Global Security Newswire

Bush administration officials have said that there are new concerns about the vulnerability of the United States to anthrax attacks, noting the results of a recent attack simulation and information obtained from captured al-Qaeda operatives, the New York Times reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 2).

Last month, a secret Cabinet-level exercise named Scarlet Cloud was conducted that simulated simultaneous anthrax attacks in several U.S. cities, according to the Times. While the drill found that anthrax detection capabilities had improved, it also demonstrated that there were flaws in antibiotic distribution systems and that a widespread attack could kill thousands, the Times reported. Officials also said the exercise indicated that improved plans were needed to control and monitor potentially contaminated people and food.

The exercise “showed that we are a lot better off today than we were two years ago before 9/11,” a senior administration official said. “It also showed that there has definitely been a fast learning curve on bioterrorism,” the official said.

In addition, information obtained through the interrogation of captured al-Qaeda operatives has also increased concerns about the possibility of an anthrax attack, Bush administration officials said. For example, after being arrested earlier this year, senior al-Qaeda operative Khalid Shaikh Mohammed said that al-Qaeda had long been interested in obtaining biological agents, a U.S. official said. Mohammed has told U.S. authorities that prior to the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, al-Qaeda’s anthrax program was being conducted in the Afghan city of Kandahar and was led by two men who have since been captured, U.S. officials said (Judith Miller, New York Times, Dec. 28).