State sponsored terrorism

In addition to the organized and loose networks that generally fund their own activities, there are a number of states that sponsor terrorism. This is of particular concern with regards to weapons of mass destruction, because the numerous resources that can be brought to bear in state development of CBRN weapons can in turn be transferred to terrorists. Disincentives do exist to prevent this proliferation. As of October 2004, the United States lists six countries as state sponsors of terrorism Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria. Of these, five are pursuing WMD to one degree or another. Libya repudiated its WMD program as discussed below. 

while listed as a state sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. Government, does not provide significant resources or support for the most dangerous anti-western terrorists. Cuba is listed because it provides safe harbor to members of designated terrorist groups such as the Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) and the FARC as well as other fugitives from U.S. justice [47]. 

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Keywords terrorism al Qaeda chemical terrorism biological terrorism radiological terrorism nuclear terrorism state sponsored terrorism threat sensors. 

World events have conspired to increase the threat of the use of chemical and biological weapons. The end of the Cold War brought not only the hoped-for change of swords into plowshares but also political and economic turbulence in the former Soviet Union, unemployed and disenchanted weapons specialists and scientists, the rise of religious fundamentalism in southwest Asia, state-sponsored terrorism, and blurring of the lines between terrorism and traditional warfare. 

With the spread of information and the desperation for hard currency of some of the state sponsors of terrorism, as well as the changing national security environment, it is possible that terrorists may build or acquire CBRN in the future. 

A particularly important new development was the accession of Libya to the CWC at the beginning of 2004. This accession, facilitated by more than a year of quiet bilateral endeavours by both the United States and the United Kingdom, brought into the realm of the Convention a country that had in the past been associated with sponsoring terrorism and that had acquired a CW stockpile. 

In April 2001, the US Department of State released a document entitled Patterns of Global Terrorism—2000, published by the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, and reflecting the official views of the US Secretary of State. In the report, seven nations—Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Cuba, North Korea, and Sudan—are designated as state sponsors of international terrorism, with each given a kind of thumbnail portrait ... 

These allegations caused anxiety because of the bellicose, and recurrently ineffective, foreign policy mounted by Muammar Qaddafi since he seized power in 1969. He has frequently gone to war with his neighbours, sent forces to intervene in more distant parts of Africa, sponsored acts of terrorism, and issued threats against Israel, the United States and other countries. Moreover, his military forces, armed with conventional weapons, have periodically foundered in their local conflicts. In 1977... 

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