As chairman of the House Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, I have studied terrorism in detail and feel the threat is growing. On one level, many countries are known to have, or are strongly suspected of having, active biological weapons research, development and production programs. On another level, a number of international terrorist organizations have acquired or sought to acquire the means to produce biological weapons. Some of these organizations, such as Osama bin Laden's network, are state sponsored. Others, such as the Aum Shinrikyo cult, which killed 12 people in a subway nerve gas attack in 1995, operate independently.
Biological weapons offer great destructive opportunity for relatively little risk and investment.
For the many countries and groups that perceive themselves as Davids pitted against the U.S. Goliath, biological weapons offer the modern equivalent of stone and slingshot. Although biological weapons are not easy to create, the technology to build them is more accessible than ever before. In fact, foreign government-sponsored military and terrorist biological weapons programs easily have the wherewithal to develop effective weapons. Biological weapons experts from defunct or diminished weapons programs, such as those in Russia and South Africa, are now marketing their wares to the highest bidder. There is no doubt that the United States is a potential target of biological attack.