Fear of Flying -- from HotWired

Steve Schear azur at netcom.com
Wed Sep 18 05:07:15 PDT 1996


>On Tue, 17 Sep 1996, Adamsc wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 12 Sep 1996 12:03:18 -0700, Bill Frantz wrote:
>>
>> >>... former CIA director James Woolsey: responded with some seemingly
>> >>   gratuitous anti-Net
>> >>   rhetoric. Terrorists may use biological weapons like anthrax, he said.
>> >>   "Anthrax is colorless, odorless, and has a 90 percent lethality. One
>> >>   gram has 100 million lethal doses." Then Woolsey delivered the zinger:
>> >>   "The knowledge of how to make anthrax is widely available, including
>> >>   on the Internet."
>>
>> >Gee, biotech has come a long way.  Now I can download the Anthrax DNA
>> >sequence from the net and insert it in some carrier bacteria and start
>> >making Anthrax bacteria.  Neat!
>
>Culturing and growing anthrax is painfully simple.  No DNA required.
>
>> >BTW - My dictionary says that Anthrax is primarily an animal disease which
>> >only occasionally infects humans.  It sounds like a poor choice for bio-war
>> >terror.
>
>Incorrect.  It is highly problematic and very nasty when it is properly
>delivered.  The hardest thing about anthrax is to get an areosol fine
>enough to present an inhalation risk.  (This is why it does not
>generally cause problems in humans- it's rare for it to get this fine).
>

Why not learn from the pros:

IRAQI  BIOLOGICAL WARFARE [BW) DEVELOPMENTS

Filename:0119pgv.00p
[
(b)(2)   ]


 
[   (b)(2)   ]

     

SUBJ:    IRAQI  BIOLOGICAL WARFARE [BW) DEVELOPMENTS


1.  [      (b)(1) sec 1.3(a)(4)    ] IRAQ  ACQUIRED

FORTY HIGH
PERFORMANCE AEROSOL GENERATORS IN  THE  SPRING  OF'  

1990 OSTENSIBLY  FOR
SPRAYING  CROPS WITH PESTICIDES.    THE  

GENERATORS  WERE  CUSTOM  BUILT
TO  DELIVER  EITHER  LIQUID OR 

DRY MATERIAL  EITHER  SIGNLY  OR
SIMULTANEOUSLY.   THE GENERATORS 

CAN DISTRIBUTE FIFTY  LITERS  PER MINUTE
[3-,0O0  LITERS  PER  

HOUR OR APPROXIMATELY 800 GALLONS  PER  HOUR)
THROUGH A  CUSTOM  

DESIGNED NOZZLE[S] WHICH PERMITS  THE AEROSOL TO
BE

ADJUSTED  TO  TEN DIFFERENT PARTICLE SIZES.    THE  DISSEMINATION


OUTLET CAN  BE  ROTATED  ONE  HUNDRED  AND EIGHTY DEGREES  THEREBY


ENABLING DISSEMINATION  HORIZONTAL  TO GROUND OR WATER SURFACES, 
OR

UPWARDS  AT AN ANGLE PERMITTING PREVAILING WINDS TO CARRY THE  

AEROSOL.
THE IRAQI  ENTITY WHICH ACQUIRED THE AEROSOL GENERATORS 

IS  NOT  KNOWN
AT THIS  TIME  BUT  COULD  VERY WELL BE CONNECTED 
 
TO  THE  IRAQI
BIOLOGICAL
[   (b)(2)   ]
WARFARE BW PROGRAM.



2.      THE AEROSOL  GENERATORS ARE OF SUCH--SIZE TO FIT ON THE

BACK  OF A
PICKUP  TRUCK  OR  A SMALL ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLE, A 
SMALL 
BOAT, OR SMALL
AIRCRAFT.   THESE UNITS WOULD BE SUITABLE FOR THE 

DISPERSAL  OF BW AGENTS
IN EITHER LIQUID  OR  DRY  FORM.  THE 

ABILITY  TO  DISPENSE
SIMULTANEOUSLY TWO BW AGENTS AT THE SAME 

TIME.  SUCH UNITS, HOWEVER,
WOULD THEMSELVES BECOME HEAVILY 
CONTAMINATED DURING USE AND WOULD REQUIRE
DECONTAMINATION TO 
RENDER THEM SAFE.  PERSONNEL OPERATING SUCH UNITS WOULD
AT A 
MINIMUM NEED TO WEAR A PROTECTIVE OVERGARMENT A CHEMICAL AND

BIOLOGICAL WARFARE MASK, AND UNDERGO THOROUGH DECONTAMINATION 
AFTER
DISPENSING THE AGENT(S) . DECONTAMINATION OF THE AEROSOL 
GENERATORS AND
TRANSPORT VEHICLES WOULD LIKELY HAVE TO ACCUR NEAR 
THE AREA OF OPERATION
AT REMOTE LOCATIONS SO AS TO MININIZE 
INCIDENTAL CONTAMINATION OF IRAQI
FORCES.


3.  THE IRAQIS HAVE TWO CONFIRMED BW AGENTS--ANTHRAX AND BOTULINUM 
TOXIN.
ANTHRAX CAN BE4 DISSEMINATED BY AEROSOL GENRATORS EITHER 
AS A FREEZE-DRIED
POWDER OR AS A LIQUID SUSPENSION.  THEORETICALLY 
BOTULINIUM TOXIN CAN BE
DISPENSED AS EITHER A FREZE-DRIED POWDER, 
PROBABLY IN COMBINATION WITH A
FILLER, OR AS A LIQUID.  THE MORE 
LIKELY OF THE TWO CHOICES FOR BOTULINUM
TOXIN IS DISSEMINATION AS 
A POWDER.  POWDERS ARE EASILY MIXED WITH
FILLERS, POSE A 
CONSIDERABLY GREATER THREAT THROUGH INHALATION, AND ARE
BETTER 
ABLE TO WITHSTAND THE SHEAR FORCES EXPERIENCED WHEN DISSEMINATED

THROUGH NOZZLES WITH A RELATIVELY SMALL ORIFICE.  
 



 

 






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