Harris showed just how easy it is to obtain virulent bacterium through the mail. Viruses and toxins useful to the terrorist can just as easily be stolen. These deadly toxins, as well as the research that supports their use, can easily be accessed by would-be proliferants or terrorists without attracting the attention of most intelligence sources. Small quantities of biological agents can be lethal. Of these, the most deadly is anthrax.
Law enforcement faces extraordinary difficulties in solving biological and chemical terrorism cases.
The apocalyptic outlook of many terrorists today makes such attacks much more likely. In the preface to his book, Harris recounts a fantastic tale of a 1993 encounter with a female Iraqi microbiologist at the Ohio State library. According to Harris, Iraqi agents are already in place throughout the country ready to strike urban areas with plague and anthrax. The Patriot movement today is rife with propaganda about an impending biological attack on American citizens, possibly launched by the federal government itself. This campaign ominously echoes a propaganda blitzkrieg launched by Patriots and militias in the months before the Oklahoma City bombing.