Toxic Terror (book)

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Toxic Terror: Assessing Terrorist Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons (2000) is a MIT Press book edited by Jonathan B. Tucker which has twelve chapters by different authors discussing use of chemical and biological weapons by terrorists from 1946 to 1998. Only three groups caused "mass casualties" and only one attack (the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack) approached terrorism. The book therefore shows that the groups were not able to achieve much damage with these unconventional weapons, contrary to warnings of an extreme threat. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

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Biological warfare Use of strategically designed biological weapons

Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. Biological weapons are living organisms or replicating entities. Entomological (insect) warfare is a subtype of biological warfare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bioterrorism</span> Terrorism involving biological agents

Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in much the same way as in biological warfare. Further, modern agribusiness is vulnerable to anti-agricultural attacks by terrorists, and such attacks can seriously damage economy as well as consumer confidence. The latter destructive activity is called agrobioterrorism and is a subtype of agro-terrorism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrorism</span> Use of violence to further a political or ideological cause

Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence and fear to achieve an ideological aim. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war against non-combatants. The terms "terrorist" and "terrorism" originated during the French Revolution of the late 18th century but became widely used internationally and gained worldwide attention in the 1970s during the Northern Ireland conflict, the Basque conflict, and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The increased use of suicide attacks from the 1980s onwards was typified by the 2001 September 11 attacks in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Counterterrorism</span> Activity to defend against or prevent terrorist actions

Counterterrorism, also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practice, military tactics, techniques, and strategy that governments, military, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or eliminate terrorism. Counter-terrorism strategy is a government's motivation to use the instruments of national power to neutralize and conquer terrorists, these organizations they have, and these networks they contain in order to render them incapable of using evil to instill fear and to coerce the government or citizens to react in accordance with these terrorists' goals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear terrorism</span> Terrorism involving nuclear material or weapons

Nuclear terrorism refers to any person or persons detonating a nuclear weapon as an act of terrorism. Some definitions of nuclear terrorism include the sabotage of a nuclear facility and/or the detonation of a radiological device, colloquially termed a dirty bomb, but consensus is lacking. In legal terms, nuclear terrorism is an offense committed if a person unlawfully and intentionally "uses in any way radioactive material … with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury; or with the intent to cause substantial damage to property or to the environment; or with the intent to compel a natural or legal person, an international organization or a State to do or refrain from doing an act", according to the 2005 United Nations International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism.

Novichok is a group of nerve agents, some of which are binary chemical weapons. The agents were developed at the GosNIIOKhT state chemical research institute by the Soviet Union and Russia between 1971 and 1993. Some Novichok agents are solids at standard temperature and pressure, while others are liquids. It is thought that dispersal for the solids is possible by ultrafine powder.

Jonathan B. Tucker American chemical and biological weapons expert

Jonathan B. Tucker was a United States chemical and biological weapons expert.

Stalag XIII-D Nürnberg Langwasser was a German Army World War II prisoner-of-war camp built on what had been the Nazi party rally grounds in Nuremberg, northern Bavaria.

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James Dennis "Jim" Ellison is a former American white supremacist leader from San Antonio, Texas. In 1971, he founded the radical organization The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (CSA). Ellison purchased a 250-acre (1.0 km2) strip of land near Elijah, Missouri, to serve as his compound. He was also a close associate of both Richard Wayne Snell and Timothy McVeigh.

Richard A. Falkenrath Jr. served as deputy commissioner of counter-terrorism of the New York City Police Department from 2006 to 2010. He was the third person to hold this position. His predecessors were Frank Libutti and Michael A. Sheehan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack</span> Deliberate Salmonella contamination in Oregon, US

In 1984, 751 people suffered food poisoning in The Dalles, Oregon due to the deliberate contamination of salad bars at ten local restaurants with Salmonella. A group of prominent followers of Rajneesh led by Ma Anand Sheela had hoped to incapacitate the voting population of the city so that their own candidates would win the 1984 Wasco County elections. The incident was the first and is still the single largest bioterrorist attack in United States history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989</span> United States law against bioterrorism

The Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989 (BWATA), Pub.L. 101–298, enacted May 22, 1990) was a piece of U.S. legislation that was passed into law in 1990. It provided for the implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention as well as criminal penalties for violation of its provisions. The law was amended in 1996 and has been used to prosecute several individuals.

Chemical terrorism is the form of terrorism that uses the toxic effects of chemicals to kill, injure, or otherwise adversely affect the interests of its targets. It can broadly be considered a form of chemical warfare.

Jessica Eve Stern is an American scholar and academic on terrorism. Stern serves as a research professor at the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University. Earlier she had been a lecturer at Harvard University. She serves on the Hoover Institution Task Force on National Security and Law. In 2001, she was featured in Time magazine's series on Innovators. In 2009, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for her work on trauma and violence. Her book ISIS: The State of Terror (2015), was co-authored with J.M. Berger.

Aum Shinrikyo Japanese cult and terrorist organization

Aleph, formerly Aum Shinrikyo, is a Japanese doomsday cult founded by Shoko Asahara in 1987. It carried out the deadly Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995 and was found to have been responsible for the Matsumoto sarin attack the previous year.

The 1974 Los Angeles International Airport bombing occurred on August 6, 1974 in the overseas passenger terminal lobby of Pan American World Airways at the Los Angeles International Airport. The attack killed three people and injured 36 others.

Muharem Kurbegović, also known as The Alphabet Bomber, is an immigrant from the former Yugoslavia who firebombed the Pan Am Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport on August 6, 1974, killing three and injuring eight. He was allegedly motivated to commit the attack after being charged with masturbating in a dance hall. Although he was found not guilty, the arrest record resulted in his inability to get a business license for a dance hall and also affected his application for American citizenship. This resulted in his personal vendetta against a judge and the commissioners, which grew into demands for an end to immigration and naturalization laws, as well as any laws about sex.

David Berry Knapp, also known as Krishna Deva, is an American former businessman and disciple of Rajneesh who was the mayor of Rajneeshpuram from August 11, 1982 to September 15, 1985.

References

  1. Cole, Leonard A. (1 September 2000). "CBW terrorism, deconstructed". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 56 (5): 58–59. doi:10.2968/056005015.
  2. "Toxic Terror: Assessing Terrorist Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons". 28 January 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  3. Finn, J. T. (1 September 2000). "SECURITY POLICY: Terrorists and Toxins". Science. 289 (5484): 1479. doi:10.1126/science.289.5484.1479. S2CID   153174604.
  4. Brower, Jennifer L. (17 May 2016). "Toxic Terror: Assessing Terrorist use of Chemical and Biological Weapons - Jonathan B. Tucker, ed. Cambridge, Massachusetts:MIT Press, 2000, 303 pp. US$24.00 paper. ISBN 0-262-70071-9. MIT Press, 5 Cambridge Ctr., Suite 4, Cambridge, MA 02142-1493, USA". Politics and the Life Sciences. 20 (1): 98–99. doi:10.1017/S0730938400005256. S2CID   152253392.
  5. Toxic Terror: Assessing Terrorist Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons Grosscup, Beau.  Perspectives on Political Science; Philadelphia Vol. 29, Iss. 4, (Fall 2000): 248.
  6. Toxic Terror Citation metadata Author: John T. Finn Date: Sept. 1, 2000 From: Science(Vol. 289, Issue 5484)