WMD AND TERRORISTS

WMD and Terrorists

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION3

WMD4

THE MATERIAL THREATS6

Nuclear6

Radiological7

Biological7

Chemical8

TERRORIST AND WMD USE9

POTENTIAL WMD TERRORISTS14

THE RISE OF 'NEW' TERRORISM17

REFERENCES24

WMD and Terrorists

Introduction

Weapons of mass destruction is a former Soviet military term which was euphemistically used to denote nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. It is now widely used, despite debate over its appropriateness, and its definition has broadened to include radiological weapons(Lake, 2000). For some, particularly in the wake of the World Trade Center airliner attacks, the term WMD has come to include any means capable of inflicting mass casualties(Sprinzak, 2000).

Even before the Fall of 2001, catastrophic terrorism had become a significant issue in the national security arena, and spurred debate over the nature of the threat and the appropriate response. Several occurrences over the last decade contributed to this increasing attention: the 1995 Aum Shinrikyo's nerve agent attack in the Tokyo subway, the Oklahoma City and World Trade Center bombings in the United States, and the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania(Lake, 2000). Also of concern has been the possibility of WMD proliferation to terrorists from the former Soviet states where old research, production and storage facilities remain with questionable security and economically distressed personnel. In light of the heightened attention and increased government spending, the General Accounting Office (GAO) repeatedly called for additional risk assessment of the possibilities of a WMD terrorist attack.2 However, it has been the combined effect of the latest World Trade Center attacks and the subsequent anthrax attacks on Capitol Hill and news media organizations, that has spurred unprecedented attention on this issue. These attacks have also highlighted the irony that anthrax, a so-called weapon of mass destruction, actually produced dramatically fewer casualties and destruction than the airliners crashing into the World Trade Center(Stern, 2000,). 

WMD

WMD "is a generic term for radio-nuclides, biological and chemical agents or materials, and their delivery means produced or used for non-peaceful purposes and whose effects can cause large numbers of casualties and/or large-scale material damage.] And their delivery means constitutes a threat to international security and is a matter of concern to NATO". The first WMD bomb this century was dropped on Hiroshima nicknamed "little boy" referring to Roosevelt at 08:15am on 6th August 1945(Friedman, 2003).

Exploding at about 580m above ground level, and reaching several million degrees centigrade in temperature upon detonation. This would have instantaneously shaped a fireball emitting radiation and heat rays destroying everything. An area of 13sq km was reduced to ashes with only 8% of the 76,000 building remained undamaged. 118,661 civilians, 20,000 military deaths, and along with those who survived the long term effect of radiation sickness, genetic and mental trauma was devastating(Allison, Kokoshin, 2002).

The second WMD bomb was dropped on Nagasaki nicknamed "Fat Man" referring to Churchill at 11:02 on 9th August 1945 by a B29 bomber. This bomb exploded 500m direct above a suburb of schools, factories, and residential homes 6.7sq km was reduced to ashes with 36.1% of the 51,000 building remained undamaged. From the 270,000 people present, 73,884 were killed, 74,909 were injured and the rest suffered the same long term radiation and mental ...