US lawmakers warned of dark winter in case of bioterrorist attack

[Guest guest]

>

>>From AFP,

>http://sg.news./010723/1/19mqc.html

>-

>Tuesday July 24, 7:11 AM

>

>US lawmakers warned of " dark winter " in case of bioterrorist attack

>

>WASHINGTON, July 23 (AFP) -

>A chilling scenario of possible national collapse was presented Monday to US

>lawmakers by a group of prominent security experts, who warned that a

>biological terrorist attack on US soil could bring the country to the brink

>of disintegration.

>

>The panel, which included former deputy secretary of defense Hamre,

>Oklahoma governor Keating and former senator Sam Nunn, presented their

>conclusions after holding a two-day exercise code-named " Dark Winter, " which

>featured a computer-simulated bioterrorist attack on three US states.

>

>Members of the House Subcommittee on National Security closely listened as

>participants painted a picture of the world's most powerful nation

>descending into chaos in a matter of several weeks.

>

>The game starts with a brief television report that about two dozen people

>checked into an Oklahoma City hospital with an unidentified illness. Doctors

>soon find the patients have smallpox, a highly contagious and deadly disease

>unseen in the United States since 1949.

>

>Similar smallpox cases are reported in Pennsylvania and Georgia. By day six,

>300 Americans are dead and 2,000 others are infected. Cases of smallpox are

>reported in Mexico, Canada and Britain, according to the scenario.

>

>Meanwhile the US heath system is overwhelmed, the 12 million doses of

>smallpox vaccine quickly disappear, schools nationwide are forced to close,

>and public gatherings are limited due to fear of contagion.

>

>Droves of Oklahomans anxious to flee stream toward Texas -- but the Texas

>governor, eager to protect his own residents, closes the border and deploys

>the state National Guard. Shots are fired.

>

>As the standoff between Texans and Oklahomans deepens, a rift opens between

>federal and local authorities. Members of the US National Security Council

>suggest " nationalizing " the national guard, while state governors insist on

>keeping the local troops under their control.

>

>On day 12 of the scenario, when the death toll reaches 1,000, interstate

>commerce grinds to a halt and stock trading is suspended. Demonstrations

>demanding more smallpox vaccines turn into riots. The United Nations moves

>its headquarters from New York to Geneva, Switzerland.

>

>Less than two months after the outbreak, when the number of dead reach one

>million and three million more are infected, the president, played in the

>exercise by Nunn, gathers his top aide to considers imposing marshal law.

>

>Dead silence reigned in the hearing room as Hamre and Nunn presented their

>findings with the help of colorful " emergency newscasts " prepared by the

>nation's leading television broadcasters, who also took part in the

>exercise, which took place at s Air Force Base outside Washington,

>D.C. in June.

>

> " I think we felt it would cripple the United States if it occurred, " Hamre

>said.

>

> " We though we were really gathering together to talk about the mechanics of

>government, " Hamre said. " What we ended up doing is thinking how we save

>democracy in America. "

>

>To Republican Congressman Gilman, scenarios like this no longer

>belong to the realm of science fiction.

>

> " Sadly, events of the last few years, with bombings ... in New York,

>Oklahoma City, have transformed the bioterrorism debate from the question of

>'if' to the seeming inevitability of 'when, " he said.

>

>Nunn, who had sat on the Senate Armed Services Committee for more than two

>decades, said the exercise raised more questions than answers.

>

>If there is only one dose of smallpox vaccine for every 23 Americans, whom

>do you vaccinate? he asked.

>

> " Do you seize hotels and convert them to hospitals? Do you close borders and

>block all travel? What level of force do you use to keep someone sick with

>smallpox in isolation? " he asked.

>

>No clear answer was offered by those present.

>