Chertoff: biological weapons biggest terrorist threat

Former DHS secretary Michael Chertoff says the biggest threat from terrorists may come in the form of biological weapons. In an interview segment aired Thursday on the FederalNewsRadio program Homeland Security: Inside and Out, Chertoff said concerns about the possibility of a biological attack should outweigh fears of an attack using a nuclear weapon, chemical agents or conventional explosives. “The natural ingredients of a biological threat are not difficult to come by, and it’s just a question of the know-how in terms of fabricating them to make a weapon,” said Chertoff.

While he did not dispute the idea that a nuclear attack would have the most far-reaching and devastating consequences, the likelihood of terrorists getting a nuclear bomb is “very remote at this point,” Chertoff said.

The Chertoff told program co-host Dave McIntyre that, far from being a theoretical possibility, a biological attack has already occurred in the United States. “Only someone who has a very short memory and doesn’t recall what happened in the fall of 2001, when we had an anthrax attack, albeit one on a small scale, can say it hasn’t happened,” Chertoff said. While terrorists would have to go to some lengths to obtain nuclear material — anthrax and plague are naturally occurring and thus far more readily available for nefarious use, according to Chertoff.

The former DHS head said he believes the United States has already done much to implement biohazard detection. “We also need the capability to distribute detection equipment much more widely and much less expensively,” Chertoff added. The chief priority, in Chertoff’s opinion, is ensuring rapid and effective distribution of the antidote in case of a biological attack. He advocates a program to pre-distribute many of the counter-measures, “if not to individual families, then — at a minimum — to schools and police stations and first responders.” Currently, he explained, antidotes are kept in regional storage houses, which might make it difficult to get it to the recipient “in a matter of hours.”

Chertoff said he feels that local authorities can in many instances handle their own communities’ security needs but would be ill-equipped to handle something like a biological attack on their own. “The federal government has a particular responsibility for the very high-end consequential types of attacks,” he said.