...

(click on the map above for larger view and comments)

Reference:

University of Arizona (2008, March 5). US Cities At High Risk For Terrorist Attacks Identified. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 5, 2008, from:
http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2008/03/080304092842.htm

[ ERRI WMD/Haz-Mat specialist note: We note with interest that Chicago is listed as "high-risk" on the Professor's map of potential targets. Please click on the map above to get a larger view of the hazard zones]

Colombia: Rebels considering dirty bombs

Tue. Mar. 4, 2008 -- 21:19 PM EST

Colombia: Rebels considering dirty bombs

Associated Press

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND: Colombia's vice president on Tuesday defended his country's attack on a rebel base on Ecuadorean soil, telling a U.N. disarmament panel that the leftist guerrillas were trying to acquire radioactive material that could be used to make "dirty bombs."

Vice President Francisco Santos said evidence in two computers found after the attack indicated rebels were trying to acquire radioactive material ? "the primary basis for generating dirty weapons of mass destruction and terrorism."

But the evidence Colombia shared with reporters didn't support Santos' allegation, indicating instead that the rebels were trying to buy uranium to resell at a profit.

Speaking to the 65-nation Conference on Disarmament, Santos said the discovery demonstrates that the economic power of drug trafficking is enabling terrorist groups "to constitute a serious threat not just to our country but to the entire Andean and Latin American region."

Meanwhile, Ecuadorean Justice Minister Gustavo Jalkh told the U.N. Human Rights Council that Colombia violated its human rights obligations when its military staged the attack that killed a key rebel leader.

Both bodies are in the same Palais des Nations complex that houses United Nations offices in Geneva, but it was unclear if Santos and Jalkh met face-to-face.

The regularly scheduled meetings of the panels came a day after Ecuador and Venezuela ordered troops to their borders with Colombia, expelled that country's diplomats and largely halted trade at key points along the frontier in response to Colombia's killing of Raul Reyes, a leader with the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, on Saturday.

The guerrillas of FARC, who have been fighting for more than four decades, finance their operations largely through the cocaine trade...

-- Source/continues at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080305/ap_on_re_eu/colombia_un

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ERRI WMD analyst questions: O.K. -- if we buy the alternative reality posed by unnamed reporters above -- FARC wants to illegally acquire and sell the uranium to whom? Another terrorist group, or a rogue nation? Does that sound any better?

Report Concerning Ricin Incident in Las Vegas, NV (Video)

AP (Video) Report Concerning Ricin Incident in Las Vegas, NV

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A police news conference is scheduled for later today (Friday) in Las Vegas.

Stop back at Emergency.Blog for more on this developing story...

Hazardous Material Incident in Vegas; Possible Ricin

00:30 CST - 29 Feb 2008

Hazardous Material Incident in Vegas; Possible Ricin Involvement

LAS VEGAS, NV: Early and largely unconfirmed reports coming in to EmergencyNet News sayd that a major investigation is underway at this hour in regard to a hazardous materials incident at the Extended Stay America Motel in the vicinity of Valley View and Flamingo in Las Vegas.

According to emergency service and media reports, Clark County Fire, Homeland Security, Metro Police and 92nd Civil Support Group with the Nevada National Guard have all been dispatched to an incident involving a substance believed to be "ricin." It is believed that additional federal agents are also being dispatched to this incident. Few other details are officially verified at the time of this report.

Watch Emergency.Blog for more on this still developing story...

Additional reference: http://www.lasvegasnow.com/

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Background: Ricin

Ricin is a plant toxin that is 30 times more potent than the nerve agent VX by weight and is readily obtainable by extraction from common castor beans. Castor beans, which grow on a common ornamental plant, can be processed by terrorists using crude equipment and common chemicals to produce the toxin ricin.

1. There is no treatment for ricin poisoning after it has entered the bloodstream. Victims start to show symptoms within hours to days after exposure, depending on the dosage and route of administration.
   
2. Terrorists have looked at delivering ricin in foods and as a contact poison, although we have no scientific data currently indicates that ricin can penetrate intact skin.
   
3. Ricin will remain stable in foods as long as they are not heated, and it will have few indicators because it does not have a strong taste and is off-white in color
   
   -- Source: Terrorist CBRN: Materials and Effects, CIA report, can be found at: http://www.emergency.com/pdf/CBRN_threat.pdf

Undercover Police Buy Toxic Chlorine In Terror Demonstration

13:37 pm EST February 13, 2008

Undercover Police Buy Toxic Chlorine In Terror Demonstration

NEW YORK -- Undercover NYPD investigators secretly set up a fake water-purification company last year to demonstrate how easily and anonymously a terrorist could purchase toxic chlorine on the Internet for a deadly chemical strike against the city.

A videotape -- showed at a counterterrorism briefing for private security executives on Wednesday -- discusses the threat and for the first time discloses the results of "Operation Green Cloud" -- a reference to the yellow-green color of chlorine gas.

The purpose was "to assess the ease or difficulty with which a terrorist in the United States could acquire large quantities of chlorine without being detected by law enforcement or intelligence agencies," a narrator says on a copy of the video obtained by The Associated Press.

The conclusion: "At the present time, few if any barriers stand in his way."

There has been no specific terror threat against the city involving chemicals, but the NYPD recently put more emphasis on screening shipments of chlorine after learning that it has become a favored component of homemade bombs in Iraq. A 2007 United Nations report found that at least 10 attacks there involved explosives attached to chlorine canisters.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said that while there were no places to obtain chlorine in New York, there are several locations in neighboring New Jersey.

"It's something we have to be concerned about," he said of the potential of an attack using chlorine. "We think the whole area needs a lot of regulation."

Chlorine typically is used as a disinfectant or purifier, and as an ingredient in plastics and other products. While routinely transported in liquid form, it can turn into a deadly toxic gas when exposed to air.

Kelly said that the NYPD has been lobbying the Department of Homeland Security to draft stricter regulations requiring chlorine vendors to verify the legitimacy of their customers.

The department sent federal officials a copy of the videotape and "asked them to include strict 'know-your-customer' rules," Kelly said...

Story source/continues: http://www.wnbc.com/news/15291083/detail.html?rss=ny&psp=news

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Additional reference:

Chlorine Shown As Terror Hazard

Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008 By AP/TOM HAYS: Undercover police secretly set up a fake company to demonstrate how easily and anonymously a terrorist could purchase chlorine on the Internet for a deadly chemical strike against the city. Can be found in Time magazine:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1713016,00.html

Kyrgyzstan: Authorities Seize Radioactive Material Bound For Iran

Posted: 11 Jan 2008

Kyrgyzstan: Authorities Seize Radioactive Material Bound For Iran

If the world needed reminding of the ongoing threat posed by nuclear materials left unsecured and scattered across the former Soviet Union, it's got it now.

On January 9, Kyrgyz officials announced that they had taken possession of a small load of a radioactive substance discovered aboard a train bound for Iran. The material has been placed in a special area in Kyrgyzstan, but questions are being raised about the nature and quantity of the substance, who was behind its transport, and how the train carrying it crossed three border checkpoints before being detected.

While it might simply be a coincidence that the train was bound for Iran, such a destination is also likely to raise eyebrows, given Western concerns over Tehran's nuclear activities and alleged support of terrorism.

Kyrgyz officials are looking for answers, but their behavior has raised questions, too. Why, for example, did it take them nine days to announce the discovery of the material, which was found on December 31 when radiation detectors alerted Uzbek border guards? They promptly sent the train back to Kyrgyzstan.

The Kyrgyz National Security Service continues to decline comment on that and other questions, and Almabek Aitikeev, a departmental head in the Kyrgyz Emergency Situations Ministry, offered only generalities about the quantity of the material when asked by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service.

"Not quite a bucketload of radioactive waste material was there mixed in with sand, dust, and snow," Aitikeev said. "We did our work and sealed up the waste on December 31."

Kubanych Noruzbaev, an official from the Kyrgyz Ecology and Environmental Protection Ministry, said on January 10 that the material was cesium-137, a product of nuclear reactors and weapons testing that is often used in medical devices and gauges. But it could also be used in a crude radioactive explosive device -- a "dirty bomb" -- and underscores the fact that despite some progress since 1991, parts of the former Soviet Union are still littered with sites where lethal radioactive materials remain largely unsecured...

-- Article source/continues at: http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/01/460cd9d5-93ea-424a-a68a-316142bcf3e1.html

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Additional Emergency.com reference:

http://www.emergency.com/hzmtpage.htm

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Additional CDC Reference:

Radioisotope Brief: Cesium-137 (Cs-137)

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/radiation/isotopes/cesium.asp

Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities

Office of the Director of National Intelligence

Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities

November 2007

Can be found at: http://www.odni.gov/press_releases/20071203_release.pdf

Experts fault U.S. preparation for anthrax attack

Wed Nov 14, 2007 3:22pm EST

Experts fault U.S. preparation for anthrax attack

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has done too little to prepare for another potential domestic anthrax attack six years after spore-laden mail killed five people, a former CIA director and other experts said on Wednesday...

I think we're very poorly prepared," James Woolsey, who headed the CIA from 1993 to 1995, said at a news conference to unveil a report by a security consulting firm warning of U.S. vulnerability to another anthrax attack. Click on the highlighted title to review the article...

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1419886420071114?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

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Biohazard/Infectious Disease Page

All emergency service/military/medical personnel are potentially subjected to biohazards/infectious diseases during the course of their duty. In light of these hazards, ERRI is proud to present additional information regarding these concerns.

http://www.emergency.com/infctous.htm

Hazardous Materials/WMD Related Articles and Research

http://www.emergency.com/hzmtpage.htm

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"Series of EmergencyNet News Reports Concerning Both Real and Hoax Chemical/Biological Incidents in the Wake of the 11 Sep 2001 Terrorist Attacks in NYC and DC: 22 Sep to 20 Oct 2001," can be found at: http://www.emergency.com/2001/bio-scare2001b.htm

THE TOPOFF 4 TERROR DRILL; Why It Matters to Us and You

THE TOPOFF 4 TERROR DRILL

Why It Matters to Us and You

10/19/07

The destruction caused by the simulated "dirty bomb" explosion in Portland, Oregon. The victims were play acting. The blood was fake. The explosions were just for show. Even the ensuing press conferences were staged. Still, we took it all very seriously.

It's called TOPOFF 4 -- short for "Top Officials 4," since it involves the highest levels of government and is the fourth event of its kind. It's the largest terrorism exercise in the United States, meant to test the nation's collective mettle in responding to a terrorist attack.

The fabricated scenario. Terrorists snuck radioactive materials into the U.S....then launched three nearly simultaneous strikes using "dirty bombs" -- first in Guam near a power plant, then in Portland, Oregon, and in Phoenix, Arizona. Unlike conventional nukes, the bombs -- called radiological dispersal devices (RDD) -- release radioactive materials into the surrounding areas, wreaking all kinds of health and rescue havoc. Get the story from the FBI website: http://www.fbi.gov/page2/oct07/topoff101907.html

Al-Qaeda pursuing WMD, says US

Al-Qaeda pursuing WMD, says US

By Jitendra Joshi in Washington

October 10, 2007 08:16am

Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network remains bent on getting nuclear and biological weapons to unleash apocalyptic destruction, a new White House report on national security has warned.

The report, which called for redoubled anti-terror coordination at all levels of government, said al-Qaeda remained "the most serious and dangerous manifestation'' of extremist threats against the United States.

"We also must never lose sight of al-Qaeda's persistent desire for weapons of mass destruction, as the group continues to try to acquire and use chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear material,'' it said.

The White House called anew on the Democratic-led Congress to expand the power of US intelligence agencies to eavesdrop on suspected terrorists "while protecting the civil liberties of Americans".

And following the administration's failure to push immigration reform through Congress, the report called for improved capacity to find and expel illegal aliens, "including criminals and potential terrorists".

The appraisal followed a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) in July that warned that al-Qaeda is back in business, sparking Democratic complaints that the war in Iraq has proven a dangerous distraction.

The NIE, which prefigured much of today's report, said al-Qaeda had regrouped in Pakistan "and would not hesitate'' to use weapons of mass destruction on the United States.

During a testy media conference call, White House homeland security advisor Fran Townsend rebuffed suggestions that the Iraq war had served only to revive al-Qaeda in the years since the September 11 attacks of 2001.

"Every time I walk into the press briefing room we go through this, and what I will say to you is there should be no question that there were like-minded Islamic extremists inside Iraq and throughout the region,'' she said.

"And certainly that there is extremism inside Iraq and throughout the region is not a result of the war in Iraq, it is a fundamental front in the continuing war on terror.''

- A summary (html format) can be found at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/homeland/nshs/2007/index.html

-- The new report (.pdf) can be found at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/homeland/nshs/NSHS.pdf

--- Source of this report: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22561496-38198,00.html

Israelis seized nuclear material in Syrian raid

September 23, 2007

Israelis seized nuclear material in Syrian raid

Israeli commandos seized nuclear material of North Korean origin during a daring raid on a secret military site in Syria before Israel bombed it this month, according to informed sources in Washington and Jerusalem.

The attack was launched with American approval on September 6 after Washington was shown evidence the material was nuclear related, the well-placed sources say.

They confirmed that samples taken from Syria for testing had been identified as North Korean. This raised fears that Syria might have joined North Korea and Iran in seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.

Israeli special forces had been gathering intelligence for several months in Syria, according to Israeli sources. They located the nuclear material at a compound near Dayr az-Zwar in the north... This Article and several other references can be found at: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2512380.ece

Fuel Tanker Suicide Bombers Kill 175

22:56 BST, Tuesday August 14, 2007

Suicide Bombings Kill 175 In Iraq

More than 175 people have been killed and 200 injured in suicide tanker bombings in northern Iraq.

The massacre was caused by three suicide bombers driving fuel tankers in one of the worst single incidents in the four year war.

Iraq hit by more suicide bombingsIraqi army Captain Mohammad al-Jaad said at least 175 people were killed in the attacked on residential compounds which are home to the minority Yazidi sect.

He confirmed at least another 200 people were injured in the bombings in the Kahtaniya, al-Jazeera and Tal Uzair areas close to the Syrian border.

The mayor of Sinjar, Dakheel Qassim Hasoun said US aircraft were helping to ferry the wounded to hospitals....

Story continues at: http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1279899,00.html

NYPD Taking Extra Precautions after Unsubstantiated Radiological Threat

10 Aug 2007 - 23:30CDT

NYPD taking extra precautions after unsubstantiated terror threat

NEW YORK, NY: Authorities were taking extra counterterrorism precautions Friday in response to what they said was an unsubstantiated radiological threat to the city.

Officials said they had not changed the city's terror alert status in response to online chatter mentioning a truck packed with radioactive material. But police deployed extra radiological sensors on street, water and air patrols, and were stopping vehicles at checkpoints in lower Manhattan and around the city.

Deputy Police Commissioner Paul J. Browne called the measures "strictly precautionary." He said an Israeli Web site reported that online posts were made following a video released Sunday featuring an American member of al-Qaida threatening foreign diplomats and embassies across the Islamic world.

"We are closely monitoring the situation," said Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke. "There continues to be no credible information telling us that there's a threat to the homeland at this time."

The FBI also said there was no credible threat. "Federal, state and local authorities do not believe that this is going to result in something," said state homeland security head Michael Balboni.

-- Source: NY POST/AP: can be found at: http://breakingnews.nypost.com/dynamic/stories/N/NY_POLICE_PRECAUTIONS_BAOL-?SITE=NYNYP&SECTION=HOME

"Dirty Bomb" Plotters Plead Guilty in U.K.

17:03, Wednesday April 25, 2007 (London Time)

'Radiation' Bomb Plotters Guilty

LONDON, ENGLAND: Four men accused of being part of a plot to plant dirty "radiation" bombs in Britain and "kill as many people as possible" in terror attack in the US have pleaded guilty.

Dhiren Barot was jailed last year Junade Feroze, 31, Mohammed Zia Ul Haq, 28, Abdul Aziz Jalil, 34, and Omar Abdul Rehman, 23, pleaded guilty at Woolwich Crown Court to conspiracy to cause an explosion or explosions likely to endanger life.

All four are accused of conspiring "together with Dhiren Barot and other persons unknown".

Barot, 34, an Indian-born convert to Islam, was sentenced to life last November and told he must serve at least 40 years in jail.

He had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder after the same court was told he had plotted terrorist outrages in Britain and the US.

The plot involved exploding limousines packed with explosives and radioactive material in underground car parks in Britain and blowing up landmark buildings in the U.S.

Article continues at: http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1262698,00.html

The Specter of Suicide Attacks with CBRN Weapons

20 Mar 2007

Chemical Weapons Expert Says Chlorine Attacks in Iraq Will Be Hard to Stop

THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS: A chemical warfare expert said Monday the chlorine gas-loaded weapons used by Iraqi insurgents amount to "chemical dirty bombs" and will be hard to stop. However, the insurgents so far appear only to have access to a rudimentary and inefficient method of spreading the gas blowing it up in suicide bombings.

Jonathan Tucker, a visiting Fulbright fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said there is little that can be done to stop the attacks because chlorine, which is used for water purification across Iraq, is so widely available.

"They can try to limit access to chlorine...but, given the black market situation that would be difficult to do," he said in a telephone interview during a visit to The Hague.

"This is obviously a very crude terrorist tactic. Terrorists tend to be very opportunistic and this is a new tactic for them that is scaring a lot of people and doing significant harm," he said. "These are chemical dirty bombs."

On Friday, three suicide bombers driving trucks rigged with tanks of toxic chlorine gas struck targets in heavily Sunni Anbar province, killing at least two people and sickening 350 Iraqi civilians and six U.S. troops, the U.S. military said... Mar 19, 2007 article continues at: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2965185&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

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U.S. military blames al-Qaida in Iraq for chlorine attacks

BAGHDAD A U-S military official is blaming al-Qaida in Iraq for Friday's chlorine-bomb attacks in Anbar province. Three suicide bombers blew up trucks rigged with tanks of toxic chlorine gas. The attacks killed at least two people and sickened hundreds of Iraqi civilians and six U.S. troops.

But a U-S military spokesman a says tight Iraqi security prevented more casualties. Admiral Mark Fox says at least one of the bombers detonated his explosives after he was unable to get past an Iraqi police checkpoint. While many were exposed to the chemical fumes, the attacker killed only himself.

Fox calls the chlorine attacks an attempt by insurgents to punish "the people who stood against terrorist organizations...."

-- Source: FOX CAROLINA/AP, http://www.fox21.com/Global/story.asp?S=6243115&nav=menu149_2_6

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The Chlorine Gas Attacks in Iraq and the Specter of Suicide Attacks with CBRN Weapons

By Assaf Moghadam, March 19, 2007 04:58 PM

Last week's triple chlorine-gas suicide attacks that hit Falluja and Ramadi sent shockwaves around Iraq, while raising the specter of more widespread use of chemical weapons by terrorist groups in Iraq and beyond. The bombings followed a series of earlier chlorine gas attacks, although no chlorine gas attacks were recorded prior to January 2007.

Suicide attacks have inherent tactical benefits when compared with non-suicidal attacks. They are cheap, precise, highly lethal, and they create a sense of fear among the target population that usually exceeds that of ordinary terrorist attacks. When coupled with chemical or other non-conventional weapons, these inherent tactical benefits of suicide bombings are multiplied. In fact, delivering a non-conventional device in the course of a terrorist attack is far more likely to succeed if the carrier of the device is willing to sacrifice himself in the process. Because the suicide bomber is willing to die, he is undeterred by the possible exposure to toxins or radiation that may result from the handling of chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) devices. Moreover, a bomber carrying a CBRN device is not burdened by the need to wear protective gear while delivering the device to the target area. His willingness to die not only obviates the need to wear gas masks and other protective equipment, but also reduces the chance of his early detection.

Combining the tactic of suicide operations with weapons of mass destruction also carries distinctive advantages for the group. All terrorism is designed to create terror, but there is probably no better way for a terrorist to maximize this intense fear among the target audience than by combining two modes of attack that are so difficult to defend against, while presenting the government as ineffective and law enforcement and first responders as helpless. In addition, for the group at large, the combination of CBRN and suicide attacks offers a unique possibility to demonstrate its determination to prevail in its mission.... This article continues at: -- Source: http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/03/the_chlorine_gas_attacks_in_ir.php#trackbacks

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Reference:

Change in Terrorism Tactics Reported; Suicide Bombers Could Have Major Implications

ERRI analysts previously addressed this very issue in an article that was apparently far ahead of its time [about five (5) years]. The article, from Monday, April 8, 2002-Vol. 8, No. 098-09:00CDT, and entitled "Change in Terrorism Tactics Reported; Suicide Bombers Could Have Major Implications," can be found at: http://www.emergency.com/2002/suicide_implications.htm

Gas Sickens More Than 350 in Iraq Blasts

17 Mar 2007

More Than 350 Sickened by Improvised Chemical Attacks

BAGHDAD, IRAQ (Anbar province): Three suicide bombers driving chlorine-laden trucks struck in the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Anbar province, killing two policemen and forcing about 350 Iraqi civilians and six U.S. troops to seek treatment for exposure to the potentially lethal gas, the military said Saturday.

Continues at: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2959697&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

Emergency.com Reference -- Haz-Mat/WMD Archive page: http://www.emergency.com/hzmtpage.htm

Explosion and Multiple Alarm Fire in Kansas City

02/07/2007 15:08:53 PM CST
EmergencyNet News *FLASH* Report

Blast and Major Fire at Chemical Plant in Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, MO: Evacuations of nearby homes and businesses are said to be underway in the vicinity of a chemical fire in an industrial area of Kansas City, MO. The name of the plant involved is "ChemCentral," according to unconfirmed reports from the scene.

Many firefighters have been dispatched to the scene of a reported explosion and three-alarm blaze at Front Street and Chestnut, south of the river, in Kansas City. Other sources are telling EmergencyNet News that the location of the incident is Nicholas and N. Garland.

A massive amount of smoke is billowing from the scene. It is not presently known what is burning or if the material(s) are toxic. There are no known reports of injuries or deaths at the time of this report.

According to reports from the scene, the fire is also immediately adjacent to a railroad track with several tank cars that may also contain chemicals. ERRI firefighting/Haz-mat experts said that there appears to be a "exposure problem" with the tank cars and that there may be an additional explosion danger.

EmergencyNet News continues to monitor live video of the incident and we will bring you additional information as circumstances warrant...

Firefighter and EMT Reported Killed in W.V. Blast

30 Jan 2007 -- 15:30 PM EST

Explosion Reported in Gas Station/Convenience Mart

From the ERRI/EmergencyNet News Global Watchdesk

W. VIRGINIA: EmergencyNet News is receiving information from first responders in W. Virginia that a paramedic and firefighter have been killed in an explosion at a gas station near Ghent, WV. Two other people have also been killed and at least seven other people badly injured...some critically.

Although many details remain unconfirmed, it is believed that the explosion at the "Flat Top Little General Store" may have been caused by some sort of "gas leak." It is said that the deceased firefighter and paramedic were responding to the incident in response to a reported leak, when the blast occurred. The incident is thought to have happened at about 10:45 a.m EST.

At a news conference in the past few minutes, a fire official said that an ambulance and fire truck were "damaged in the blast." Notification of the next of kin of those killed or injured is said to be underway at this time. The State Fire Marshall, BATF, State Police, and local officials are all at the scene of the blast investigating the cause of the blast. Ghent is located about 60 miles southeast of Charleston.

Did "24" Go Too Far?

Did "24" Go Too Far?

By Hugh Hewitt
Townhall.com
Monday, January 22, 2007

When the ABCNews.com column assignment arrived mid-morning --"Is the TV show "24" going too far by depicting a nuclear attack in Los Angeles in its opening episode?"-- the drama went out of tonight's two-hour program. Or so I thought.

As zero hour approached, I found myself assuming that the program really wouldn't actually depict a nuclear detonation near Los Angeles. I noted as the show unfolded that the script had the doomsday scenario putting the casualties of such an event at somewhere north of a hundred thousand, a remarkably low estimate, and that no mention was made of the catastrophic impact of radiation sickness or the second level but still devastating impact to surrounding infrastructure, the immediate refugee problem, or the collapse of the national economy.

Given that the consequences of such a blast, I found myself doubting that the program would risk absurdity by depicting a post-nuclear attack America far more simple than anyone has a right to conceive.

But blow the nuke, the writers did, and apparently there are four more where that came from. How Jack and gang deals with the aftermath remains to be seen --martial law at least from Bakersfield to San Diego, and from the Pacific to Vegas, perhaps, and a Dow 1200? -- But the question put to me remains: Did the program "go too far?"

Given that there are easily, oh, 10 million people in the world who would stand up and cheer at the real version of Monday night's fictionalized attack, and at least a few tens of thousands trying hard to do a deed of at least proportionate scale given the weaponry available, it is silly to argue that "it" couldn't possibly happen. Of course it could happen. Eventually another nuke will go off, and it is not likely to be the obvious action of a state actor.

So what is the "too far" in the question supposed to mean? It can only be that "24" is engaged in fear-mongering, and that is as stupid a charge as can be made.

-- Would the BBC have been going "too far" if in 1937 it had broadcast a radio drama depicting life in a Hitler-authorized death camp where hundreds of thousands of Jews were being executed in gas chambers, one of a string of such camps springing up across Europe?

-- Would a Paris newspaper have been going "too far" if it had run a short story in 1913 supposing trench warfare that would claim millions of casualties?

-- Had PBS run a drama proposing a Communist massacre of millions of Cambodians in 1973 or a Rawandan genocide of more than a half million Tutsis twenty years later, would those prophecies have been going "too far?"

The problem of the last century was a failure in the imagining of evil, a failure which was in some ways evil's accomplice. "It can't happen" often masked the very unfolding of the too-awful-to-occur event....

-- Sources:

http://townhall.com/columnists/HughHewitt/2007/01/22/did_24_go_too_far

http://www.fox.com/24/

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To the Reader:

From C. L. Staten, Sr. Analyst

Interestingly, ERRI/Emergency.com has been accused of similar "scare-mongoring" on several occasions -- even though time and again -- the bad guys that we have identified, and the scenarios that we have anticipated, have become all too real (please see elsewhere on this website for further documentation). We would also refer the reader to the findings of the much quoted "911 Commission" report, which found that prior to the 9/11/01 attacks, the United States suffered from a "failure of imagination."

Now, Fox's "24" is suffering the "slings and arrows" of the critics for warning about (and depicting) the possibility of an attack in the United States with Weapons of Mass Destruction....a scenario which we agree is too horrible to even contemplate. But, as our research has indicated for several years, it is also an all too real possibility. While we all might hope and pray that such an incident never happens in America, we had better also prepare, train and equip ourselves to be ready for such an eventuality.

Terror on the Tracks

Terror on the Tracks

Let's say the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter really was a terrorist.

What if those were bombs he was placing on the chemical placard of a rail car inside the Thatcher Chemical Co. plant in suburban Las Vegas, and not his business cards?

Instead of a camera recording lax security over some of the deadliest chemicals ever produced, he held a detonator? And the string of chlorine gas cars trundling down Union Pacific Railroad tracks in the heart of Vegas was his prey?

If he was a terrorist, and his goal was to release a potentially catastrophic cloud of deadly gases, explosives and caustic acids -- in unguarded cars, left abandoned -- then a U.S. Department of Homeland Security's planning scenario might apply: 17,500 people dead, another 10,000 suffering injuries and 100,000 more flooding trauma wards, convinced they've been poisoned. The environmental damage would take weeks to clean up, forcing the evacuation of as many as 70,000 residents from a city built on sin, military might and heavy industry.

Less detailed and unlikely "Worst Case Scenario" plans filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency suggest the gases that could be released by the reporter perched atop millions of pounds of zinc chloride, phosphoric and sulfuric acids, and chlorine gas could drift 18 miles and threaten 1.1 million people with death, displacement or injury.

But, luckily, he was only a reporter.... (Article continues)

Click here to review: "Terror on the Tracks, By Carl Prine, TRIBUNE-REVIEW, Sunday, January 14, 2007

Doomsday Clock To Advance

Posted: January 15, 2007

Doomsday Clock To Advance

Dik Zak writes "Many news sites are reporting that the magazine Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists intends to move the hands of the Doomsday Clock on Wednesday 17 January. The clock was started at seven minutes to midnight during the Cold War and has been moved forward or back at intervals, depending on the state of the world and the prospects for nuclear war. Midnight represents destruction by nuclear war. It is not revealed in which direction the hands of the clock will be moved, but it should be safe to assume that they will move closer to midnight: the magazine cites 'worsening nuclear [and] climate threats.' The clock stood at two minutes to midnight when both the United States and the Soviet Union tested nuclear weapons in 1953. The farthest away from midnight it ever got was 17 minutes, in 1991 when both superpowers signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. It currently stands at seven minutes to midnight."

References: http://www.thebulletin.org/index.htm

Slashdot: http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/13/203222&from=rss

All trademarks and copyrights on all of our pages are the property of their respective owners....reprint permission and other publication issues should be referred to the original author and/or publication.

The Ultimate Threat - CBRN Terror Attack

11 Jan 2007

The Ultimate Threat - CBRN Terror Attack

WORLD-WIDE: A particularly sinister and deadly category of weapons may signal a new era of global terrorism. Many experts are of the opinion that it?s no longer a question of if but only a matter of time before a biological, chemical or nuclear terrorist attack occurs. However, there is considerable disagreement regarding the effectiveness of these attacks, as measured by physical destruction and human casualties. -- Source: http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2007/01/11/the-ultimate-threat-cbrn-terror-attack/

Their link leads to a sdtory today in the The Adirondack Daily Enterprise and a Thursday, January 11, 2007 article entitled: "The ultimate terrorist threat: Biological, chemical and nuclear weapons," which is written by retired sociology professor at University of San Diego, George J. Bryjak. This article is not submitted here for the depth of it's technical expertise, but rather for the rational perspective that it provides in regard to the issue of potential terrirust use of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Give it a read...

ERRI References: Emergency.com Haz-Mat/WMD Archive: http://www.emergency.com/hzmtpage.htm

Revealed: Israel plans nuclear strike on Iran

January 07, 2007

Revealed: Israel plans nuclear strike on Iran

ISRAEL: has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran?s uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons. according to the London Sunday Times.

Two Israeli air force squadrons are [allegedly] training to blow up an Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear "bunker-busters", according to several Israeli military sources.

The attack would be the first with nuclear weapons since 1945, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Israeli weapons would each have a force equivalent to one-fifteenth of the Hiroshima bomb.

Under the plans, conventional laser-guided bombs would open "tunnels" into the targets. "Mini-nukes" would then immediately be fired into a plant at Natanz, exploding deep underground to reduce the risk of radioactive fallout. "As soon as the green light is given, it will be one mission, one strike and the Iranian nuclear project will be demolished," said one of the sources... Article continues at: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2535310,00.html

-- Source: Uzi Mahnaimi, New York and Sarah Baxter, Washington, The (London) Sunday Times

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Israel rejects report it may attack Iran

LONDON, ENGLAND: A British newspaper reported Sunday that Israeli pilots are training to possibly strike as many as three targets in Iran with low-yield nuclear weapons, aiming to halt Tehran's controversial uranium enrichment program (see above). Two other sites, a heavy water plant at Arak and a uranium conversion plant at Isfahan, would be targeted with conventional bombs, the Sunday Times said.

Israeli officials swiftly denied the report, which comes amid growing global concerns over an Iranian project that Washington and other governments believe is secretly intended to build atomic weapons, the Associated Press and Yahoo reported today.

Israel has never confirmed it has nuclear bombs itself, although analysts widely believe the Jewish state possesses a significant stockpile and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates referred to the Israeli atomic arsenal during his recent confirmation hearing. Citing multiple unidentified Israeli military sources, The Sunday Times said plans had been drawn up in Israel for a potential attack using "bunker-buster" nuclear weapons against atomic facilities at three sites south of the Iranian capital.

The U.S. and its allies suspect Tehran of trying to produce atomic weapons there ? and the issue has taken on redoubled urgency because of Iranian leaders' statements calling for the destruction of Israel as well as their recent hosting of a conference at which the Holocaust was questioned.

Though Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has not explicitly ruled out a military strike on Iran's nuclear program, he says the issue should be dealt with diplomatically ? and stresses that an Iranian nuclear bomb would be a problem for the entire world, not just Israel...