2.2 WMD Terrorism Concern

WHO? Congress and the White House.

WHAT? Became concerned about on-state actors deploying WMD in the US.

WHEN? These concerns arose directly from the 1995 Tokyo Subway Attacks.

WHERE? Recent domestic terrorist incidents raised the prospect of WMD attack on the US.

WHY? US government lacked the coordination needed to stop a WMD attack by non-state actors.

The 1995 Tokyo Subway Attacks were the first deployment of WMD by a non-state actor. Prior to this incident, only nations were thought to have the resources necessary to create WMD. Obviously we were wrong. Aum Shinrikyo demonstrated the ability of a small group of well-resourced and committed individuals to manufacture and deliver a highly deadly chemical agent. The question arose in the United States: “What if it’s not just them?” Less than a month after the Tokyo Subway Attacks, on April 19th, 1995, a van filled with ammonia fertilizer was exploded in front of a Federal building in downtown Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. The bombing was an act of terrorism. Timothy McVeigh, the instigator, had staged the bombing in retaliation for previous Federal raids on private compounds in Ruby Ridge ID, and Waco TX. Prior to that, in February 1993 a truck bomb was detonated inside the parking garage of the World Trade Center North Tower in New York City. Only six people died, but the attack was meant to topple the tower and kill thousands.. Again, it was an act of terrorism. Ramzi Yousef, a Kuwaiti living in America, directed the attacks in retaliation for US foreign policy which he considered oppressive to Muslims in the Middle East. Both the Congress and White House worried: “What if terrorists tried to employ WMD in the US?” Title 50 Section 2302 United States Code defines a weapon of mass destruction as any weapon or device with the ability to inflict serious injury or death on a significant number of people. Title 18 Section 2332a further makes it a crime for anybody to employ WMD within the US. Both laws identify four common forms of WMD: Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear. Chemical weapons, such as the Sarin used in the 1995 Tokyo Subway Attacks, is a WMD because a single small drop on the skin can kill a person. And this is just one type of chemical weapon. Biological weapons kill people through disease or toxins. Anthrax is a bacterial disease that’s easily spread as spores when it is dormant. Five Americans were killed by Anthrax attack shortly after 9/11. Radiological weapons also kill, but their effects may not be immediate. Exposure increases the incidence of cancer. It may take years, which is why they are often called weapons of mass “disruption”. Nuclear weapons also release radiation, but their destructive force stems from their blast effects. The Mk-54 1-kiloton backpack nuke could destroy most everything within a half-mile radius. Nations possessing WMD is one thing, non-state actors possessing WMD is another. Nations are known quantities, criminals aren’t. Nations can be deterred, criminals not so much. As a result, the question arose: “What if a criminal go ahold of a WMD in the US?” The Gilmore Commission, Hart-Rudman Commission, Bremer Commission, and other commissions were chartered by both Congress and the White House to answer this question. They all came back with the same answer: There was a basic lack of coordination between government branches needed to stop criminal acts with national consequences. In April 2001, Rep. William Thornberry (R-TX) introduced HR 1158 proposing a National Homeland Security Agency to provide the government coordination needed to thwart the criminal WMD threat. Note the date. Five months before 9/11. This is when Homeland Security began in the US.