Open your eyes

[pelagicnavigator]

There are many terrorist weapons, but the most devastating is likely to be biological. Various agents include anthrax, plague, Ebola virus, smallpox, etc. The most frightening could well be smallpox.

Smallpox is a virus, thought eradicated in 1977. Although there is some debate as to how infectious it is, smallpox has been shown to be transmitted by body fluids, through the air and even by fomites (inanimate objects). Studies of epidemics of the disease have, however, never addressed its intentional spread as one might encounter with a terrorist act. Initial symptoms of smallpox infection start about two weeks after exposure, and are innocuous. It presents itself with flu-like symptoms to include high fever, fatigue, head and body aches. It isn't until two to three days later that the characteristic rash starts. Up to 30 percent of healthy people will die. Those with impaired immune systems would most likely die at much higher rates. This includes transplant, dialysis, cancer and AIDS patients, all those on steroids, elderly patients with chronic disease, such as emphysema, heart problems, etc.

Imagine 30 healthy young people willing to die for their cause. Now imagine those same individuals applying for tourist visas to the United States. Sound farfetched? Now imagine them all infected with smallpox and intentionally spreading the disease in various public places in many cities simultaneously. Eventually when symptoms become intense, they might actually seek out medical care, thereby bringing the disease to caregivers in the emergency departments or doctor's office. The infected nurses would then unwittingly pass this on to their children, who then could spread it to their classmates, and so on. If you do the math, the spread could be exponential, easily outstripping any resources we might be able to muster to contain the disease.

In a matter of months, hundreds of thousands could be infected. There also is no barrier to international spread, as an infected individual in New York could step on an airplane and in six hours be in Paris, London, Berlin, etc. We in Charleston would not be immune, and because of mass transit, no family in the United States would be safe. As tragic as a nuclear blast in a major city would be, this would pale compared to a worldwide smallpox epidemic. Saddam Hussein has the hatred for America, the resources (15 percent of the world's known oil reserves) and the terrorist connections to make this scenario a distinct possibility.

The issue of vaccination is of course a possibility. It is controversial for the following reasons:

1) Up to three deaths per million vaccinations.

2) One in every thousand experiences serious side effects.

3) Those who receive the vaccination would be infectious to others up to 30 days.

4) Many cannot take the vaccination, such as the immuno- compromised as noted above, as well as those who are pregnant, have eczema, use inhaled steroids, have skin disorders and various eye diseases.

The above summarizes my understanding of the devastating nature of only one aspect of terrorism. I suspect the above will not persuade those with closed minds on the issue of dealing with Saddam Hussein but might help some who are unsure of why our government is taking such a dramatic course toward this menace. Even at the cost of many American soldiers' lives, I believe it a necessary action to save our country, and perhaps the world from a potentially disastrous fate.

Why now? Because the scenario outlined above could occur any time, even next week, let alone months.

To all those who believe Mr. Hussein and his terrorist friends can be contained, who would have thought before September 11, 2001, that young healthy men would crash airplanes full of innocent men, women and children into buildings full of innocent people?

As somebody recently said: "It's not about the oil, stupid." In fact, he was right. The United States could have taken the Iraqi oil fields in 1991.

I believe it is about self-defense. We not only have a right but a duty to defend ourselves.

[dav555add]

I agree