OPEN BORDERS - INVITATION TO BIOLOGICAL ATTACK
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Federal Observer
17750 W. Elliot Rd.
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Goodyear, AZ 85338
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July 8, 2005 Vol. 05, No. 188
Open Borders - Invitation to Biological Attack
By Dean Stier
Recently in California, a woman claimed that she found a human fingertip in a bowl of chili. Because of the publicity regarding the incident, the resulting financial loss to the restaurant chain, just in the Northern California area, was estimated to be $2.5 million.
Authorities subsequently determined that this woman and her companion perpetrated this scam in an attempt to extort money from a business. The couple presently face two felony charges related to the alleged finger-in-the-chili scam, conspiracy to file a false charge and attempted grand theft.
Now, this is where it gets personal. As soon as it was publicized, a chain reaction began that would affect the lives of many people. Until it was discovered that this was an extortion attempt by this couple, many customers feared eating at that business and went elsewhere. Some may never return. As a direct result of the immediate drop in business, many employees were laid off. If you were to analyze the total implications of this act, you will see that numerous food suppliers, packagers, distributors, and others all along the food production chain were negatively affected.
This "finger" incident serves as a simple illustration of what will happen if a "deliberate" and coordinated biological or chemical attack was made on America's agricultural or food industries. Even a rumor or a hoax spread by a media source or the Internet, like the above example, can result in significant economic impact and instill immediate and long lasting fear in the minds of consumers regarding a food product. An actual attack with a real biological or chemical agent, once introduced into the food processing chain, would have devastating results, especially if it successfully reached consumers.
In recent years, there have been several incidents involving actual or suspected contamination of animal feed supplies and some incidents of actual animal disease that resulted in danger to humans. These incidents appeared to be the result of carelessness, accident or even natural contamination, not terrorism. Fortunately, most of these incidents were identified and contained early and did not result in human death, at least during the short term. The long-term effects to consumers from eating meats or products that were thus contaminated are unknown. These incidents resulted in serious economic damage to many businesses and entities along the chain. More significant however was the alarm that was spread among consumers about the safety of our food supplies and the potential for harm to humans. In addition, many consumers have to live with the fear that they and their families may have consumed tainted products that may affect their health and longevity.
There was one recorded incident in the United States of "deliberate" bio-terrorism through food contamination. That incident occurred in Oregon in 1984. 751 people became sick after members of a religious sect infected Oregon salad bars with salmonella.
A similar incident, although not food related, included the Tylenol poisoning with cyanide in 1982. After that, there were numerous copycat product-tampering cases. There were 7 deaths in September/October 1989.
On Sept 18th, 2001 the "anthrax in the mail" attack started, one week after the WTC and Pentagon attacks. This biological attack killed five people. Although these attacks were not aimed at our food supply and were isolated incidents, they illustrate the lethality of these agents. These agents could have just as easily been placed somewhere in the food chain causing an epidemic of catastrophic proportions.
We tend to forget about these incidents as the days and years pass and we become complacent and vulnerable once again. Biological and chemical terrorism is, to say the least, probably the most difficult to prevent. The important thing is that outbreaks be detected very early, identified, isolated and brought under immediate control.
The Oregon salad bar salmonella attack was serious but pales by comparison to other biological agents that could be used to start epidemics in high density populated areas like a major city. As near as I have been able to determine there are approximately 45 to 50 known biological agents with the potential to cause major disruption if introduced at any point into our agriculture and food supply chain. Many of these agents are known to be available to terrorists.
Several of these biological agents have the potential to cause epidemics of massive proportions, resulting in a great amount of human suffering and many deaths. A deliberate, simultaneous and coordinated biological terrorist attack on one major food item or industry in several states would devastate that product and result in major economic costs to recover that product and regain the market. Implications of such an attack would undoubtedly reach around the globe.
On the surface, a major biological attack will not appear as dramatic as the September 11, 2001 attack on America or a nuclear weapon or dirty bomb explosion. However, a major biological attack will erode the public confidence in the government's ability to protect us, damage our economy, significantly affect our health system, emergency services and our ability to respond, especially if it was an agent for which we were not prepared or where no counteragent exists, such as in the case of Ebola, Marburg, Lassa and Machupo Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers.
Who are these people that would commit these despicable intentional acts against America's civilian population? They can be anybody. It could be an American citizen with a cause, like Timothy McVeigh. It could be any individual or group with an agenda to bring attention to them or an issue. More than likely it will be foreign religious fundamentalists and their sympathizers who harbor intense hatred for America. [1] The U.S. State Department has estimated there are 40 terrorist organizations with sympathizers or supporters in the United States. Canadian intelligence officials believe that at least 50 terror groups now have some presence in Canada. The presence of terrorist organizations and sympathizers in Mexico, Central and South America undoubtedly far exceed these figures.
Where will the bio-agent of choice be obtained? I would venture a guess that some of these people who wish us harmed already possess some of these agents. Others will continue to shop the world underground and black markets to obtain their biological or chemical agents. And, there are a host of individuals and governments who are ready, willing and able to supply their needs.
Once obtained, they are or will be imported into the United States and unlike, nuclear or conventional explosives, they are easily concealed, easy to package, ship and transport and are extremely difficult to detect. As we all have become acutely aware in recent months, it is obvious that these biological agents may easily be hand carried across our Northern or Southern borders. If drug cartels can ship in and bring tons of illicit drugs across our porous borders, a small amount of a potent biological agent will be a cinch for terrorists! Some of these biological agents may already be in our country.
How will these biological and chemical agents be introduced into our agriculture and food supply and by whom? It is really very simple. These agents will eventually be placed in the hands of individuals who are already here (legally or illegally) and have established presence in the industry they wish to attack. Many American employers, especially in the Agricultural and Food industries, utilize illegal alien labor and consequently do not know the identity, affiliations or intentions of their many employees, nor do they care as long as they have a cheap labor source. These employers and businesses, which put food on our tables, are putting the American public at great risk of human borne disease and the potential for deliberate biological or chemical attack. They will continue to do this as long as they can get away with utilizing the illegal alien workforce with impunity. A biological attack simply requires a human delivery system and these criminal un-American employers are setting consumers and America up for disaster.
It must also be noted that in addition to a deliberate biological attack, the high utilization of the illegal alien labor force in our agricultural and food industries is setting the stage for a biological accident. It is well documented that many of these foreign nationals are carriers of diseases that we have basically eradicated in the United States.
A deliberate biological or chemical attack on American agriculture and food will happen. It is not a matter of "if" it will or could happen but "when" it will happen! We have been extremely fortunate that it has not happened yet.
This begs the question: What must be done now to reduce the potential of a deliberate biological attack or accidental contamination by infected workers?
It took several administrations to get where we are today on the open border issue, illegal alien invasion and terrorist threats against American Citizens. We Citizens have repeatedly asked, begged and finally demanded that the Bush Administration, this Congress and this Supreme Court, all of who took an oath to serve and protect us, address these issues. However, they continue to turn a blind eye to these critical issues confronting America and steadfastly refuse to address the border problems. They openly condone violation of existing immigration laws and encourage the invasion by foreign illegal aliens by offering amnesty to felons. Even worse, is their open refusal to prosecute the criminal employers of these illegal invaders.
While we are spread all across the world, fighting the war on terrorism, they leave our back door, front door and windows wide open to invaders that wish to do America harm. This is outrageous! This is happening on their shift and they have an obligation to immediately address the issues and close the doors and windows to illegal entry into this country. Here is a typical example of this administrations inability to think things through regarding this very issue: [2] On February 3, 2004 the Office of the Press Secretary released a document under the direction of and signed by President George W. Bush: "Homeland Security Presidential Directive 9: Defense of United States Agriculture and Food, January 30, 2004." The purpose, stated in the document, is as follows: "Purpose: (1) This directive establishes a national policy to defend the agriculture and food system against terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies."
This document is very definitive in it's direction regarding United States, policy, roles and responsibilities of Federal Government agencies and specifically the Attorney General, Secretary of Homeland Security, Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency with respect to defense of United States Agriculture and Food.
I was impressed with the content of this directive; however, this document is just another useless government smokescreen that only does half of the job. As long as the Bush administration refuses to secure our borders against criminal illegal alien invaders, this directive is just another useless piece of government paper! Sadly for American Citizens, this administration is known for not thinking things through.
The blatant refusal of President Bush and Congress to secure our borders and enforce United States immigration laws is an open invitation for a terrorist instigated biological or chemical attack.
These elected representatives are responsible to American Citizens and must act on these issues now! Time is of the essence and they must not pass the problems on to the next administration three or more years down the line. The security of America is at stake and there must not be further delays!
We, the electorate, must continue to demand that our elected representatives do the job that we elected them to do, live up to their oath of office to protect and defend us and do what is right for America before it is too late. Anything less must not be tolerated!
Footnotes:
[1] Yahoo - Canada Terror Groups
[2] Homeland-Security-Presidential-Directive
Dean Stier was born and raised in Michigan. Dean is a retired Staff Engineer from the California aerospace industry and presently resides in Southern California with his lovely wife, a native Californian. Dean and his wife have two grown children and two wonderful granddaughters, all residing in the southwest. Dean is an honorably discharged United States Air Force veteran who received his college education in California.
Dean welcomes your comments at: DeanStier@Hotmail.com
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THANKS DEAN STIER FOR YET ANOTHER OUTSTANDING AND THOUGHT PROVOKING ARTICLE ABOUT OPEN BORDERS AND THE "ZERO REASON" FOR AMERICANS TO TOLERATE ANY OPEN BORDERS ACTION BY THE US GOVERNMENT.
"A NATION WITHOUT BORDERS IS NOT A NATION". Ronald Reagan
"OPEN BORDERS IS A DEATH TRAP WITH NOWHERE TO RUN, NOWHERE TO HIDE, NOWHERE TO GO". Judy
