Coming soon to the US?

ECKSJAY

ECKSJAY

Water is dirty
Location
Covington, WA
Scary stuff. :lecture:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/19/al-qaeda-bungles-arms-experiment/

Al Qaeda bungles arms experiment
Eli Lake (Contact)

An al Qaeda affiliate in Algeria closed a base earlier this month after an experiment with unconventional weapons went awry, a senior U.S. intelligence official said Monday.

The official, who spoke on the condition he not be named because of the sensitive nature of the issue, said he could not confirm press reports that the accident killed at least 40 al Qaeda operatives, but he said the mishap led the militant group to shut down a base in the mountains of Tizi Ouzou province in eastern Algeria.

He said authorities in the first week of January intercepted an urgent communication between the leadership of al Qaeda in the Land of the Maghreb (AQIM) and al Qaeda's leadership in the tribal region of Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan. The communication suggested that an area sealed to prevent leakage of a biological or chemical substance had been breached, according to the official.

"We don't know if this is biological or chemical," the official said.

The story was first reported by the British tabloid the Sun, which said the al Qaeda operatives died after being infected with a strain of bubonic plague, the disease that killed a third of Europe's population in the 14th century. But the intelligence official dismissed that claim.

AQIM, according to U.S. intelligence estimates, maintains about a dozen bases in Algeria, where the group has waged a terrorist campaign against government forces and civilians. In 2006, the group claimed responsibility for an attack on foreign contractors. In 2007, the group said it bombed U.N. headquarters in Algiers, an attack that killed 41 people.

Al Qaeda is believed by U.S. and Western experts to have been pursuing biological weapons since at least the late 1990s. A 2005 report on unconventional weapons drafted by a commission led by former Sen. Charles Robb, Virginia Democrat, and federal appeals court Judge Laurence Silberman concluded that al Qaeda's biological weapons program "was extensive, well organized and operated two years before the Sept. 11" terror attacks in the U.S.

Another report from the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation, released in December, warned that "terrorists are more likely to be able to obtain and use a biological weapon than a nuclear weapon."

British authorities in January 2003 arrested seven men they accused of producing a poison from castor beans known as ricin. British officials said one of the suspects had visited an al Qaeda training camp. In the investigation into the case, British authorities found an undated al Qaeda manual on assassinations with a recipe for making the poison.

The late leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab Zarqawi, was suspected of developing ricin in northern Iraq. Then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell referred to the poison in his presentation to the U.N. Security Council in February 2003 that sought to lay the groundwork for the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Roger Cressey, a former senior counterterrorism official at the National Security Council under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, told The Washington Times that al Qaeda has had an interest in acquiring a poisons capability since the late 1990s.

"This is something that al Qaeda still aspires to do, and the infrastructure to develop it does not have to be that sophisticated," he said.

Mr. Cressey added that he also is concerned about al Qaeda in the Land of the Maghreb, which refers to the North African countries of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

"Al Qaeda in the Maghreb is probably the most operationally capable affiliate in the organization right now," he said.
Click to expand...
 
IXNAYXJ said:
After reading the book "Hot Zone," any mention of biological weapons makes me shudder a little bit. Add two parts islamic psychos and the recipe gets really chilling.

-----Matt-----
Click to expand...


Read Stephen King's The Stand. Superflu anyone? No terrorists needed.
 
The sad thing is that this is inevitable. There is no "if" but only "when" this will take place. I'm sure there are Al Qaeda operatives/connections still in the country...you just can't get all of them. Besides, with our relaxed border policies we might as well hold up a sign that says, "Welcome, Terrorists."
 
I read of this on another site, and here's a range of what-ifs to ponder. Get your tinfoil hats ready.

#1 What if it was a poisoning of the well... I tend to doubt we'd do something that indiscriminate, but then again we have some history in that regard. If that were the case, it's not like we'd publicize it... especially if the toll is only 40ish... a dud! Being generous, I'd extend "we" to include our notional allies as well... Least possible scenario IMO.

#2 What if it really was an 'accident' at one of their research labs? If that's the case, it shows their process at least works a little. It also shows that they have sloppy practices if that many got slabbed. If they learn from it & adjust, that 'aint good.

#3 What if it was not an accident, and those 40 were either washouts from Jihad 101, or were suspected of being spies (or some combo) Also not good, since their process worked... a little, or exactly as predicted? One bright side of this is if they were no-gos at the Jihad 101 station, that's 40 that won't go boom on some street corner.

OK assuming it was an accident... I don't see much value of AlQ announcing it as such. Conversely, if it was a successful test, I don't see them announcing that either. Not the stuff one would put in an exciting recruiting brochure, :rtm: that's for damn sure...

#4 What if it was a naturally-occurring outbreak. Plausible... aren't most cases of this normally in arid climes? I can't imagine an AlQ camp being anything like Atlantis... probably lots of rats & fleez. Also probably a fairly closed community: Communal living quarters, mess, latrines & such... decent conditions for transmission.

So assume that it was just a happy fluke of nature... the mouthpieces on their side announce it as they did (experiment gone wrong) and since the live ones have likely un-assed that camp (like fleas jumping off a drowning rat :D ) before the FAE's start dropping, they have nothing to lose in twisting it their way, and gain a little bit of psywar boost/diversion. Again "we" would & could never announce it if we had a hand in it.

Who really knows what the real deal is though...
 
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