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Threat Assessment: Al-Qaeda, Others Are Armed With WMD, CIA Says Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups are currently capable of conducting attacks with different types of weapons of mass destruction, according to an internal CIA report described in today’s Washington Times. While there is no evidence that such an attack is imminent, one “cannot be ruled out,” the report says (see GSN, May 29). Islamic extremists linked to Osama bin Laden “have a wide variety of potential agents and delivery means to choose from for chemical, biological and radiological or nuclear (CBRN) attacks,” the report says. Entitled Terrorist CBRN: Materials and Effects, the report was authored by the CIA’s intelligence directorate and released last month, according to the Times. “Al-Qaeda’s goal is the use of (chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons) to cause mass casualties,” the report says. “However, most attacks by the group — and especially by associated extremists — probably will be small-scale, incorporating relatively crude delivery means and easily produced or obtained chemicals, toxins or radiological substances,” the report adds. Chemical Weapons The report says al-Qaeda “has crude procedures for making mustard agent, sarin and VX,” and the group also has access to toxic cyanides and less dangerous industrial materials, such as chlorine and phosgene. In addition, al-Qaeda members have attempted “poison plot” attacks in Europe with chemicals and toxins, according to the report. “These agents could cause hundreds of casualties and widespread panic if used in multiple, simultaneous attacks,” the report says. Biological Weapons Al-Qaeda is capable of attacking with anthrax and botulinum toxin, the report says, noting that botulinum production information has been found in terrorist training materials. Furthermore, terrorists have explored using ricin, a toxin that “is readily available by extraction from common castor beans,” the report says, adding that “Terrorists have looked at delivering ricin in foods and as a contact poison, although we have no scientific data to indicate that ricin can penetrate intact skin.” The report also says that the ringleader of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Mohamed Atta, and his suspected colleague Zacarias Moussaoui “expressed interest in crop dusters, raising our concern that al-Qaeda has considered using aircraft to disseminate (biological warfare) agents.” Nuclear and Radiological Weapons Al-Qaeda and other terrorists could also make an “improvised nuclear device” that would be “intended to cause a yield-producing nuclear explosion,” the report says. Such a weapon could be made with “diverted nuclear-weapons components,” by modifying an already assembled nuclear weapon or by using a self-designed weapon, the report says. More likely, terrorists would try to attack with a radiological weapon, or “dirty bomb,” composed of radioactive materials dispersed by conventional explosives. “Use of a (radiological dispersal device) by terrorists could result in health, environmental and economic effects, as well as political and social effects,” the report says. Materials for such weapons — such as cesium 137, strontium 90 and cobalt 60 — are widely used in hospitals, universities and industrial facilities, the report says (Bill Gertz, Washington Times, June 3).
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