Terrorist Use of Biological Weapons - Deadly Cultures: Biological Weapons Since 1945 - page 301

quired to strip and undergo aggressive decontamination processes. The
psychological toll was substantial, and confirmation that the incident was
a hoax and not a real bioterrorist attack took days. More-reasoned ap-
proaches have since been instituted, based on speedier diagnostics and
less aggressive treatment. These more routine responses have signifi-
cantly reduced the intimidation potential of hoaxes. Nevertheless, for
victims the period of ambiguity before a threat is determined to be a
hoax can be highly stressful, and efforts to further reduce the time to a
definitive diagnosis are important. It is probable that such hoaxes will
continue to occur for the foreseeable future.
Interest in BW by Other Terrorist Groups
Although there has been little terrorist success in using biological agents
as weapons, several groups besides the Rajneesh and the Aum have been
interested in doing so. 34 Both bacterial and toxin agents have been in-
volved in such interest, but in few cases have groups actually been able to
obtain agents, much less develop a formulation that could be used. Sev-
eral exceptions are known, however, suggesting that ricin in particular
could be a serious threat in terrorist hands. For instance, the Minnesota
Patriots Council (an ultraright, violent antigovernment group) success-
fully prepared a small quantity of low-purity ricin, intended for assassina-
tion of local law enforcement personnel. 35 And two letters containing
ricin have been received by the US government. One, in October 2003,
was addressed to the Department of Transportation; the other, in Novem-
ber, was to the White House. Both letters announced the presence of ricin
and appeared to be intended to influence pending decisions on regula-
tions affecting the trucking industry. 36
Particular attention has been paid to hints that al Qaeda has been inter-
ested in developing anthrax as a biological weapon. However, there is no
evidence that this interest has passed the exploratory stage, nor is there
any indication that al Qaeda is even close to assembling the expertise and
materials necessary to move beyond the exploratory stage. 37 On the other
hand, a number of accounts suggest that several people associated with al
Qaeda have been attempting to develop stockpiles of ricin. 38 However,
these accounts are based largely on uncorroborated leaks from law en-
forcement personnel, and their reliability is unclear. Although it is alleged