FBI Claims Germ Attack Foiled

[Eric Cordian <emc@wire.insync.net>]

Here's an interesting little story that just floated by on AP.
 
-----
 
NEW YORK (AP) -- Two members of the Aryan Nation have been arrested in
Nevada and accused of plotting a bacterial attack on the New York City
subways, an FBI source said today.
 
The source, who spoke in New York on condition of anonymity, provided
no other details. The Aryan Nation is a white supremacist group.
 
The FBI in Nevada said that two men were taken into custody in a
luxury car outside a doctor's office in Henderson, Nev., near Las
Vegas.
 
FBI spokesman Aurelio Flores in Las Vegas said only the matter was
``serious.'' He said different teams from around the country are
``coming in to look at what we have.''
 
A news conference was set for late morning Las Vegas time.
 
Flores said the FBI has secured the area where the car was found and
had ``made everything safe.'' He said the agency was not looking for
explosives.
 
The New York source said the suspects allegedly planned to release a
``dangerous bacterial substance'' in the subways.
 
In Washington, a federal law enforcement source said agents were
investigating allegations that the two men arrested in Las Vegas
possessed anthrax. The source stressed that the tests were not
complete and that there have been unfounded instances in the past
involving allegations of anthrax.
 
Anthrax is an infectious disease that usually afflicts only animals,
especially cattle and sheep. But Anthrax spores can be produced in a
dry form suitable for weapons and can be fatal to humans even in
microscopic amounts.
 
New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was briefed on the case by FBI
Director Louis Freeh and was told ``there is no reason for alarm,''
said mayoral spokeswoman Cristyne Lategano. She would not confirm what
the alleged threat was.
 
Giuliani, speaking generally about the threat of terrorism, said:
``Every part of America, every part of the world, is vulnerable to
terrorism. ... There is no way to make an open society, a democracy,
invulnerable to terrorism or to criminal acts. Short of closing down
America and closing down the city of New York, it would be impossible
to do that.''
 
The mayor added, ``It is impossible to have a police officer every
place. That would be unrealistic, and it would change the nature of a
free society. Short of that, I think New York City is doing everything
it can do to try to reduce the risk.''

-- 
Eric Michael Cordian 0+
O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division
"Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law"