Bioterrorism and Intelligence

The potential for bioterrorism has increased within the last 10 years; however, there are mixed arguments among critics as to how serious the president and Congress view this threat. The first question the intelligence community needs to ask is “Is the United States prepared for a biological attack?” Three areas need to be examined: the historical background of biological attacks, types of bioweapons, and the mindset of terrorists behind these bioweapons. Bioterrorism has existed since the 6 th century, and over time, bioweapons have progressed in to our modern day list outlined by the CDC. Terrorists focus on producing more mass panic and psychological terror than physical terror which explains their trend towards bioweapons. Intelligence on these 3 areas provides insight to preventing future attacks and determining a policy on combatting terrorism. Various models present methods of combatting bioterrorism at a local level and global level. In preventing bioterrorism, each type of intelligence collection plays an essential role. This intelligence, coupled with a national ethic, provides useful information in combatting bioterrorism. Key Terms: Bioterrorism, Bioweapons, CDC, Terrorism, Intelligence, ethics, prevention models, Biological attacks