Germs : Biological Weapons and America's Secret War

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Summary: A MUST READ
Review: BEFORE SEPTEMBER 11 I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD WANT TO READ A BOOK OF THIS TYPE.... WELL LET ME TELL YOU THIS BOOK SHOULD BE READ BY EVERYONE THAT IS INTERESTED IN THE FUTURE OF THEIR LIVES AND THE LIVES OF THEIR COUNTRY...... IF I HAD THE MONEY I WOULD BUY THIS BOOK FOR EVERYONE I KNOW SO THEY COULD READ IT AND HELP ME IN DISCUSSIONS AS TO WHAT WE CAN DO TO MAKE THIS A BETTER WORLD OR IS IT TOO LATE?...... NOT TO SCARE YOU BUT ONLY TO LET YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT REALLY IS GOING ON SOMETHING OUR GOVERNMENT SEEMS TO NOT LET US KNOW....... GOD BLESS AMERICA AND MOST OF ALL GOD BLESS ALL OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY IN NEW YORK....

Rating:
Summary: important work
Review: I bought this book in the days after the attacks on 9/11, thinking that it might help me feel better to be well informed and to not fall prey to rumors and gossip. Unfortunately, it has not been a comfort.

Well-researched (though I checked a lot of the information online, and found that it had been accessible all of the time had we only looked for it), this is an excellent overview of the history of biological warfare, from the US point of view.

I appreciated the writing style .. while accessible to just about anyone, it didn't feel "dumbed down" either.

... I was a little dismayed, though. People should be doing more practical research in the area of preparedness, and realize that gas masks are not going to save you if your city is attacked (unless you have a really good one and plan on wearing it 24 hours a day), and that smallpox vaccine you received back in 1972, is unlikely to give you much resistance at this point. This book might prepare you for the fact that an attack could happen at any time, but does not outline any of the precautions you can and should take.

Rating:
Summary: Man's Propensity to Monkey
Review: Full of stuff you haven' t been reading in your newspapers, unless you go for tabloids, where today's serious papers seem to have converged. I had no idea that the Oregon cult led by Rajneesh/Osho had been so involved in subverting an election with salmonella. I had no idea of the ease with which poor nations or rich fanatics could turn the tables on us, until 9/11. But for some time, probably due to Clinton's interest, as described in this book, some people in our government have expressed concern about the potential for spreading deadly disease. I am left with the feeling that we had better be cautious about what we sow (in the form of 'scenarios' or lab cultures), for so shall we reap. But I know that applies to the whole scientific world, not just the West. The authors do not indict any one nation, they simply caution. I was vaccinated for smallpox as a baby. My children were not. The U.S. and Russia vowed to be the guardians of the last of that virus. However, according to this book, there are bodies which have come from the Siberian permafrost which harbored the virus. I don't doubt that there are more of them. With this level of instability, we must be mad to imagine the threat had passed. I won't even go into the nightmare scenarios about recombinant DNA bugs, with multiple disease entities described. How can we fight these spectres? It won't be easy. Barbara Tuchman's book "A Distant Mirror" , about plague and crusades in the 14th Century is good supplementary reading to this. What did Faulkner say? Both that the past wasn't past, and that man will not just survive but prevail. Read well. There will be a test.

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Summary: Urgently Needed Perspectives on Global Threats
Review: More than 2,000 years ago in The Art of War, Sun Tsu suggests that every battle is won or lost before it is fought. Hence the importance of anticipation and (especially) preparation. As indicated in The Art of the Long View, Peter Schwartz is among those who advocate that anticipation and preparation are even more important now than ever before. Recent and tragic events offer neither the first nor the last evidence of that. But first there must be recognition of plausible possibilities and then an understanding of what the probable implications and consequences of what each possibility may be. Miller, Engelberg, and Broad explain how the CIA secretly built its own model of the Soviet-designed germ bomb and how the Pentagon attempted to create a 'superbug.' They provide details about the former U.S.S.R.'s efforts to produce biological weapons as well as an 'untraceable germ' that instructs the body to destroy itself. They even suggest that, in the 1960s, U.S. officials worked on plans to attack Cuba with germ weapons. They examine the Pentagon's ineffective efforts to defend against Iraq's biological weapons during the Gulf War (1991). That is why I admire this book so much. Please understand that I am unqualified to comment on the scientific information which the authors provide and discuss. But even non-scientists such as I can grasp the nature and extent of various dangers identified...and their potential consequences. In this context, consider situations such as these:

' 'British authorities discover that the separatist group Mau Mau, operating in what is now Kenya, used a toxic plant to poison 33 steers in an act of rebellion; no reported fatalities' (1952)

' 'Palestinian workers claim to have poisoned a shipment of Jaffa oranges to Israel with liquid mercury; no reported fatalities' (1978)

' 'At least 66 people die after anthrax spores are accidentally released at a Soviet military facility in Sverdlovsk, Russia' (1979)

' 'A terrorist group calling itself 'Dark Harvest' drops off a package of anthrax-contaminated soil at the Chemical Defense Establishment in Witshire, England; the type of anthrax used did not prove to be harmful' (1981)

' 'About 700 people become ill in Oregon after a member of a religious cult allegedly used salmonella to poison restaurant salad bars' (1984)

' 'Aum Shinrikyo, a Japanese doomsday cult, releases the poisonous gas sarin into the city's subway system, killing 12 commuters and sickening about 5,000; the group also experimented with anthrax spores' (1995)

This information was provided in a feature article co-authored by staff members of the Wall Street Journal. Miller, Engelberg, and Broad (staff members of the New York Times) are well aware of all of these and other initiatives which indicate that the threat of biological warfare has existed for quite some time. They explain why secrecy is essential to the success of the 'bio-warriors' who use such weapons as well as to the success of those who defend against them.

During the 56 years since Hiroshima and then Nagasaki, no other nuclear weapons have been used against an enemy (at least that I am aware of) but that possibility has always existed. Few nations can afford the cost of designing and constructing nuclear weapons. Few organizations can afford the cost of planning and then implementing the use of jetliners to obliterate buildings as well as killing those inside or near them. In sharp and shocking contrast, almost any individual can use 'bio-weapons' for mass destruction in nature and extent once considered unthinkable.

This book seems to have been written for non-scientists such as I who are deeply concerned about all this. Presumably it was also written for public officials, especially policy-makers, who are responsible for protecting cities, states, and nations. Those who share my high regard for this book are encouraged to check out other sources such as Anthony Lane's Six Nightmares. If terrorism in any form is to be defeated, all citizens (not only public officials) must first recognize and then understand 'the unthinkable' inorder to anticipate and then prepare for its multiple potentialities.

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Summary: Real, nuts and bolts information about potential dangers
Review: After watching the World Trade Center attacks, trying frantically to reach friends in New York and then watching the day's events unfold (with an increasing feeling of horror and disbelief) while worrying about possible biological and chemical agents that might have been released (thank goodness, a false alarm in this case) I knew that I wanted more information about the potential dangers that face our country. This book provides that information, from accounts of experiments with various biological weapons and agents, interviews with workers in the field and more. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to be as informed as possible and who wants to make whatever decisions are possible to protect their families and friends. I won't kid you- the book doesn't purport to say that all dangers can be avoided or guarded against. But it does provide the type of information that you may be seeking about what has been done to provide national security against germ warfare - and what still needs to be done - in our country and in other countries. You may also want to consider taking some common-sense precautions as well, precautions which this book should guide you to make.

Rating:
Summary: Time to wake up
Review: The frightening thing about 'Germs' is that it highlights just how easy it is, for those with the know-how, to create weapons that are beyond our worst nightmares. More scary still, former Soviet scientists now find their expertise in great demand by terrorist groups and rogue states. We shouldn't forget what Saddam has already proved himself capable of, testing the results on his own people. Iran, North Korea and other groups will soon find that this form of destruction comes at a price way below that of conventional or nuclear weapons, and no amount of international treaties will stop the proliferation. With recent events in Washington and New York, we are reminded of what any extremist group is capable of. Their own lives are meaningless to them, so long as they can kill and maim those whom they consider to be their enemies. While I (and all other people of good will) encourage the free, democratic world to fight fanaticism, we are faced with new problems for which, at the moment, we have no answers.

'Germs' does not set out to frighten, it is simply a factual revelation by investigative journalists. What it discloses is frightening and unforgettable. It is not a relaxing book to read. It will make you uneasy. But it will make you think. It will make you realize that, despite national and international efforts to ban biological weapons, we can never un-invent what already exists. We must simply do everything we can to minimize the risk, and learn to live with the horrifying possibility that, one day, some form of biological weapon could be launched in any of the countries of the free world. Above all, we must all work towards the goals laid out by George W. Bush - to treat those who sponsor and harbor terrorists in the same way that we treat those whose fingers are on the trigger. This applies equally to the supporters of the IRA as it does to the sponsors of the Osama Bin Laden. It applies equally to jungle guerrillas in Nicaragua as it does to urban guerillas in the Belfast. Gadhaffi is no worse than someone who puts a ten dollar bill in the collection box for Noraid - he's just got more ten dollar bills!. You cannot simply decide that someone else's terrorist is your hero. Terrorism, by definition, includes all those who spread terror - we have to STOP BEING SELECTIVE.

Though the whole democratic world is in danger, America is the country at highest risk. Its wealth and power makes it vulnerable, because its wealth and power give it a loud voice, and not everybody in the world is happy to play to America's tune. This book will make you think, and will make you realize the risks America is taking if it continues with outdated foreign policies. Of all people, Americans should know what happens when a country believes it has a right to dictate its lifestyle to others (Remember King George?). I believe that, in recent years, USA has begun to understand the lessons of ethnocentrism and protectionism, and has begun to adjust its policies gently away from these dangerous arenas. I desperately hope that there will never again be an incident as tragic as those on 11 September 2001. But to ensure this, we must be conscious of WHY these things happen. None of us are blameless - no more than the English or the Spanish or the French were blameless when they discovered their empires crumbling beneath their feet as the worm eventually turned.

Germs is an excellent reminder of the risks of 21st century life. It is a wake up call to all of us who detest fundamentalism and extremism.

Rating:
Summary: Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War
Review: Germs gives a good overview of known world research on biological offensive and defensive germ warefare. This book has three authors and I found that some of the information was repeated.

Rating:
Summary: Great book with lots of loaded information!
Review: This book explains the terrors of germ warfare, especially if such bombs and devices get into the hands of terrorists and other crazies. The authors did excellent research and show how someone could build one of these bombs for the fraction of the cost what a nuclear device would cost. Scary to say the least. Another new book that I just read and highly recommend as it explains very realistically the danger of nuclear terrorism in our time is THE CONSULTANT by Alec Donzi.

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Summary: POTENTIAL HORROR AND MASS DESTRUCTION!
Review: With the terrorist attack on the United States of America in the forefront of everyone's mind, "Germs" is an especially frightening book to read. The potential mass destruction which could be caused as a result of biological weapons is an incomprehensible, henious terror which threatens all humanity. The destruction of a country by a mass plague of deadly germs is unthinkable. No country, no matter how powerful or prosperous, should ever be allowed the development or use of biological warfare; it could lead to the destruction of our entire world as we know it. This is not to say a country should sit back and do nothing when attacked - not by any means. However, the killing of other innocent people by biological weapons is not the answer either. The world is already filled with enough racial animosity and hatred. We must stamp out terrorism and find world peace, but the answer will not be found in biological warfare.

This book is not an easy one to read when one contemplates the enormous impact biochemical warfare could have world-wide. From Soviet scientists to American government, this book contains information based on hundreds of interviews. The overall picture will leave the reader feeling very uncomfortable about what comes next in our world!

Rating:
Summary: Unputdownable; A Must-Read for All Americans
Review: Like all New Yorkers, I have been shattered by the events of the last week and horrorified by the loss of life. But once I read this book, which had crossed my threshold on September 12, I became even more aware of the dangers we face as citizens of this city, country and indeed, planet. The book includes surprisingly candid interviews and tales from America's "germ warriors," and holds a staggering amount of information on just what happens when germs are let loose -- as well as the government's long crusade in this frightening arena. As terrifying as the events of this week have been (who would have ever dreamed it could have been worse?), it could have been. This book educated me to the very real dangers we face. A caveat: stock up on gas masks.