by Bill Gertz
The United States remains vulnerable to deadly biological warfare attacks that could kill tens of thousands of people, several weapons specialists told Congress on Friday.
Four bioweapons experts told the House Armed Services subcommittee on emerging threats that terrorists could easily manufacture bacterial weapons like tularemia, an infectious disease that U.S. bioweapons tests in the 1960s revealed capable of producing deaths in the tens of thousands through weaponized infectious diseases.
Rogue states like North Korea and Syria also are suspected of having germ weapons and stockpiles, the experts said.
“Unfortunately, some of the best potential bioweapons exist in nature and are readily available,” retired Army Maj. Gen. Phillip Russell told the hearing.
“This information is widely available on the Internet,” he said. “The equipment is for sale on the Internet. We have seen a tremendous shift of advantage to the adversaries, in this regard, because of the ability of a very small group of people with the expertise to manufacture these weapons. And the weapons are very, very dangerous.”
