All told, Block estimates that about a dozen countries are believed to have active bioweapons programs.
Terrorist threat
Although Block is concerned about the bioweapons buildup in Iraq and other nations, he believes a greater threat comes from terrorist groups willing to risk an out-of-control epidemic and eager to suffer casualties for the good of ``the cause.``
A recent example was the 1995 sarin gas attack inside the Tokyo subway by the Japanese apocalyptic cult Aum Shinrikyo. The widely publicized assault, which killed 13 people and hospitalized thousands, had been preceded by a series of failed botulism and anthrax assaults near the Imperial Palace, a Tokyo airport and two U.S. military bases.
``Groups like Aum Shinrikyo are willing to use biological agents inefficiently just for the terror and propaganda value,`` Block contends.
``If anthrax were released haphazardly in a major U.S. city and produced only a handful of cases, the public fear and disruption that would ensue might alone bring about the intended effect,`` he adds.
Solutions
During fiscal year 2000, the Clinton administration allocated $1.4 billion to combat both biological and chemical warfare - a good beginning but not enough, according to Block, who believes more should be spent beefing up America`s anti-terrorist intelligence effort and its emergency response capability.
Block also supports the development of hi-tech devices capable of instantaneously detecting lethal bacteria and viruses in the environment, and he encourages the production and stockpiling of new vaccines - a hot-button issue in Washington, D.C. these days.
The anthrax vaccine has stirred the most controv
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Contact: Mark Shwartz
mshwartz@stanford.edu
650-723-9296
Stanford University
11-Jan-2001