-Caveat Lector- Date: Mon, 03 May 1999 13:17:55 -0400 From: Dan S <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [BIOWAR] Is New York City ready for unconventional terror? http://wire.nj.com/cgi-bin/nj_nview.pl?/home1/wire/AP/Stream-Parsed/JERSEY_NEWS/j0172_PM_NY--UnconventionalTer - - Is New York City ready for unconventional terror? By BETH GARDINER The Associated Press 05/03/99 2:23 AM Eastern NEW YORK (AP) -- As terrorists' arsenals grow ever more sophisticated, New York City is quietly preparing for a biological or chemical attack - -- but emphasizing that the chance of one happening is remote. Emergency officials are monitoring hospitals to spot any waves of sickness that could indicate a sudden release of germs, working with drug companies to ensure medicines are available and training doctors, paramedics and police on unconventional terrorism. Experts say New York -- frightened into vigilance by the 1993 World Trade Center bombing -- is ahead of the nation in preparing for 21st century terror. Three phony anthrax threats recently reminded the city of its vulnerability, but experts believe most terrorists still lack the technology to execute a major chemical or biological attack. "Near term, the biggest threat from terrorist groups is still bombs and guns," said Jerry Hauer, who as director of the Mayor's Office of Emergency Management heads the city's efforts to prepare for unconventional terrorism. Within the next few years, though, the picture could change. "There is evidence of rising interest in chemical and biological terrorism, and rising capabilities and thus rising risk," said Brad Roberts, who studies weapons of mass destruction at the Institute for Defense Analysis in Alexandria, Va. "We're still just trying to figure out what kind of a problem it is. Until you figure that out, you really can't know what you're supposed to be doing." Questions about the city's preparedness were raised in February, when a female activist who received a phony anthrax threat said police who hurried to help did not know what to do. "There was a serious response, but there was also some serious confusion," said Galen Sherwin, head of the city's chapter of the National Organization for Women. She called 911 after opening an envelope filled with powder described in an accompanying letter as anthrax spores. She worried authorities made two lapses in their response that could have allowed the germs to spread if they had been real. First, she said, an operator told her to wait for police in the building's lobby, where she was in contact with more people than had she stayed in her office. Then officers failed to isolate her for 20 minutes after they arrived. "They just have to take this as a warning that there has to be better training on this at every level," she said. Hauer dismissed Sherwin's criticism, saying anthrax is not as easily transmitted as she believed. But police Chief William Morange, commanding officer of the department's special operations division, conceded that there might have been flaws in the response. "That's something that we have to look at, to figure out why," he said. "Criticism is how you have to learn. ... I will look at it." The day after NOW was threatened, an East Side women's clinic got a similar letter, and a phoned-in anthrax threat forced police to close Central Park for several hours last week. The chances of a massive, citywide chemical or germ attack are slim, but some experts say terrorists probably have the technology to create smaller-scale havoc like the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, which killed 12 people and sickened thousands. "To me, it's a more likely scenario than somebody spreading anthrax over ... all of southern Manhattan," said Jessica Stern, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C., who wrote a book about terrorists and weapons of mass destruction. Unconventional terrorism is particularly frightening to many people because it involves a lot of unknowns, she said. "We can see that we're extremely vulnerable, but we don't know that much about the adversary," she said. Biological and chemical attacks are "invisible, mysterious, ... poorly understood by scientists. This sort of hits all the wrong buttons." As with old-fashioned terrorism, the best strategy for dealing with biological and gas attacks is to find would-be terrorists before they strike, said FBI spokesman Joe Valiquette. Law enforcement agencies like the FBI and the New York Police Department routinely monitor threats of high-tech terror, but Valiquette said it's impossible to head off every one. "Everything is a symbol in New York, and there aren't the resources to protect everything," he said. "Nothing's ever going to be foolproof." Many fear New York's position as the nation's largest city and its financial and media center could make it a very enticing target, although experts say attacks like the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing prove it's hard to predict where terrorists will strike. If a biological attack does occur, detecting it could be the first hurdle. A clandestine germ release -- anthrax, smallpox, tularemia and brucellosis are among likely threats -- might cause a sudden increase in illness. So authorities have stepped up their monitoring of emergency rooms to make sure such a case doesn't go unnoticed. The city does not stockpile antidotes for use in germ attacks but is working with the federal government to create regional stockpiles. Officials also are cooperating with drug companies to ensure production of antidotes can be quickly stepped up. Police officers, paramedics, doctors and others are all being trained on how to respond to a new kind of emergency, Hauer said. All told, the city has spent several million dollars trying to prepare for unconventional terror, he said. Such efforts are crucial, because it is difficult to stop a determined terrorist, Hauer said. "If in fact somebody wants to carry out an incident, and they have the money and the expertise and the will to do it, at some point in time they will be able to do it," he said. "I don't think you can ever be 100 percent prepared." - -- DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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