Terrorism terrorist attacks

Protection of our food and water supplies against terrorist attack presents a major challenge, because the supply chain is so extensive and open. But it is a challenge that chemists and chemical engineers should accept. Moreover, the threats to food and water are not limited to terrorism—a variety of natural disasters could wreak havoc as well. 

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. 

Jenkins, Brian M. The Organization Men Anatomy of a Terrorist Attack, in James F. Hoge, Jr. and Gideon Rose, How Did This Happen Terrorism and the New War (NY Public Affairs, 2001). 

I recommend that emergency responders and persons establishing homeland security programs read this book, along with every person who wants to conserve health and save life. The more people that know the material in this book, the less will be the panic and loss of life in the terror that follows a weapon of mass destruction attack. There are other books on this subject that are less complete and largely out-of-date. This book is comprehensive, up-to-date, and provides sound advice for protection in the event of a terrorist attack involving weapons of mass destruction. 

This view is from court testimony on terrorism from Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, who helped organize the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center ... 

In the 21st century the term food terrorism was coined, which highlights the possibility of deliberate use of food as a vector for orally-ingested toxins in terrorist attacks. 

Unfortunately, terrorism and counterterrorism are enormous subjects that are not only vitally important, but are also urgent. A terrorist attack can come in many forms the most worrisome of these is airborne bioterrorism. Anthrax distributed upwind of a city is a serious threat that could kill 100,000 people or more. More frightening, however, is an agent like smallpox that is not only infective, but contagious. Past experience with smallpox has proven its efficiency at causing tens of millions of deaths around the world. 

Recent terrorist attacks on October 12, 2002, in Bali, Indonesia, showed that the homemade and industrial explosive bombs present a serious threat to the world community. These terrorist activities generated enormous demand for rapid identification of nitroaromatic explosives at the site of terrorism. The decentralized detection of explosives at low concentrations is fundamental for safety of civilized people. The ideal counter-terrorism detection device should allow the security forces to make the important decision concerning evacuating, barricading, effective decontamination of particular site or efficient pursuing of suspects. 

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. 

Ricin and Proteins The threat of a nuclear attack is one reason that Congress established the bipartisan Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism in 2007. In December 2008, the Commission issued World at Risk, a report that cautions that a weapon of mass destruction is likely to be used somewhere in the world before the end of 2013 unless action is taken immediately to forestall such an event.22 There are two major categories of weapons about which they are most concerned. Obviously, nuclear weapons in the hands of terrorists could kill enormous numbers of people, and the Commission agrees that the risk of a nuclear terrorist attack is increasing. However, they predict that it is more likely that terrorists will obtain and use a biological weapon first.23... 

In terms of safety, two issues are regularly debated. First, the issue of nuclear waste and, second, concerns over potential terrorist attacks on nuclear power plants. The first objection may be overcome through the introduction of new types of power plants, such as the pebble-bed modular reactor.This type of reactor uses graphite balls flecked with tiny amounts of uranium, rather than conventional fuel rods. With the fuel encased in graphite and impermeable silicon carbide, the theory is that the waste should be relatively easy to dispose of.The terrorism fears are less easily addressed and may ultimately stall the construction of new plants in countries such as the U.S., where these worries are greatest. 

TRWA is reported to have connections to the Islamic terror network [of] Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman - the convicted mastermind behind the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing - and Osama Bin Laden, the wealthy Saudi terrorist implicated in the 11th September 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.42... 

The committee notes that resilience to terrorist attack has become a major performance criterion for any infrastructure system. In the case of hydrogen, neither the physical and operating characteristics of future infrastructure systems nor the timing of their construction can be understood in sufficient detail to permit an analysis of their vulnerability. However, the committee does observe that public concerns with terrorism seem likely to influence the choice of any future energy system and that resilience to deliberate attack is best designed in at the beginning. 

One of the reasons for this was, of course, the terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001. The effort to establish a global legal framework against terrorism and to enact counter-terrorism laws in many countries had a positive spin-off for the implementing legislation required under the Convention too. At the same time, the OPCW realized that its own (national as well as international) implementation process contributed to the counter-terrorism efforts, because it made toxic and precursor chemicals (and, of course, chemical weapons themselves) less accessible. ... 

The terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001 increased the international community s awareness of the threat posed by non-conventional forms of terrorism, including chemical terrorism. Several national statements referred to the importance of universahty, full... 

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