Biological Weapons Pose Realistic Threat, Say Former Senators

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

Weapons of mass destruction may not be a phrase the public hears as frequently anymore, but they are still a major issue according to former Senators Bob Graham (D-Fla.) and Jim Talent (R-Mo.). The politicians participated in a discussion Monday at the Heritage Foundation where they reported that the U.S. is uneasily vulnerable to a biological terrorist attack.

“It is more likely that that weapon of mass destruction will be a biological weapon rather than a nuclear weapon. I mentioned that there has been an explosion in the biological area of capabilities…The thing that has kept us from a biological weapon thus far has been the unreliable defense of ignorance,” said Graham.

The findings come from the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism. Graham and Talent were the chairman and co-chairman of the Commission while in Congress.

Talent added that the U.S. is “running” to prevent any attacks but our opposition is “running faster.” He said terrorists will recruit life scientists to utilize bio weapons. However, he added that a biological attack is easier to prepare for than a nuclear attack.

Graham and Talent believe Vice President Joe Biden should be put in charge of combating the use of WMD and assuring that all precautions are made.

Graham predicted that by 2013 a WMD will be used somewhere in the world.

In the event that there is a large-scale attack Talent said, “People will want security, no matter what, to prevent a repeat of it.”