Volume 5, Number 4—August 1999
THEME ISSUE
Bioterrorism
Historical Review
Historical Trends Related to Bioterrorism: An Empirical Analysis
Table 1
Comparison of Values Across Selected Bioterrorist Incidents
Case | Motivation/Objective | Ideology | Target(s) | Agent(s) | Delivery | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Weather Underground (1970) | Temporarily incapacitateU.S. cities to demonstrate impotence ofthe federal government | Revolutionary movement opposed to American imperialism and theVietnam War | Urban populations in theUnited States | Reportedly sought to obtain agents at Ft. Detrick by blackmail of gay soldier | Reportedly planned to put incapacitating CW/BW agents in urban water | Report originated with U.S. Customs informant; case probably apocryphal |
R.I.S.E. (1972) | Kill off most of humanity to prevent the destruction of nature, then star human race over with a select few | Perpetrators were college students influenced by ecoterrorist ideology and1960s drug culture | Initially entire world population, later narrowed to residents of five states around Chicago | Eight microbial pathogens including agents of typhoid fever, diphtheria, dysentery, and meningitis | Planned BW aerosol attacks (dispersed by aircraft) and contamination of urban water supplies | Attack aborted when cultures were discovered; the two main perpetrators then fled to Cuba |
Red Army Faction (1980) | Allegedly planned BW attacks against West German officials and business leaders | Marxist- revolutionary ideology | Specific targets unknown | Group member allegedly cultivated botulinum toxin in a Paris safe-house | Unknown | Probably an erroneous report, later repudiated by German government (BKA) |
Rajneeshee Cult (1984) | Scheme to incapacitate voters to win local election, seize political control of county | Indian religious cult headed by a charismatic guru | Residents of the town of The Dalles and Wasco County, Oregon | Salmonella Typhimurium | Multiple methods, mainly contamination of restaurant salad bars | Plot revealed when the cult collapsed and members turned informant |
Minnesota Patriots Council (1991) | Cause harm to the federal government, obtain personal revenge | Anti-government tax protesters; right-wing "patriot" movement | IRS officials, U.S. deputy marshal, local law enforcement officials | Ricin extracted from castor beans obtained by mail-order | Planned todeliver ricin through skin with DMSO and aloe vera, or as dry aerosol | Group was penetrated by FBI informants; four key members arrested |
Aum Shinrikyo (1995) | Prove an apocalyptic prophecy, eliminate enemies and rivals, halt an adverse court ruling, seize control of Japanese government | New Age doomsday cult seeking to establish a theocratic state in Japan, with a charismatic, power-hungry leader | Mass civilian populations, individual opponents of cult, judges ruling against and police investigating cult | Biological agents (anthrax, botulinum toxin, Q fever Ebola virus) and chemical agents (sarin, VX, hydrogen cyanide) | Attempted on at least 10 occasions to disperse BW agents in aerosol form; all known attacks failed | Multiple CW attacks (in Matsumoto, Tokyo, and assassination campaign) killed at least 20 people and injured more than 1,000 |
Larry Wayne Harris (1998) | To alert Americans to the Iraqi BW threat; seeks separate homeland for whites in the United States | Links to Christian Identity and white supremacist groups (e.g., the Aryan Nation) | Made vague threats against U.S. federal offcials on behalf of right-wing "patriot" groups | Obtained plague and anthrax (vaccine strain), reportedly isolated several other bacteria | Discussed the dissemination of BW agents with crop-duster aircraft and other methods | Arrested when he talked openly about BW terrorism and made threatening remarks to U.S. officials |
BW, biological weapons; CW, chemical weapons; DMSO, dimethylsulfoxide; IRS, Internal Revenue Service; FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation.