Jan 21 2009
Update On al Qaeda’s Biological Weapon Mishap In Algeria
One of the most disturbing stories since we learned Polonium 210 was being traipsed through London and Europe surfaced yesterday. Polonium 210 is optimal as two kinds of WMD. First, it is a key element in early atomic weapons as part of the nuclear trigger which causes the atomic blast. Second, it is deadly in microscopic doses and would make a great chemical WMD. The fact that large amounts were discovered in London, where a shady character by the name of Alexander Litvinenko died of massive exposure, seemed to this blogger to indicate an accident from smuggling the dangerous material. Nearly undetectable, the material was conveniently cast as a weapon of assassination, though the quantities involved seem to indicate more Po-210 was moving through London than needed to kill off one quirky dissident.
Yesterday’s news was about an apparent accident with a possible biological weapon – the Pneumonic Plague. The accident happened at an al Qaeda affiliate camp in Algeria, where 40 people suddenly died due to some kind of exposure to a deadly bug. Today we have more reporting which makes the news even more worrisome:
A few observations at this point that give credence to this story, which has not received the coverage it deserves:
1- There has been a total black out from the Algerian media that has not even mentioned one line about this story.
2- Algerian authorities have been totally silent at this time: I suspect that they have not been too happy about the story leaking through British and American sources.
3- Coincidence or not: 60 terrorists from AQIM from Tizi Ouzou (the same region where the incident allegedly occurred) miraculously just decided they wanted to surrender to the authorities; this is very rare that such a large number of AQIM operatives defect at the same time. That tells me that possibly they got really scared of what had taken place in the training camp and do not want to get involved with any biological weapon experimentation that could possibly result in their deaths.
4- Over a year ago, Pakistani terrorists came to train in AQIM training camps and may have one way or another contributed to the production of that biological agent. Interestingly, the Washington Times mentions that AQIM leaders had contacted AQ Central in Pakistan to tell them about the mishap.
5- AQ operatives in Europe had tried to develop biological weapons in the recent past. In France, Menad Benchelalli, a terrorist specialized in poisons had produced small amounts of ricin and Botulinum toxin that he intended to release in France. He was arrested in 2002.
Then in 2003, British authorities arrested seven individuals accused of also producing ricin.6- AQIM was “hired” by AQ central mostly because of his extensive network in Europe that could allow them to strike Europe at some point. AQIM’s leadership has been under intense pressure to attack European targets in order to maintain its credibility.
I suspect that possibly this biological weapon was destined for delivery in Europe. In fact, by not using a “conventional” weapon, AQIM would prove its value to AQ Central.
This incident has none of the tell tales of a normal outbreak. What I find most concerning is the fact that all of a sudden 60 terrorists have turned themselves in. I am sure they are going through intense interrogations right now, but the question is how far along is any attempt to use a biological weapon on the West.
Why this is not getting serious coverage is beyond me. The liberal media’s attempt to filter out bad news as President Obama takes office is a serious breach in the public’s trust. Right now I would like to here from the Obama administration on what it knows and whether we should be concerned.
If this was a bioweapon oopsie, it just goes to show you that God watches over fools, drunks, small children, ships named Enterprise, and the United States of America.
AJ, Could these 60 be infected and are trying to spread it around?
AJ,
This is a comment from a friend of mine on your earlier report on this incident:
“Plague aerosolizes spontaneously — it goes from bubonic to pneumonic more or less on a whim.
Might be they were playing around with the (long-rumored to have been developed at least 3x separately) technology for forcing that to happen.
If that’s the case, it’s possible they just locked in the Darwin Award for 2009; once plague aerosolizes it’s very swiftly deadly, and much more contagious in the short run, but it’s NOT as enduring and it doesn’t spread as fast or as well, and it generally goes back to the rat-flea channel pretty fast.
Here’s hoping that’s what happened; I like self-solving problems.”
Web Reconnaissance for 01/22/2009…
A short recon of whatÂ’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often….
No worrys here. Hussein will simply invite all of these poor unfortunate “victims” to the United States for immediate treatment. Any hospital in a Red state will do!
Whether you get the pneumonic or the bubonic form depends on how you contracted it. If you get it from a flea bite, you will most likely get the bubonic form. If you contract it from another infected human, you will likely get the pneumonic form.
Living in close quarters in a wilderness area in relatively close contact with wild animals without any ready supply of antibiotics is pretty much a recipe for exactly what happened here. All it would have taken is for one person to get a flea bite, transmit the illness to their cave mates, and they all die.
The same thing could happen to people hunkered in some hideaway in the Soutwestern US. In fact, every few years plague wipes out prairie dog and gopher populations in the four corners area of the US. One animal gets a flea bite and infects the rest fo the colony. Researchers notice this when they do a population check and find spider webs in the entrances of the burrows.
I think this was probably a simple matter of people living in a remote area, not wanting to come forward for medical treatment, and one of them came down with plague from a flea bite and killed the rest of their mates when they started sneezing and coughing. By the time the first case showed bubos, the rest were probably already infected with the pneumonic form.
How about a slightly different take?
Maybe the head AQ guys decided to test their new weapon, say, on some of the lesser desirable jihadis amongst them?
Life imitates Tom Clancy.
What happened to that Presidential directive to get all these guys no matter where they are—-is Algeria excluded.