[116615] in Cypherpunks
Kate Graham does Anthrax Theater (was re IP: A Plague of
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Robert Hettinga)
Mon Aug 16 13:44:24 1999
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Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1999 13:07:34 -0400
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From: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>
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From: "Dan S" <ds1999@crosswinds.net>
To: "IP" <ignition-point@precision-d.com>, <biowar-l@mail.sonic.net>
Subject: IP: A Plague of Publicity
Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1999 11:14:04 -0400
Sender: owner-ignition-point@precision-d.com
Reply-To: "Dan S" <ds1999@crosswinds.net>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-08/16/010l-081699-idx.html
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A Plague of Publicity
By Leonard A. Cole
Monday, August 16, 1999; Page A15
Last month Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen warned that a biological
weapons attack on American soil could be imminent. He urged the country to
prepare for a "plague more monstrous than anything we have experienced.
"There is not a moment to lose," he said. Cohen's fevered warning typifies
an official mood that has swung from complacency to disquieting hype. Even
President Clinton has announced that the thought of a germ attack keeps him
awake at night.
We have reason to be concerned about biological and chemical terrorism, and
we are vastly enlarging programs for prevention, detection and response. But
the drumbeat of frightening publicity seems to have given unsavory
characters bad ideas. The number of false bioterrorism threats has
mushroomed in the past year, costing taxpayers millions of dollars and
disrupting the lives of more than 13,000 potential victims.
The hoaxes, almost all of which threatened people with exposure to anthrax,
began in earnest at the end of 1998. In California and elsewhere, letters
and phone calls warned that the deadly bacteria had been released at a
variety of targets -- abortion clinics, antiabortion organizations,
courthouses, churches, schools, newspaper buildings, even FBI offices.
Although all turned out to be false alarms, many people were traumatized by
the experience.
The suddenness of the hoax phenomenon is underscored by the fact that in the
years before October 1998, fewer than a half-dozen anthrax threats had been
recorded. Since then, according to the FBI, more than 200 threats have been
logged. The cost of police, fire and emergency medical responses for a
single incident runs as high as $500,000. In some instances, people in
targeted areas were told to go home, place their clothes in a plastic bag
and shower. In others, they were quarantined, endured scrubbing with a
bleach solution and began taking antibiotics. After four or five hours in
most cases, initial lab tests showed no evidence of anthrax. But obtaining
definitive results takes several days, which prolongs the anxiety of those
who thought they might have been exposed.
In fact, reactions to the alarms and rescue efforts have ranged from
resignation to panic. Moreover, local emergency responses have sometimes
been bizarre and confused. After an anthrax scare at an NBC news office in
Atlanta, some individuals were made to undergo four decontamination washes.
The final one was under a makeshift outdoor shower where distraught victims,
attached to an IV line, had to scrub themselves in public view. During
another anthrax threat, more than two-dozen people were brought outdoors to
undress before being sent into a tent for a scrubbing with a bleach solution
and cold water. After decontamination, two women were rushed to the
hospital. One was having difficulty breathing, and the other had fallen
unconscious from an allergic reaction to the bleach. Thus, for some people
the anthrax scares have caused embarrassment, terror and near-tragedy.
The most compelling explanation for the rash of bioterrorism threats has
been the ballooning of publicity and hype, especially about anthrax. The New
York Times' Ondisc index lists 81 articles on "biological and chemical
warfare" appearing in the paper in 1996. By 1998 the number in that category
was 414. Similarly, the number mentioning "anthrax" grew from seven in 1996
to 122 in 1998.
The trend began in April 1997 with the nation's first major bioterrorism
hoax, at the B'nai B'rith building in Washington. An anthrax threat there
disrupted the downtown area as TV news cameras caught naked people being
decontaminated outdoors. In a highly publicized performance in November,
Cohen hoisted a five-pound bag of sugar on national TV, warning that an
equivalent amount of anthrax could kill half the population of Washington.
Then in February 1998, two men were arrested in Las Vegas on suspicion of
carrying vials of anthrax. The material turned out to be a harmless vaccine.
Still, official pronouncements and media coverage on anthrax were
abounding -- about the danger of anthrax, the ease of making it into a
weapon and the need to prepare for an attack.
Administration-backed funding for bioterrorism defense programs in several
agencies has mushroomed from $91 million in 1998, to $244 million in 1999
and to an anticipated $334 million in 2000. Many experts think these amounts
are appropriate. So it is hard to understand what purpose more doomsday
rhetoric is supposed to have. In any case, no rhetoric should be acceptable
that in the end spurs actions that traumatize thousands of citizens
unnecessarily.
While the risk of bioterrorism may have increased in recent years, insisting
that a real attack is imminent or inevitable is gratuitous. Indeed,
continuing a stream of alarmist statements is likely to provoke only more
anxiety and more hoaxes.
The writer teaches political science at Rutgers University.
© Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company
--
Dan S
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-----------------
Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
