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Al-Qaeda Wants WMD Strike on U.S., Official Says
Al-Qaeda wants to use an unconventional explosive such as a chemical or biological weapon on U.S. soil, the intelligence chief at the U.S. Homeland Security Department said Monday (see GSN, May 17). Retired Lt. Gen. Patrick Hughes said his fears are based on captured material, interviews and other information, according to the Associated Press. He said he worries about chemical and biological attacks and radiological weapons, and he is particularly concerned about another anthrax attack like the 2001 mail attacks that killed five people. Hughes said the potential for an anthrax attack is “not the only one,” but anthrax is easy to produce and disperse. He also noted that making some biological agents is “not hard to do,” with recipes for both anthrax and the deadly poison ricin readily available on the Internet. “We have a new norm,” said Hughes, who believes terrorists have adapted to security checks and changes implemented since Sept. 11, 2001. “If the past is indeed prologue, then we are going to screw up, or they are going to get lucky,” Hughes said, adding, “I can’t sleep” (Katherine Pfleger Shrader, Associated Press/Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 18).
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