Special Section: Terrorist Attacks on America
Terrorism, WMD, and Emergency Preparedness
The terrorist attacks on the United States did not employ weapons of mass destruction (WMD), usually defined as nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons, but the scale of destruction and loss of life was indeed massive. Will terrorists try to acquire and use WMD? CNS studies of WMD terrorism have examined this issue in depth, and address the following questions:
- Anthrax: Background Report
- Will terrorists try to use WMD? How can we assess the threat? See Assessing the Threat of WMD Terrorism, which includes a list of Related Resources.
- Did Usama bin Laden try to acquire materials for a nuclear weapon? See CNS Report: WMD Terrorism and Usama Bin Laden which features links to court documents from the case United States vs. Usama bin Laden.
- What are the motivations for terrorist use of WMD? See the Introduction (PDF format,
14 pages, 1.04 MB) to Toxic Terror: Asssessing Terrorist Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons, edited by
Jonathan Tucker.
- Why did the terrorists attack the World Trade Center? Were chemical weapons used in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center? See John
Parachini's chapter, "The World Trade Center Bombers (1993)" (PDF format, 22 pages, 2.00 MB)
from Toxic Terror.
- How should the United States assess the WMD terrorism threat and allocate its resources? See CNS Report: Combating Terrorism: Assessing Threats, Risk Management, and Establishing Priorities, congressional testimony by John Parachini.
- What is the United States spending to defend itself against terrorism? See Federal Funding to Combat Terrorism.
- Assessing the Risk of Chemical and Biological Weapons Proliferation to Terrorists
(PDF Format, 18 pages, 130k)
Jean Pascal Zanders, Nonproliferation Review, Fall 1999.
- More Terrorism Resources...
Terrorist Group Profiles
In light of the U.S. focus on Afghanistan and the Taliban in connection
with the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, CNS has developed profiles of selected terrorist
organizations operating in Afghanistan.
Go to America's Response: Regional Issues and Implications.
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