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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: arun gera who wrote (41298)	9/1/2002 1:25:57 PM
From: Ilaine	Respond to of 281500

I think the term "weapons of mass destruction" is reserved for nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. I believe that this is because they affect an area far beyond the place where they are deployed. A large bomb can have a big blast but the effect is limited to the area of that blast. A nuclear bomb may have lethal effects hundreds of miles away, depending on prevailing winds. A biological weapon, e.g., smallpox, could in theory kill 1/3 of the population of the population of the earth, and it would not be at all difficult for it to kill 1/3 of the population of any urban area on earth. It would take three days for an infected person to show the signs of infection. During that time one person could travel all over New York and the District of Columbia via mass transit, mingling with the general population, taking a shuttle back and forth or the Amtrak. How many people could be killed if one infected person walked around, say, Calcutta or Beijing or Hong Kong or Mexico City? In places where there was no natural resistance (American Indians) as many as 90% of the population died when exposed to smallpox. 50% of young children will be killed, even in resistant populations. Not sure if smallpox could be weaponized but if it could, BBC claims that Saddam's bombs are capable of hitting London. That means he could also hit Paris, Rome, Lisbon, where else? Talk about mass destruction -- of life, not property.