Terrorism September

Assessments of San Francisco International Airport to Improve Preparedness Against Chemical and Biological Terrorism, Sandia Report SAND2003-8554, Albuquerque, N.Mex. Sandia National Laboratories, September 2003. 

Incapacitating agents have been stockpiled by numerous countries and there have been unverified reports that they have been utilized on the battlefield. In addition, they have been employed by police and special forces as a way to end hostage situations (e.g., the September 2002 counter terrorism raid on the Moscow theater). These operations have met with mixed success. 

Marmagas S.W., Kind L. R.,Public Health s Response to a changed World September 11, Biological Terrorism, and the Development of an Environmental Health Tracking Network. Amer. J. of Public Health, 2003, 93, 8, 1226-30. 

Introduction Priorto September 11, 2001, known as 9/11, chemical process safety activities primarily focused on accidental release risks and excluded most considerations of intentional releases. Security was provided mostly for lesser threats than such extreme acts of violence, and terrorism was generally not provided for except in high-security areas of the world. Exceptions to this included general concerns for sabotage. This was due to a perception that these risks were managed adequately, and that the threat of a terrorist attack, particularly on U.S. chemical manufacturing facilities or transportation system, was remote. 

CDC has been preparing for some time for the remote possibility of an outbreak of smallpox as an act of terror. That process has intensified since September 11, 2001. Although we are planning for this possibility to protect public health, we have no indication that there is an imminent threat. As part of the ongoing effort to increase awareness, CDC has distributed a draft of a smallpox preparedness plan to reviewers for comment. It will then be reviewed by state health departments, which will participate in its implementation. However, if needed, it could be put in operation immediately. 

Combating Terrorism (Federal Agencies Efforts to Implement National Policy and Strategy). Washington, D.C. U.S. General Accounting Office (Report Number GAO/NSIAD - 97 - 254. September 26). 1997. 

Studies performed several years prior to September 11, 2001 showed that terrorist incidents around the world declined somewhat, while the severity of individual attacks increased dramatically.1 The motivation for terrorist acts has shifted in recent years from being politically driven to having a more fatalistic orientation. Current-day terrorism is increasingly motivated by body count, and more often than not is religiously or ethnically motivated. While politically motivated terrorism tends to limit the amount of violence in order to ensure that it does not impact supporters sympathy for its cause, today s nihilistic terrorism is more simply focused on massive death and destruction of property. 

So why now As one of the few who are still alive and able to speak from experience about the details of that decade of testing in the 1960s, I was jolted, as were most citizens, by the events on 11 September 2001. Public fears and misapprehensions about the possible extension of such recklessness to chemical terrorism suddenly began to share the headlines. The real chemical story the story I had long wanted to tell in detail suddenly seemed to be an important one. I realized it was a remarkable story that few were still able to tell. 

Copeland, R.A. War on Terrorism or War on Constitutional Rights Blurring the Lines of Intelh-gence gathering in Post-September 11 American, 35 Tex. Tech. L. Rev. 1 (2004). 

Congress passed the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 as part of the Homeland Security Act, in response to the terrorism attacks of 11 September, 2001. The new law contains several provisions that are designed to strengthen the public health system generally and the availability of drugs, biological products and medical devices for countering bioterrorism, in particular. 

On August 30 the Reign of Terror began. On September 17 the Law of Suspects went into effect. It allowed the imprisonment of anyone whose loyalty to the republic or the Revolution was deemed suspect. During the Terror, some 300,000 suspects were arrested. Of these, 17,000 were executed, while numerous others died in prison or were simply killed without trial. 

It is likely that gun control will be an issue in the 2004 presidential race between Democrat John Kerry and incumbent George W. Bush, but it is unlikely to be a major issue like the economy, Iraq, or the war on terrorism. This does not mean it will not be an important issue, however—in the expected close election, any issue able to motivate even a relatively small number of voters could be decisive. (Indeed, Kerry attacked Bush in September 2004 for allowing the assault weapons ban to lapse without making any real effort on its behalf.) Although not as much so as abortion or same-sex marriage, gun control is a cultural issue. The effects of such issues on political outcomes are always hard to predict. 

LaPierre s latest advocacy of gun rights takes place in the context of the post-September 11, 2001 world. Along with a defense of the historical meaning of the Second Amendment and assertions about bias and venal politics on the part of gun control advocates, the author argues for arming airline pilots and suggests that armed, prepared citizens are a vital part of the defense against terrorism. 

Fialka, M. Chase, N. King, and R. Winslow, Officials Fear U.S. Is Ill-Equipped to Deal with Biological or Chemical Terrorism, Wall Street Journal (electronic edition), September 18, 2001, at http // interactive, wsj. com /. 

If this U.S. policy seems extreme, so are its philosophical underpinnings, as laid out in Earth in the Balance. The apocalyptic central thesis of Mr. Gore s book is that we need to take bold and unequivocal action. .. [to] make the rescue of the environment the central organizing principle for civilization. The events of September 11,2001, and the ensuing efforts against international terrorism illustrate how unspeakably myopic and self-absorbed was this view of the civilization s appropriate priorities. 

The war on terrorism has had conflicting effects on the war on drugs. For example, when the anti-terrorism efforts following September 11, 2001, led to stricter inspections along the Mexican border, drug smuggling did decline somewhat. But as cocaine became scarcer, the production of methamphetamines in criminal labs inside the United States continued to grow. 

After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, federal investigators discussed the use of truth serum to obtain information from jailed terrorism suspects. The serum is the barbiturate thiopental, which is also known as pentothal sodium. The use of this drug to make a reluctant person talk has been portrayed in movies, books, and on television. 

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