Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!military Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: unconventional terror tactics (Iraq) Message-ID: <1990Sep27.031917.8257@cbnews.att.com> Date: 27 Sep 90 03:19:17 GMT Sender: military-request@att.att.com Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 44 Approved: military@att.att.com From: sun!sunburn.West!gtx!qip!john (John Moore) I have recently read reports that Saddam Hussein may be willing to launch terror attacks using weapons of mass destruction. Apparently he feels that he would survive the resulting retaliation. I am curious what the effects and countermeasures might be to such attacks - either against troops or civilian targets. [mod.note: Please keep this last point in mind for followups; we're interested in technical issues here, not political ones. - Bill ] The scenarios I have heard or thought up are: (1) Creation of crude NW warheads by: (A) using explosives to distribute rad-waste (B) intentionally creating rad-waste by exposing selected compounds (such as Iodine) to reactor neutron flux, and then using explosives in a warhead to distribute these. Use of these aginst troops. (2) Launching Anthrax and Botulism spores at troops. I have read that US troops are being vaccinated against Anthrax. How about botulism? (3) Launching the same BW or NW weapons at the oil fields in order to drive off the workers. How persistent would the effects be? (4) Distributing the BW or NW agents from a light aircraft over a US city such as Washington, DC. Such an aircraft could be rented or stolen by an Iraqi or Palestinian terrorist already in the US, and the spores could have been sent over here before the Kuwait invasion. (5) Using persistent CW agents against the oil fields. How long would it take to get the oil fields operational? (6) Launching CW or BW or NW carrying SCUD missiles from merchant ships near the US E or W coast. These could have been sent out before the Kuwait invasion to evade the embargo. Note: Scenarios 2,3,4 and 5 are in this week's Time magazine. Numbers 1 and 6 are creations of my own imagination. -- John Moore HAM:NJ7E CAP:Thunderbird 381 Computer: ...{asuvax,mcdphx}!anasaz!john or anasaz!john@asuvax.eas.asu.edu Voice: (602) 951-9326 (day or eve) FAX:602-861-7642 USnail: 7525 Clearwater Pkwy, Scottsdale, AZ 85253 Opinion: Support ALL of the bill of rights, INCLUDING the 2nd amendment! Advice: Long palladium, short petroleum ;-)