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release of nerve gas on the Tokyo subway by a Japanese cult on March
20, 1995, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the ensuing
sending of anthrax-tainted letters have made policymakers and the general
public increasingly concerned that terrorists could use chemical or
biological weapons (CBW) to inflict mass casualties. Nevertheless, numerous
misconceptions persist about the nature of CBW terrorism—in particular,
how easy it would be for terrorists to produce and employ such weapons.
This tutorial
addresses several aspects of chemical warfare (CW) terrorism, with
the goal of providing a greater understanding of the threat and the
available policy responses. How vulnerable is the United States to CW
terrorism, and what types of attacks should it be most concerned about?
Further, what can be done to prevent or reduce the likelihood of incidents
of CW terrorism?
This tutorial is
organized into six chapters. This introductory chapter defines CBW terrorism,
explores what types of terrorist groups would be most likely to carry
out such attacks, and summarizes U.S. government actions to combat CBW
terrorism before and after September 11, 2001. The next five chapters focus
on the technical aspects of CW terrorism, including historical cases of CW terrorism; the chemical
agents of greatest concern; the technical hurdles associated with their
acquisition, production, and delivery;
and approaches to the prevention and mitigation of CW terrorist incidents.
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