CHAPTER F

OURTEEN

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21ST C

ENTU

RY THREA

TS

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter the reader should be able to:

1. Differentiate the bio-agents obtainable by terrorists and list the ways biological agents may be used as weapons of mass destruction.

2. Explain the manner in which terrorist groups might exploit chemical and radiological weapons.

3. Compare the lethality of viruses and bacteriological infections.

4. Summarize what cyber terrorism and cyber security mean and debate the issue.

5. Describe the intelligence reform spawned by the 9/11 Commission.

6. Elaborate on the need to share information.

SUBTOPICSINTRODUCTION THE AVAILABILITY OF VARIOUS FORMS OF CHEMICAL, BIOLOGICAL, AND NUCLEAR MATERIALS IS FRIGHTENING. EVEN MORE FRIGHTENING IS THE LACK OF EFFORTS TO CONTROL THEIR PROLIFERATION AND TO PREVENT THE USE OF THEM. AS THE POTENTIAL THREAT OF CHEMICAL, BIOLOGICAL, AND OTHER UNCONVENTIONAL WEAPONS GROWS AT THE LOCAL, STATE, AND FEDERAL LEVELS, PREPARATION FOR SUCH AN EVENT IS RAPIDLY BECOMING A SIGNIFICANT ISSUE TO THE PRIVATE SECTOR.

BIOTERRORISM THE USE OF BIOLOGICAL AGENTS IN WAR IS NOTHING NEW AND HAS EXISTED SINCE THE 6TH CENTURY. CONTROLLING AND CONTAINING A BIOTERRORISM ATTACK WILL REQUIRE INCREDIBLE EFFORT AND COOPERATION ACROSS INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARIES. MODERN MAN HAS SHOWN TO BE JUST AS RUTHLESS AS HISTORICAL ARMIES AND GOVERNMENTS. THE 20TH CENTURY'S FIRST USE OF BIOWEAPONS OCCURRED DURING WORLD WAR I WHEN A GERMAN UNDERCOVER AGENT SUPPOSEDLY INFECTED THE FRENCH FOOD SUPPLY. BIOLOGICAL AGENTS OF SPECIFIC CONCERN FOR HUMAN HEALTH INCLUDE VIRUSES, BACTERIA, AND TOXINS SUCH AS THOSE CAUSING SMALLPOX, ANTHRAX, PLAGUE, TULAREMIA, BOTULISM TOXIN, AND VIRAL HEMORRHAGIC FEVERS (FOR EXAMPLE, EBOLA VIRUS).

http://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/agentlist.asp

CHEMICAL  THE POTENTIAL CHEMICAL THREATS WHICH MAY BE ENCOUNTERED BY EMERGENCY PROFESSIONALS INCLUDE BOTH CHEMICAL WARFARE AGENTS AND TOXIC INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS.  CHEMICAL WARFARE AGENTS ARE USED TO KILL, SERIOUSLY INJURE, OR INCAPACITATE PEOPLE THROUGH PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS. THERE ARE TWO CATEGORIES OF CHEMICAL AGENTS: NERVE AGENTS AND BLISTER AGENTS. NERVE AGENTS INCLUDE SARIN, TABUN, SOMAN, AND GF OR VX. THESE ARE COMPOUNDS THAT ATTACK THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM AND ARE ABSORBABLE THROUGH THE SKIN, RESPIRATORY, AND ORAL ENTRY POINTS. THEY ARE EASILY DISPERSED AND HIGHLY TOXIC, WITH SPEEDY EFFECTS. EXPOSURE TO THESE AGENTS THROUGH RESPIRATORY MEANS CAN RESULT IN RAPID DEATH. EXPOSURE THROUGH THE SKIN CAN CAUSE SYMPTOMS WITHIN 30 MINUTES AND EVENTUAL DEATH AS WELL. ORAL EXPOSURE CAN OCCUR BY EATING CONTAMINATED FOOD FROM AN AREA WHERE THE AGENT HAS BEEN DISPERSED. BLISTER AGENTS SUCH AS MUSTARD GAS BURN OR BLISTER THE SKIN, EYES OR LUNGS. THE SYMPTOMS MAY NOT APPEAR IMMEDIATELY, POSSIBLY BEING DELAYED FOR TWO TO 24 HOURS AFTER EXPOSURE. LARGE QUANTITIES OF THESE AGENTS ARE ACTUALLY STORED IN THE UNITED STATES AND POSE TANTALIZING TARGETS FOR TERRORISTS.

NUCLEAR THREATS WITH THE END OF THE COLD WAR, THE WEST HAD STARTED TO STOP REFERRING TO SUCH TERMS AS NUCLEAR DETERRENCE, MASSIVE ASSURED DESTRUCTION, AND NUCLEAR RETALIATION. HOWEVER, TERRORISM HAS RENEWED THE THREAT FROM SUCH WEAPONS. THE CONCEPT OF NUCLEAR TERROR RELIES ALMOST ENTIRELY ON ITS ASSUMPTION THAT ROGUE STATES COULD PROVIDE NUCLEAR WEAPONS "SECRETLY" TO TERRORISTS. THE GOVERNMENT THEN REASONED THAT SHOULD THESE SECRET LINKS BE EXPOSED, DETERRENCE COULD LARGELY BE RESTORED BECAUSE THE UNITED STATES WOULD THREATEN UNACCEPTABLE RETALIATION. ROGUE STATES WOULD HAVE TO CONSIDER THE GRIM REALITY OF MASSIVE RETALIATION. IT IS UNCLEAR WHETHER SUCH NATION STATES AS IRAN HAVE EVEN CONSIDERED RETALIATION AS A REALISTIC RESPONSE FROM THE WEST. IN ADDITION, IT MUST ALSO BE RECOGNIZED THAT DIRTY BOMBS, ALTHOUGH NOWHERE NEAR AS DEVASTATING AS NUCLEAR BOMBS, CAN STILL CAUSE MASSIVE DAMAGE, MAJOR HEALTH PROBLEMS, AND INTENSE PSYCHOLOGICAL HARM.

CYBER TERRORISM AND COMPUTER SECURITY COMPUTER CRIME IS DEFINED GENERALLY DEFINED AS THOSE CRIMES WHICH INVOLVE ACCESSING A COMPUTER’S DATABASE WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION OR EXCEEDING AUTHORIZATION FOR THE PURPOSE OF SABOTAGE OR FRAUD. IT ALSO COMPRISES THEFT OR DESTRUCTION OF SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE. COMPUTER SECURITY, THEREFORE, IS THE PROTECTION OF ALL ASSETS, ESPECIALLY INFORMATIONAL, FROM BOTH HUMAN MADE AND NATURAL DISASTERS. COMPUTER SECURITY INCLUDES PROTECTING DATA, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, PERSONNEL, AND THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT.

COMPUTER SECURITY INCIDENT RESPONSE TEAM (CSIRT) SOON AFTER 9/11, THE ADMINISTRATION SOUGHT TO IMPLEMENT THE PRESIDENT’S NATIONAL STRATEGY TO SECURE CYBERSPACE. THE RESULTS INCLUDED THE FORMULATION OF A STANDARDIZED INCIDENT HANDLING PROCEDURE FOR CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS AND THE FUTURE CONSOLIDATION OF CYBER WATCH CENTERS. THE NATIONAL COMPUTER EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM (US-CERT) TOGETHER WITH CARNEGIE MELLON’S CERT/COORDINATION CENTER IS MEANT TO BE A COORDINATION CENTRAL POINT FOR ADDRESSING CYBER ATTACKS.

INTELLIGENCE AGENCY CAPABILITIES INTELLIGENCE IS THE ART OF LEARNING WHAT YOUR ENEMY, OR POTENTIAL ENEMY, IS DOING, THINKING, PLANNING, OR PLOTTING. THERE ARE TWO BASIC FORMS OF INTELLIGENCE: HUMAN INTELLIGENCE (HUMINT) AND TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE (TECHINT). IN 1949, THE CIA CREATED THE OFFICE OF SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. SINCE THEN, THE AGENCY’S SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EFFORT HAS HAD A DRAMATIC IMPACT ON THE COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS OF INTELLIGENCE. AT THE BEGINNING OF THE COLD WAR, BOTH HUMINT AND TECHINT GENERALLY UNDERTOOK COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS, DUE LARGELY IN PART TO A COMMON OBJECTIVE OF DEFEATING THE SOVIET THREAT. AT THE HEIGHT OF THE COLD WAR, HOWEVER, THE RELIANCE ON TECHNOLOGY HAD REACHED A DISPROPORTIONATE LEVEL WITH HUMAN INTELLIGENCE GATHERING MECHANISMS. REORIENTING HUMINT COLLECTION TO GIVE SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER ATTENTION TO TERRORIST OR POTENTIALLY TERRORIST GROUPS WOULD HAVE IMPORTANT AND HOPEFULLY POSITIVE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE INTELLIGENCE COLLECTION PROCESS.

CONCLUSION TERRORISM, AND ESPECIALLY TERRORIST ACTS ASSOCIATED WITH BIOLOGICAL, CHEMICAL, OR NUCLEAR WEAPONS IS AN EXTREMELY DEMANDING ISSUE. THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY BEARS THE BURDEN OF ACQUIRING INFORMATION SUFFICIENTLY ACCURATE TO PREVENT SUCH ATTACKS. WHETHER THE GOVERNMENT IS SUCCESSFUL IN COMBATING TERRORISM WILL BE JUDGED NOT ONLY ON ITS EFFORTS TO CIRCUMVENT AN ATTACK, BUT ON HOW IT REACTS TO A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION ATTACK.

CASE STUDY: HEMORRHAGIC FEVERS ARE CAUSED BY VIRUSES. DISCUSS THE ETHICS OF SHOOTING DOWN AN AIRCRAFT WHERE THE VIRUS HAS SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE CREW AND PASSENGERS.

WEB RESOURCESGERMS: BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS AND AMERICA’S SECRET WAR, NEW YORK: SIMON AND SHUSTER, 2002, ISBN: 0684871599

EPILOGUE- “BUYING DUCT TAPE BY THE MILE AND HAVING ELDERLY WOMEN REMOVE THEIR SHOES AT AIRPORTS DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO INCREASE HOMELAND SECURITY.” MARCUS RAMEN, THE MYTH OF HOMELAND SECURITY.

LEARNING OBJECTIVESAFTER READING THIS CHAPTER THE READER SHOULD BE ABLE TO:

1. DEBATE INTELLIGENTLY THE MAJOR ISSUES FACING TRANSPORTATION SECURITY IN THE FUTURE.2. REASON THE NEXT BEST STEPS TO TAKE IN THE WAR ON TERRORISM.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES- CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES WHICH CAN BE DEBATED

1. DOES TORTURE WORK? IS IT JUSTIFIABLE IN A DOOMSDAY SCENARIO?2. INDIVIDUALS WHO PARTICIPATED WITH OR ASSISTED AL Q’AEDA ARE CHARGED WITH OFFENSES AGAINST THE LAWS OF WAR. YET THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION HAS DENIED THAT THEY REPRESENT A “MILITARY FORCE” OR HAVE POW STATUS. NORMALLY, THE UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY JUSTICE WOULD APPLY. OR, IS THERE A CONCURRENT POWER THAT CAN BE USED TO IMPLEMENT BY PRESIDENTIAL ORDER?3. ARE THE AIR AND SEA MARSHAL PROGRAMS COST EFFECTIVE?4. IS THE WEST PREPARED FOR A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION ATTACK?5. SHOULD TERRORISM BE FOUGHT VIA LAW ENFORCEMENT MEANS OR MILITARY?6. HAS THE PATRIOT ACT STRIPPED AWAY CRITICAL INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS IN VIOLATION OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION?7. HAS THE CREATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY ESTABLISHED JUST ANOTHER BUREAUCRACY?8. HAS THE TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION BEEN EFFECTIVE?9. WHAT ARE THE ROOTS OF TERRORISM IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND HOW DO CONTROL IT?10. IS A DECLARATION OF WAR NECESSARY IN THE “WAR ON TERRORISM?”