Today seems to be a very bad news day. So much good, so much bad. Wait a minute: It's illegal, or is this one of those realpolitik.... Down with geopolitical gaming!
Up with People, er, Treaties!!
FAS: Introduction to Bioweapons
Federation of American Scientists
Biological weapons have a long history of use. In 1346, the invading Tartar army catapulted the bodies of plague victims into the Crimean Peninsula city of Kaffa and infected its citizens. In 1763, British troops under General Jeffrey Amherst gave the Delaware Indians blankets used by people with smallpox, possibly infecting the susceptible native population. Japan contaminated food and released plague-infected ticks during their conflict with China during World War II. The 2001 anthrax letter attacks in the United States infected 22 people and killed five.*
FAS info: Introduction to Biological Weapons; Biological Weapon Production; The BTWC (The Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention), Original US Interpretation; Debate About the NBACC (National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center).
*
possible alternate ending: "Biodefense researcher
Bruce E. Ivans, 62, who was the FBI's 'prime suspect' in the post-911 Anthrax attacks, has apparently taken his own life. The FBI has said publicly they were seeking the death penalty for him. This guy was the latest "Richard Jewel", whom the FBI persecuted for years for supposedly planting the Atlanta Olympics bomb. They ruined his life and he was innocent and they knew it. He was a HERO who tried to help, but they set him up. They set up Ivans too. His lawyers swear he's innocent and there is nothing in his background that spells 'traitor' or 'murder'. He played organ in his church every Sunday for decades. Today's NY Times spells out the constant harrassment and pressure worthy of any Stasi or Gestapo."
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2008/08/378035.shtml
LOVE & LIGHT