Even terrorists play pranks on WMD use these days! Late May 2008, a purported terrorist video caught media attention and some serious coverage. As per the reports, the Al Qaeda video message urged Islamic jihadists to use “biological, chemical and nuclear weapons to attack the West.” Experts suspecting the authenticity of the video message dismissed the threat as a prank and not ‘Qaedaesque’ enough to get scared.
The US biodefence programme continued to remain covert until the advent of ProjectBioShield in 2003, which was pursued overtly with government sanctions. Project BioShield became a law in July 2004. Under the Project, efforts have been made to develop and make available effective drugs and vaccines to protect civilian population against any biological and chemical weapon attacks.
Alex P Schmid Animesh Roul James A. Goldston (5 July 2007)James A. Goldston, Executive Director, Open Society Justice InitiativeGovernment responses to the challenge of terrorism since 9/11 have been plagued by three major problems.
A New Face of Terrorism and Coming Anarchy, 15 Oct 2001Animesh Roul outlines the challenges facing the world community, particularly the US, as terrorists begin to use unconventional means to intimidate and redefine established contours of terrorism. Biological Weapon: Most Preferred WMD, 15 Nov 2001