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Former Sens. Talent and Graham warn of bioterrorism risks

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Oct. 12, 2011 - WASHINGTON - Warning that the nation remains vulnerable to a large-scale bioterrorism attack, former U.S. Sens. Jim Talent and Bob Graham said Wednesday that the government needs leadership to set priorities to improve the response to a potentially devastating event.

Graham, a Florida Democrat, said he was especially worried about a potential threat from troubled Syria, which has the capability to develop biological weapons, is in the midst of civil turmoil, and whose government has been tied to the Hezbollah terror group.

"Syria is one of the two or three countries in the world that we are particularly concerned about, in terms of the quantity, the quality and the timeline of their development of biological capability," Graham told a news conference. "We are also concerned about its terrorist partner, Hezbollah," which could be supplied with such weapons.

Graham also warned that news of Iran's reported recruitment of Mexican drug-war assassins in a foiled plot to kill Saudi Arabia's U.S. ambassador raises the specter of a nation-state with bioterror capabilities hiring third parties to carry out an attack.

Talent, a St. Louis Republican, also warned about the possibility that "a nation-state would empower one of those [anarchic terror] groups to launch an attack" using biological weapons. "And if you cannot attribute" such an attack, "deterrents don't work. So there is a huge need" for better science to be able to trace a germ warfare attack.

Talent is the vice chair and Graham the chairman of the WMD Terrorism Research Center, a bipartisan research group that issued a "Bio-Response Report Card" which gave 15 "F" grades, 15 "D" grades and no "A's" in assessing various categories of the nation's current biodefense capabilities.

The most serious of those weak areas, the former senators said, was the lagging state of preparedness for a large-scale biological attack (either with a contagious agent like the plague bacterium or a non-contagious agent such as the anthrax pathogen). The assessment found improvements in the nation's biodefense capabilities since the 9/11 attacks a decade ago, but said areas such as dispensing "medical countermeasures," such as antibiotics, in the event of a major attack are severely lacking.

In the last decade, the U.S. has spent an estimated $65 billion on various efforts to improve its preparedness for a bioterror attack, but advances in synthetic biology and other aspects of sciences involving potential germ warfare are making it difficult for government agencies to keep up with the threats.

In June, Talent had told a House panel that bioterrorism is more feasible now than ever before because terrorists now "have ready access to pathogens, the capability to weaponize them, and the means to effectively dispense a biological weapon. There is no question on intent."

The report by the WMD Center also said that "advances in biotechnology have now enabled a small team of individuals with college-level training to create biological weapons." And it recommended more investment in the cutting-edge science needed to be able to quickly detect and trace the origin of a biological agent such as anthrax.

"Attribution is a hugely important aspect of prevention" of a bioterror attack, Talent said. "Because without attribution, we cannot deter."

Rob Koenig is an award-winning journalist and author. He worked at the STL Beacon until 2013.