If weapons of mass destruction were sold at Costco, biological weapons would doubtlessly be the most popular brand. They are quick to make, easy to use and above all, low in cost. “If you have five bacteria and put them in a culture medium, in two days you will have five trillion,” said Dr. Brenda Spangler, an associate research professor at Montana State University, Bozeman. “It is cheaper to grow them than to make them. In less than a week, for no money at all, the organism will grow for you.” Biologicals are so cheap, they have been dubbed the “poor man’s atomic bomb.” Biologicals can affect the population of one square kilometer for a mere $1, according to a seminar on Chemical Warfare at California Polytechnic University. That’s pennies compared to $2,000 per kilometer cost for conventional weapons, $800 for nuclear weapons and $600 for chemical weapons. Yet the low cost does not reflect biological’s effectiveness. The U.S. Office of Technology Assessment estimates that “a small private plane, with 220 pounds of anthrax spores, flying over Washington on a clear, windless night, could trail an invisible, odorless mist that would kill between 1 million and 3 million people.” Biologicals have an advantage over conventional weapons in that they survive beyond the initial exposure. “A bomb is fairly local. You drop it and you have much less than a mile (of devastation),” said Spangler. But were a single canister of (biological agents) released, it would “affect a single city.” Moderate prices and ease of production have not only allowed nations such as Iraq and Iran to produce biological agents, but have also made it easier for terrorist groups to use biological weapons. Biological agents are easy to hide and can even appear normal. They have a “dual-use” in diagnostic tests in hospitals and in numerous research labs. These agents are also stored in small containers. A vial containing enough spores to kill an entire city could be kept in one’s pocket, said Spangler. The labs in which the agents are produced also seem relatively normal. “You can always use a beer fermenter, a regular lab or grow it in your kitchen,” said Spangler. “Instead of growing beer, you grow botulinum.” These labs are easily destroyed too. A lab producing biological agents can be cleaned of all suspicious material and appear like a normal pharmaceutical lab in 30-60 minutes, according to the Chemical Warfare seminar at CalPoly. Terrorism has an advantage over organized military in use of biologicals. “My biggest fear is that governments supporting terrorism would have the ability to get biological weapons and use them,” said FHS JROTC teacher Colonel Mike Hittle. “(Terrorists) don’t go for military targets that might be well defended, (they) go for a civilian target. There are checks in the military, but there are no checks in terrorism.” Yet biological weapons have drawbacks in their usage. Biological weapons, such as botulinum and anthrax, are “more effective to use as airborne spores,” said Spangler. But these spores are easily set off course of the target by winds or other weather. “(Biological weapons) are totally nonspecific,” said Spangler. There are also many protective measures combating biological and chemical weapons. “In Desert Storm all of the troops were vaccinated,” said Spangler. “They also carried injections that served to stimulate the heart.” This protection goes beyond just the military and into civilian population. “The government has had since the early ‘40s, if not the ‘30s, a defensive vaccine program (against biologicals),” said Spangler. The Navy “has funded research for detection of airborne pathogens and chemicals,” said Spangler, by using fiber-optic and other micro-sensor technology. The largest threat of biological weapons are attacks against unprotected populations with little or no preventative measures, unlike the United States, according to Spangler. Said Spangler: “So we have detection efficiency coupled with vaccine types of effort. As long as you have a detector for both, you have a certain level of preventative measures.” s |
