http://www.worldpoliticswatch.com/Article.aspx?id=762
Homeland Security Authorities Fear Chemical Terrorism in U.S. Richard Weitz | Bio <file:///C:/author.aspx?id=102> | 09 May 2007 World Politics Watch Exclusive <http://www.worldpoliticswatch.com/> WASHINGTON -- In recent months, federal and state homeland security officials have become increasingly concerned that terrorists and other groups might attempt to imitate the insurgents in Iraq and employ chlorine-bombs and other chemical weapons within the United States. Even before insurgents in Iraq began detonating trucks carrying bombs combining conventional explosive with industrial chlorine, U.S. government and non-government experts had identified the United States as potentially vulnerable to terrorist attacks against chemical plants or rail tankers transporting toxic chemicals such as chlorine. In their "National Planning Scenarios <http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/nationalsecurity/earlywarning /NationalPlanningScenariosApril2005.pdf> <http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/nationalsecurity/earlywarning /NationalPlanningScenariosApril2005.pdf> " (pdf file), analysts at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) identified a dozen possible homeland security incidents the department views as most plausible or devastating. One scenario involved the hypothetical detonation of a large chlorine storage tank that killed 17,500 people and injured more than 100,000. In the annual FBI threat assessment <http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2007_hr/011107transcript.pdf> <http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2007_hr/011107transcript.pdf> (pdf file) delivered to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in January 2007, Director Robert Mueller stated that the acquisition of WMD by terrorist groups "continues to be a growing concern." In Mueller's assessment, while terrorists may not currently possess the capabilities to produce the complex biological and chemical agents necessary to carry out a large-scale attack, "their capability will improve as they pursue enhancing their scientific knowledge base, including recruiting scientists to assist them." In late February 2007, then-Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte stated <http://www.iwar.org.uk/homesec/resources/threats-2006/negroponte-02-28-06.p df> <http://www.iwar.org.uk/homesec/resources/threats-2006/negroponte-02-28-06.p df> (pdf file) that U.S. "intelligence reporting indicates that nearly 40 terrorist organizations, insurgencies or cults have used, possessed, or expressed an interest in chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear agents or weapons." He added, however, that most of these groups are only able to carry out "small-scale" unconventional attacks such as employing poisons or using "improvised chemical devises" like the chlorine bombs in Iraq. Nonetheless, according to Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples <http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2007_hr/022707maples.pdf> <http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2007_hr/022707maples.pdf> (pdf file), the U.S. intelligence community believes that al-Qaida and other terrorist groups are pursuing the capability to employ biological and chemical agents such as ricin, botulinum toxin, cyanide, anthrax, sarin, and mustard gases. Suicide terrorists may prove especially effective at using CW. Since they are prepared to die in the attack, they do not wear CW defensive gear or take other measures that might alert authorities to the threat. The most likely target for terrorists seeking to release large quantities of chlorine are the railcars that traverse the United States carrying enormous 90-ton tanks of chlorine. U.S. railroads annually carry 1.7 million shipments of hazardous materials, of which 100,000 are toxic chemicals prone to become airborne in an accident. About 80 percent of these latter shipments consist of chlorine. Thirty-seven water utilities in the country still receive chlorine gas by rail, generating 45,000 shipments annually. A March 2007 report by the Center for American Progress <http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/04/pdf/chemical_security_report .pdf> <http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/04/pdf/chemical_security_report .pdf> (pdf file) cited the Iraqi insurgent attacks to justify its assessment that "railcars of chlorine gas represent a distinct national security vulnerability." In announcing various measures to increase domestic rail security, <http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/2006/press_release_12152006.shtm> DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff warned <http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/2006/press_release_12152006.shtm> ,"A toxic emission from an attack against a chemical facility or hazardous chemicals in transit is among the most serious risks facing America's highest threat areas." The U.S. Naval Research Lab estimated that, depending on weather conditions and time of day, a rupture of a tanker car containing chlorine in the Washington, D.C., area could kill 100,000 people in half an hour. Other experts anticipate that a 90-ton release of liquid chlorine from the Kuehne Chemical Corporation in New Jersey could kill 12 million people. In response to such threats, on April 3, 2007, the Department of Homeland Security announced new regulations, scheduled to take effect this summer, aimed at enhancing security at U.S. industrial chemical facilities. In <http://www.nypost.com/seven/03232007/news/regionalnews/chlorine_bombs_put_c ity_on_alert_regionalnews_murray_weiss.htm> New York City <http://www.nypost.com/seven/03232007/news/regionalnews/chlorine_bombs_put_c ity_on_alert_regionalnews_murray_weiss.htm> , the police force's counterterrorist experts are analyzing the Iraq incidents and enhancing their surveillance of chlorine stockpiles in the metropolitan area. A senior member of the force explained that, "It only make sense when we see a new iteration involving explosives, in this case the use of chlorine, that we would be taking a close, hard look at it [the threat]." The U.S. intelligence community and the FBI have undertaken a comprehensive study of the chlorine attacks in Iraq in order to avert similar chemical weapons attacks throughout U.S. territory. In mid-April 2007, Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Robert Stephen told a meeting of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council that, "We are truly analyzing the living daylights out of these attacks." At the local level, many communities are seeking to reduce their use of chlorine and instead employ safer chemicals for disinfecting water, manufacturing products, and other purposes. Although these alternatives are generally more expensive than chlorine, the attacks in Iraq have appropriately persuaded many localities of the imperative of reducing U.S. vulnerability to chemical terrorism. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. 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