Germ threat: Preparing for bioterrorism
The Christmas terrorist near-miss serves as a reminder, if one were needed, that there are hundreds of terrorist planners, and thousands of dedicated followers, who plot day and night to inflict harm on the United States and its people; former Senators Bob Graham (D-Florida), and Jim Talent (R-Missouri), co-chairmen of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, argue that the most likely weapon of mass destruction terrorists will use would be biological weapons; the two also argue that the H1N1 flu crisis offered an early test of the U.S. abilities to respond to bioterrorism; they conclude the United States flunked it badly
Since 2008, the United States has had a bipartisan commission looking at the prospects for terrorism acts involving weapons of mass destruction. The group, mandated by Congress, has a name that is a mouthful: the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism.
Chaired by former Senators Bob Graham (D-Florida), and Jim Talent (R-Missouri), the commission has concluded that such an act is not only likely but probable by the year 2013 somewhere in the world. The Houston Chronicle reports that it prognosticates, further, that the attack is likely to be biological in nature. If that target happens to be the United States, commission members say, the country is woefully unprepared to respond.
How do we know? Graham and Talent say the H1N1 flu crisis offers an early test of the U.S. abilities to respond to bioterrorism. They conclude the United States flunked it badly. This augurs poorly for the U.S. chances against a biological threat sprung without warning, as is considered most likely.
In the wake of the failed attempt to blow up an airliner on Christmas Day, terrorism has re-entered the headlines. “As the Obama administration and Congress seek new ways to strengthen our antiterrorism defenses, the work done by this commission deserves particular attention,” the Chronicle writes. “While we tend to think of terrorism in terms of blown-up planes and suicide bombers, it can also take the form of poisoning water supplies, spreading pathogens such as anthrax or ebola, or something called the H5N1 that could kill 70 percent of those who contract it.”
The effects of H1N1 are starting to diminish. A recent story in the Chronicle reported that U.S. deaths are down. In the public mind, this can lead to understandable feelings that the crisis has passed.
Not so fast, Graham and Talent say. In a recent op-ed piece in the Washington Post, the two senators make a compelling argument for learning from the U.S. handling of H1N1 and applying that knowledge to likely future threats.
The good news, they say, is that much of this is not high-cost. For example, “we should modernize the way we make flu vaccine to speed up its delivery in a crisis.” The bad news is that apathy and political expediency can overwhelm well-meaning efforts such as this one.
“Which will it be?” the Chronicle asks.
