Biological Chemical and Agro Terrorism

A study done to review the biological attacks over the 20th century demonstrated approximately 100 incidents - 29 of those involved the terrorist organization actually acquiring the biological agent and 19 of those involved actually using the agent. Our world is more adapt now then it was in the 20th century and according to an article in the McClatchy Newspapers, "United States remains the highest priority intelligence target for many foreign intelligence services."

In certain cases, biological weapons can be as dangerous as nuclear weapons. For biological weapons it is more practical to provide treatment for the agent rather then trying to prevent it. In more than one aspect, the United States is not prepared to handle a serious or even moderate biological attack.

In many cases the United States does not have the treatment medication that would be needed to treat a person attacked with a biological agent. Another problem that presents itself is that the medication that can be used to treat these types of agents does not have a large shelf life and does not allow the United States to stockpile the medication to be prepared in case something happens 10 years from now.

The hospitals in the country are generally located within the downtown areas of the cities, which for most terrorists organizations, will be the target of the attack. According to the Council on Foreign Relations hospitals could handle smaller scale attacks such as bus bombings but many experts have said that the emergency room staff are not properly trained or equipped with the material they need to handle a large scale chemical, biological or radiation attack. Not to mention that once an attack has made its way to the publics eye the community, both the victims as well as bystanders, would flood the emergency rooms to be tested for potential contamination. In the Aum Shinrikyo attacks of the Tokyo subway in 1995 approximately 4,000 people flooded the emergency rooms to be tested for the biological agent.

In 2002 the Department of Health and Human Services created the National Bioterrorism Hospital Prearedness Program to help prepare hospitals and provide support to deliver coordinated efforts to those involved in a terrorist attack. Since then nearly half a billion dollars a year have been put in place to help prepare hospitals around the country; however, the funding has been limited and slow to reach some areas. In 2005 the Department of Homeland Security, hospitals and law enforcement around the country took part in a $16 million exercise that lasted five days, where mock biological and chemical attacks were caused, to point out the weaknesses in treating patients who are exposed to biological or chemical weapons. One of the best prepared hospitals in the country is the St. Vincent's Medical Center in Manhatten. This hospital assisted patients from the 1993 and 2001 World Trade Center attacks, the center also has had a committee dedicated to treat nuclear, biological and chemical threats since