TOTAL LICENSING
easily. There are, and al- • We are reminded of their geographic disbursement ary – They also have become the worst nightmare
ways have been, young and we are reminded of a statement by Michael scenario for the directors of the CIA and Homeland
people aghast at the in- McConnell, Director of National Intelligence. “One Security chiefs in the USA and their counterparts
creasing loss of old tradi- of our greatest concerns continues to be that a ter- in Russia.
tions, the dirty underside rorist group or some other dangerous group might Gone is the world of the post-World War exclusive
of commercialization, acquire biological agents . . . to create casualties club of “Nuclear Nations”: USA, Soviet Union, UK,
and the excess, as they greater than September 11.” France and China. The NPT (Nuclear Non Prolifera-
see it, of social freedom A short course on biological weapons: tion Treaty) bargain proposal to other states under
and rampant individual- There are many, of which the most famous is an- the treaty was that, as long as they would forswear
ism. (Think of the Marx- thrax, which was employed by Bruce Ivins, a scientist the production of weapons-grade plutonium, the
ist infatuations of youth in the post-War fifties and employed in bio-defense by the US government. He nuclear states would supply nuclear material at rea-
sixties, seeking above all “change”, or destruction sent letters containing such dried spores to three sonable prices for ‘peaceful need’, and thereby save
with the purpose to build a new society). news media, two US senators, and, in the ensuing other states the enormous costs of developing such
In recent years, there are even non-Arabs joining confusion one photo editor of American Internation- refinement installations. The IAEA (International
Islam for its perceived “Purity”. This is not different al in Florida succumbed to inhalational anthrax (we Atomic Energy Agency) was to be the enforcement
from the growth of fundamentalist Born-Again Chris- never found out Ivins’ reasoning because he killed watchdog with its inspections. National pride, fear,
tianity, and Orthodox Judaism in the USA – with one himself before he could be questioned). It turned out and aspirations of power led to disregard for these
very major difference, however! the post office sorting machines had been contami- restrictions by Israel, India, and Pakistan. Now there
Those movements do not advocate violence to regis- nated and further spread the danger. are Iran and North Korea, and also Syria (who con-
ter their discontent as modern jihad does. There are other such disease-causing bacteria and structed a plutonium processing plant with North
Jihad in the West is watched and put into prisons viruses that cause smallpox, and Ebola hemorrhagic Korean help), who have officially declared their in-
by now alerted, cooperating international police and fever, and many others, like SARS, that affect ani- tentions of independent development.
security organizations – but it is exactly its disburse- mals. Luckily, it is not easy to weaponize such bio- During the Cold War there was the famous direct
ment into small, almost temporary cells, focused on agents. The agent could be stolen from the sophis- telephone line between Russian and US Presidents,
one big news worthy act, that makes its threat hard ticated labs that can create them but one would who were in possession of the red buttons that could
to deal with. need a delivery system that depends on weather, release Nuclear Armageddon.
SO NOW WHAT? wind, atmospheric conditions at the time of release Both Russia and the USA, who between them cur-
The threat and the battle go on: and whether it is infectious (can be passed from rently still own 95% of all “nukes” (nuclear missiles),
The USA has prevented an untold number of plots infected person to others). Usually quick recognition have worked together to reduce their stockpiles and
on its soil and is fortunate because it has no sub- and medical care can render it harmless. also to secure them.
stantial homegrown jihad movement amongst its This sort of science requires great amounts of time, However, with the collapse of the Soviet Union a
Muslim immigrants. This is a bonus, no doubt, from scientific personnel and funds. It cannot be carried large number of nuclear scientists lost their in-
its continuous efforts to battle discrimination and out in a garage and transport is a problem. Yet, in comes, supervision, and privileged status and might
provide upward mobility for settlers - at least as of- the USA, when in 2008 US agents made surprise be available to help or head up programs for other
ficial government policy. inspections of five labs where the government stud- governments or private organizations. US and Rus-
In Europe it must be recognized that European jihad ies biological weapons, two of the labs had serious sian self-interest has made them keep track of such
is really a protest movement, and not a religious one, shortcomings in their physical security installations. scientists and they have tried to provide them with
though it uses Islam as a unifying force and shield. It Remedy: More inspections and more stringent respected and income generating professorships
is the economics that create it! rules. US government supervision of the discover- and opportunities.
It is not for me, an American, to judge or lecture ies by private labs and the pharmaceutical industry The need for nuclear energy keeps creating more
European governments within the framework of this - that for good purposes keeps developing biological plants to provide energy from fissionable material.
study. Some of the conclusions seem obvious to me, viruses and experiments to expand man’s knowl- With that, the boundary lines between peaceful use
however. edge. There are now 400 such labs licensed and and weapons use have become blurred.
I, in turn, can observe how in the Middle East, Ameri- registered in the USA. There is also the ever present black market fed by
can attitudes and careless policies and pronounce- During the Cold War both Russia and the USA tempting large profits. We only need to remember
ments do provide oil for the flames of jihad. worked to develop biological weapons. In 1972 the distribution network of Dr. A.Q. Khan who sup-
Whatever we say or do – jihad will stay with us for the “Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) Treaty” plied technologies to Iran, Libya, and North Korea
another generation…It might be instructive at this came into effect. The programs under this treaty in- until his activities were discovered in 2003 by ac-
time for us to review the excellent report World at clude many countries besides Russia and the USA, cident. The honored “Father of the Pakistani nuclear
Risk published just last year (2008) by a group put but the large quantity of new biological laboratories bomb” wound up in a plush incarceration – from
together under the chairmanship of senators Bob and culture collection centers in many emerging so- this, he, a Pakistani folk hero, was just released with
Graham and Jim Talent. This report implemented a cieties make poorly secured labs a threat. fanfare while this column was being written.
recommendation of the 9/11 commission. It inter- Remedy: The USA must spend more on major ef- Even so-called legitimate nuclear power can lead to
viewed more than 250 government (Bush) officials. forts to educate more governments to this global unintended threat. In February 2009 two nuclear
Its travels took it around the country and the world. threat that affects and can affect citizens every- submarines – one French, one British – collided in
In September 2008 the group was awaiting a flight where and must also secure their meaningful local the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, officially without
to Pakistan to stay at the Marriott Hotel in Islam- cooperation. We need to use “soft power and we harm.
abad, Pakistan. By the time they arrived a few hours need to press for international conferences to lead It is known that no terrorist is now in possession of
later, “the Marriott Hotel was ablaze with the front to global assessments and disease surveillance prior nuclear facilities, but Osama bin Laden has openly
of the hotel a mass of twisted iron and broken . . . to the next scheduled review BWC conference in declared his interest.
and more than 50 lives lost.” A bomb crater testified 2011.” So far we have been lucky:
to the commission’s importance. And now we come to the much more visible and • In South Africa a band penetrated a badly watched
• The report reminds us that Al Qaeda associated famous of the twin threats: “The Bomb”– the atomic facility – which led the government to shut down its
groups are multiplying despite all the USA-led ef- one, of course. The words “mushroom cloud, Los Ala- total program.
forts and all the money spent on their suppression mos, Hiroshima, Chernobyl, concerned scientists, non • Leonid Smirnov – a foreman at Luch Scientific
in the many countries where they exist. proliferation” all have forever entered our diction- Production in Podolsk was keeping track of nuclear
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