Terrorism, War, or Disease?

by Clunan, Anne L.; Lavoy, Peter R.; Martin, Susan B.

• ISBN13: 9780804759779
• ISBN10: 0804759774
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-05-30
• Publisher: Stanford Security Studies

Summary

The use of biological warfare (BW) agents by states or terrorists is one of the world's most frightening security threats but, thus far, little attention has been devoted to understanding how to improve policies and procedures to identify and attribute BW events.Terrorism, War, or Disease?is the first book to examine the complex political, military, legal, and scientific challenges involved in determining when BW have been used and who has used them. Through detailed analysis of the most significant and controversial allegations of BW use from the Second World War to the present, internationally recognized experts assess past attempts at attribution of unusual biological events and draw lessons to improve our ability to counter these deadly silent killers. This volume presents the most comprehensive analysis of actual and alleged BW use, and provides an up-to-date evaluation of law enforcement, forensic epidemiology, and arms control measures available to policymakers to investigate and attribute suspected attacks.

Author Biography

Anne L. Clunan is Assistant Professor of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School. Peter R. Lavoy is National Intelligence Officer for South Asia at the National Intelligence Council. Susan B. Martin is Lecturer at the Department of War Studies and the Centre for Science and Security Studies at King's College London.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
The Authors	p. xv
Introduction: Identifying Biological Agents, Characterizing Events, and Attributing Blame	p. 1
Case Studies
The U.S. Anthrax Letters: A Confirmed Case of BW Agent Use	p. 23
The 1994 Plague in Western India: Human Ecology and the Risks of Misattribution	p. 49
The Yellow Rain Affair: Lessons from a Discredited Allegation	p. 72
"Yellow Rain" Biological Warfare Agent Use: Evidence and Remaining Questions	p. 97
False Allegations of U.S. Biological Weapons Use During the Korean War	p. 120
Cuban Allegations of U.S. Biological Warfare: False Allegations and Their Impact on Attribution	p. 144
Imperial Japan's Germ Warfare: The Suppression of Evidence at the Tokyo War Crimes Trial, 1946-1948	p. 165
A Quantitative Overview of Biological Weapons: Identification, Characterization, and Attribution	p. 186
Policy and Scholarly Implications
U.S. Efforts to Investigate and Attribute the Use of Biological Weapons	p. 217
A UK View on Biological Weapons Attribution Policies: The Importance of Strengthening Norms Against Biological Weapons	p. 246
Multilateral Approaches to the Investigation and Attribution of Biological Weapons Use	p. 269
Building Information Networks for Biosecurity	p. 293
Conclusion: The Role of Attribution in Biosecurity Policy	p. 311
Glossary of Technical Words and Terms	p. 331
Index	p. 337
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