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KILLER CHEMICALS Terrorists' new tools Report by Fletcher Margolis January 1996 February 26, 1993-A homemade car bomb composed of common chemical feedstocks explodes beneath New York City's World Trade Center, killing six and injuring more than 1,000 people. March 20, 1995-Cult members cook up a potent nerve gas in their own labs and release it during the morning rush hour in the Tokyo, Japan, subway system, injuring 5,000 commuters and killing a dozen. April 20, 1995-A bomb made of fertilizer and fuel oil destroys the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, killing nearly 200 people, including a number of children playing in a day-care center. Terrorism experts have warned for years of the substantial casualties that could result from chemical weapons in the wrong hands. With hundreds of how-to books and "recipes" available, and easy access to the necessary ingredients for bombs and deadly gases, the potential for random mass murder has always existed but until this year, only in theory. Now, says Robert Kupperman of Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, "Nightmares are coming true. I think we're in deep trouble." "For many years, the common wisdom was that terrorist organizations did not want to cause massive numbers of deaths because it would undercut the sympathy for their cause," explains Leonard Spector, a specialist on international terrorism at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "We've seen that go by the board with the World Trade Center bombing, the chemical weapons business in Japan and the horrible act in Oklahoma City. So no one knows what's going to happen next." Despite law enforcement's best efforts, warns Les Stanford of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), "nobody in the world can stop" terrorists with the right knowledge and materials from producing destructive devices. The horror on the Tokyo subway began during rush hour on a Monday morning. A crowded train moved silently toward its next stop, a major station for government employees. It looked as though a careless commuter had spilled a softdrink container on the floor. A couple of workers began cleaning up the mess. Suddenly, several passengers gasped for air and began sneezing. A few rubbed their eyes. A number vomited blood. The reached the station and stopped. Several passengers passed out, clutching their throats. Others ran for the exits. "The smell was something I had never experienced," one passenger, Kazumi Ito, told the New York Times. "When I got outside, I crouched down on the ground. I saw one woman lying on the floor in a spasm and screaming." The spilled liquid was no accident. Someone had planted containers of a nerve gas called sarin on five trains. Developed in Germany as a potent pesticide, sarin is extremely toxic. A small drop of the colorless liquid on the skin can kill a person in 15 seconds. Minute exposures wreak havoc with breathing, vision and muscular control. Sarin is not easily purchased-the substance has no commercial value, and is not produced by any chemical company. On the other hand, with a bit of scientific know-how and commercially available chemicals normally used for fire prevention, medical purposes and making ballpoint-pen ink, the thinking terrorist can whip up a batch of homemade sarin. The alleged culprits, members of a cult known as Aum Shinrikyo ("Supreme Truth"), had been stockpiling chemicals that could be combined to produce sarin and other fatal agents for at least two years, according to Japanese police. In a series of raids on the sect's several properties, the authorities uncovered hidden laboratories and secret decontamination chambers in addition to toxic chemicals. Less than a month after the Tokyo incident, on April 19, Japanese commuters faced another attack-this time involving phosgene, a poison gas developed by Nazi Germany. Passengers traveling on an early afternoon train, in Yokohama began coughing, feeling dizzy and experiencing sore throats. While the second attack claimed no fatalities, 400 people were hospitalized. Terrorists struck again in Yokohama on April 21, and in Tokyo on May 6-in the latter instance using a cyanide device that was defused by police before it could emit the poison gas. For two months, fear and terror shattered the calm and order of Japan. A fearful populace did not know when or where the terrorists would attack. Finally, on May 16, authorities arrested Shoko Asahara, the head of Aum Shinrikyo and an admirer of Adolf Hitler. But even with the arrest Asahara and confiscation of the cult's lab materials, only time will tell if the government has stopped the attacks, given the copycat nature of terrorists. "Tokyo broke the ice," asserts Dr. Anthony Fainberg of the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment (OTA). "Terrorists will see it ca be done and want to do it themselves." The Oklahoma City bombers killed heir victims with an explosive device assembled at least as easily as sarin. They most likely used the readily available ingredients ammonium nitrate and diesel fuel oil to concoct a homemade version of ANFO, a heavily regulated commercial explosive. "There are many materials that are used every day for legitimate purposes that can be combined to create improvised explosive mixtures," explains Ralph Ostrowski, chief of the ATF's arson and explosives division. "The ammonium nitrate found in commercial fertilizers can be purchased at any garden-supply or hardware store." Farmers and mine operators use ammonium nitrate and ANFO regularly-the former as fertilizer and the latter to blow holes in mines. Construction crews also use explosive ANFO. Russell Seitz of Harvard University's John M. Olin Institute for Strategic Studies believes that even these legitimate uses are unsafe. "The nation's coasts and rivers play host on a daily basis to thousand-ton [shipments of] fertilizer," says Seitz. "There is little to deter the hijacking of their tugs or the transfer of their cargoes, let alone defend the cities that they transit." Demand for ammonium nitrate is so high, notes Seitz, the United States produces nearly 8 million tons of the substance every year. "Explosive power enough to refight World War II is on the loose," he warns, "and the nuclear nonproliferation treaty is powerless even to address it." U.S. Representative Billy Tauzin (DLouisiana) believes that the government should consider preventive measures to protect its citizens. Tauzin, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Hazardous Materials, held a hearing in May 1995 to explore how industry could reduce the explosive characteristics of ammonium-nitrate fertilizer. One of the witnesses at the hearing was Samuel Porter, a consultant to the chemical industry. In 1968, Porter invented and patented a process of adding phosphate to ammonium nitrate to reduce the risks posed by the explosive. "It seemed to me that it would be nice to have an explosive grade monitored by the authorities, and a fertilizer grade destined for farming," Porter said at the hearing. If the ammonium-nitrate makers had adopted Porter's process years ago, Tauzin asserted, "they could have prevented the tragedy in Oklahoma City." Manufacturers at the hearing disagreed. "We conducted demonstrations to show what scientists and the industry have known for years," testified Joe Brawner of ICI Explosives USA. "There are no known additives that will render ammonium nitrate inert." On the contrary, ICI reported, adding phosphate, as Porter suggested, caused the fertilizer to ignite and blow up. Even if Porter's invention worked, maintained the OTA's Anthony Fainberg, who also testified at the hearing, terrorists could circumvent the tactic. "First, they could use old stocks of undesensitized explosives," he noted. "Second, they might have access to manufacturers, here or abroad, who do not comply with the requirement. Finally, they could manufacture their own explosives from easily obtainable raw materials that would be impractical to adulterate." Another preventive option is to force manufacturers to use taggants; for example, require that they plant indestructible microscopic chips in potentially dangerous chemicals. In the event of an explosion, authorities could recover the chip and possibly determine the manufacturer, seller and even buyer. Explosives manufacturers, while agreeing that taggants merit study, pointed out several potential problems at a second hearing held in June 1995. "Commercially manufactured explosives, such as dynamites, water gels, slurries, ANFO and blasting agents, are used in 1% to 3% of bombing incidents that occur each year in the United States," said Christopher Ronay, president of the Institute of Makers of Explosives, and formerly chief of the FBI's explosives unit. "The remaining 97% to 99% consists of homemade mixtures and commercial powders. In the overwhelming number of incidents, therefore, taggants would not have been involved." The OTA's Fainberg concurred: "The World Trade Center [terrorists] used urea and nitric acid, two extremely common chemical feedstocks that would be difficult to tag. Ammonium nitrate can be made from ammonia and nitric acid, and tagging ammonia would present like difficulties." Obtaining the chemicals necessary to build bombs and mount poison attacks is just the first step for would-be terrorists. Step two is gaining the technical knowledge needed to build and use the weapon of choice and this, too, is distressingly simple. "How to make chemical explosives is well known," maintains the ATF's Les Stanford. "Any high-school kid with a knowledge of chemicals can make an explosive. If you want the information, it is out there." Hundreds of books are available that contain instructions on building bombs and other weapons of destruction. Two of the most popular titles are The Anarchist's Cookbook and Poor Man's James Bond, which cover such topics as making pipe bombs, gas-tank bombs, grenades and impact-ignition fire bombs. Also available to would-be terrorists is the Improvised Munitions Handbook, which comes in three volumes and was originally developed for the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. Special Forces troops. Many of these titles are available from Loompanics Unlimited of Port Townsend, Washington. The OTA's Anthony Fainberg also cites Delta Press of El Dorado, Arizona, as a source of "a large catalog of weapons of destruction." Available through Delta is a book called Assorted Nasties. which includes information on making "home brewed" gas. By simply calling Delta's toll-free number, Fainberg was able to of Delta's catalog sent to his government office with no questions asked. Fainberg attributes sales of these books to "an incredible increase in the membership of militias over the past two years." "I personally kind of doubt that militia members are buying from us," maintains Dennis Eichhorn, editorial director of Loompanics. "It's hard to say who is buying them. All we know is the name because we take orders over the phone or through the mail." Eichhorn expresses no moral qualms about selling books with instructions for making dangerous and destructive devices. "I'm not worried about people using these books to build bombs," he declares. "There are plenty of other sources for this kind of material. You can open up the Encyclopedia Britannica and find the recipe for explosives, or get a government manual. I know of 300 books in print on how to make explosives. The best recipes are in government publications." Would-be bomb makers can indeed consult The New Encyclopedia Britannica (15th edition, published in 1994) and find seven pages on the history and composition of explosives. One section details the formula for how ANFO is "almost universally prepared." The section on plastic explosives even furnishes the temperature range necessary to maintain effectiveness. The information superhighway also serves as a source for this know-how. Directions for producing deadly weapons have been posted on bulletin boards on the Internet. Fainberg noted one that uses the name Patriot. Nothing can be done to restrict access to this information. "Not as long as we have a First Amendment," points out the ATF's Les Stanford. Along with easy access to information through the local library and the Internet, Stanford notes that "hundreds of people have gone through the armed forces" and "learned how to make explosive devices." Echoes Eichhorn, "The U.S. Army takes a bunch of non-high-school graduates, puts them in a class, teaches them how to make bombs and sets them loose. This is done with no regard for what kind of people they are or their problems." As for censorship, he says, "We have the right to publish books about explosives. People read the Bible and find something in there that tells them to blow away abortion providers. Should they stop selling Bibles?" Domestic fringe groups with murder on their minds and access to how-to books may pose a threat, but they are not the only ones employing chemical weapons. Until 1994, the Pentagon maintained that Iraq had not used chemical weapons during the Persian Gulf War. However, a report by Czech chemical-warfare experts found that allied troops in northern Saudi Arabia had twice detected sarin and a mustard agent. Since the end of the war, thousands of American veterans of the conflict have reported a wide variety of ailments of unknown origin, from cancers to constant fatigue. And in August 1995, to protect itself from possible reputation-bruising revelations following the defection of Lieutenant General Hussein Kamel Majid to Jordan, Iraq submitted data to the United Nations (UN) revealing programs of mass destruction-including chemical weapons-that were much larger and more advanced than previously suspected. The nation claimed that the information hadn't been reported to the UN earlier because it had been under the control of Majid. Currently languishing in the U.S. Congress is the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which would ban production and sale of chemical weapons and mandate elimination of existing stockpiles. Additionally, the treaty establishes an agency to record, monitor and verify movement of sensitive chemicals between and within countries. Military facilities and chemical plants would be subject to inspection if violations are suspected. While nearly 160 countries have signed the treaty, less than 30 have ratified it. Critics question how much difference the treaty would make. Douglas Feith, a former Reagan Administration official who worked on chemical-weapons arms control, argues that "the convention's elaborate and intrusive reporting and verification provisions will impose major burdens on law-abiding nations like the United States. They will not, however, constrain any party whose legal scruples are less powerful than its desire for chemical weapons." Despite Feith's skepticism, the chemical industry supports the convention. "The treaty is the best means available to prevent legitimate chemicals from falling into the wrong hands," says Fred Webber, president of the Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA). "Honest businesses have nothing to fear. Anyone with other motives will run the risk of getting caught in the act." Clinton Administration attempts to gain Senate approval for the convention failed last year, and with isolationist Senator Jesse Helms (R-North Carolina) now chairing the Foreign Relations Committee, the issue is not even expected to come up for debate. As a Republican source says, "What happened in Tokyo just underscores the sheer uselessness of this agreement and how unverifiable it is." Is the horror experienced in Japan and Oklahoma City isolated and random a preview of the future? Even if ' or the chemicals in question were strictly regulated, would that eliminate the potential for mass terrorism at the hands of small, irresponsible fringe groups? In May 1995, Columbus, Ohio arrested a septic-tank inspector named Larry Wayne Harris. By falsely claiming that he owned a laboratory, Harris had allegedly bought three freeze-dried Cultures of the bacteria that causes bubonic plague. He maintained that he was working on a book about bubonic plague antidotes. A search of Harris's home uncovered a membership certificate for the Aryan Nation. |
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