oldenglish Posted May 7, 2003 Share Posted May 7, 2003 Mosul Ammo Dump Destroyed Fire Blazes In Baghdad Bush Sends Bremer To Iraq FARC Rebels Kill 10 In Colombia EU To Protect Endangered Fish SARS Not Yet Peaked In China Hospital Aid For Iraq On Its Way U.S. to Hold Five-Day Terror Attack Simulation Mon May 5, 2003 04:11 PM ET By Deborah Charles WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Next week the United States will simulate a chemical and a biological attack on two cities in a five-day, $16-million exercise aimed at testing the government's ability to respond, Homeland Security officials said in a press conference on Monday. In the largest homeland security exercise ever undertaken in the United States, federal, state and local officials will react to events that officials said were based on plausible threats to the United States. Under the scenario which to be played out from May 12-16, a fictitious terror group will detonate a radiological "dirty bomb" in Seattle, Washington and disseminate a pneumonic plague halfway across the country in Chicago. More than 100 people will be injured in Seattle and significant radiation will be detected, sparking the government to raise its terror threat warning to the highest level. In the Chicago area an undisclosed number of people will get sick. In the exercise, people in Canada will report the same symptoms as in Chicago, leading to cross-border efforts to coordinate an epidemiological investigation. "While the exercise scenario and the extent of damage are based on a hypothetical situation, they do reflect plausible threats to the United States," said Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. "That said, however, no actual explosives or other harmful substances will be used." In the past, authorities have warned of the possibility that groups like al Qaeda -- the group Washington blames for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks -- may use biological, chemical or radioactive weapons in a future attack on the United States or on U.S. interests abroad. This exercise, known as TOPOFF 2 (Top Officials 2) is the second homeland security simulation conducted by the government as mandated by Congress. The Homeland Security department was created in the wake of the 2001 hijacked airliner attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that killed more than 3,000 people. The first simulation, held in 2000, also dealt with germ warfare and took place in three states. That simulation exposed massive communications and coordination problems between federal, state and local officials. Officials were particularly concerned about coordination problems in the public health system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldenglish Posted May 7, 2003 Author Share Posted May 7, 2003 cough cough. anthrax attacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest krie Posted May 7, 2003 Share Posted May 7, 2003 can we bomb ur house mr pres ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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