Tactics of Terrorists Essay

Tactics of TerroristsTerrorism is an issue that is grabbing attention of the countries or governments more than before because the terrorist activities across the globe have increased to great extent and terrorists are adopting new ways of damaging their targets. The paper would discuss a hypothetical scenario where a bioterrorist attack would be analyzed in terms of its characteristics and how it would be different had it been natural, and the measures with which the government can control that bioterrorist attack.Bioterrorism is a term that is used to define the use of biological weapons by the biological agents for terrorist activities (Interpol, 2010).

Bioterrorism involves the presence of a severe disease that spreads in a short time, causes inhalation related or other bodily-destruction problem, and involves the presence of bacteria too (Wassenaar, 2008). Let’s assume that the terrorists made a bioterrorist attack by releasing some already diseased people in a city who had smallpox. Smallpox is a disease that is caused by a virus of orthopoxvirus family, named variola virus, and is one of the most disturbing diseases for human beings (WHO, 2010). It is considered to be most effective and harmful biological weapon that spreads at a great speed (emedicinehealth, 2010). Many researchers say that this disease “has killed much more people than other infectious diseases combined” (MedlinePlus, 2010), and has symptoms such as, flu, fever, headache, fatigue, and ache in the back.So, what terrorists did along with releasing such diseased people in the city was to boast it through excessive sources that can alarm the citizens and create a sense of panic among them. The prime motive of terrorists behind that was to evacuate the city and gain control over it, and that could be possible by minimizing the population along with forcing them to leave the city in order to be safe against the disease.

Not only this, they left those diseased people in public places from where it could spread swiftly. They also mixed its viruses in the pools of drinking water, restaurants dishes, etc. that boosted up its spreading.These outbreak characteristics would have been different if the same disease had been natural because it would have taken much longer time to spread. It is because those who are identified to have this disease are normally taken to an isolated place where they stay until they get rid of it. Or in other case, they would be treated immediately to avoid the spread of the disease. Natural disease would not be there because smallpox disease was eliminated from this planet decades ago, and this conspiracy could only be the result of terrorists who got the sample of viruses from somewhere, made people diseased, and asked them to spread it more.

Federal or local government should respond to this bioterrorist attack by immediately taking away the diseased people away from the city where they can be kept in isolation and treated. Another strategy should be to recommend the citizens to stay within their homes, not go out in public places, not to eat or drink anything from outside, and not to shake hands or meet other people physically. This would surely help minimizing the speed of spreading of smallpox, and in the mean time the issue could be resolved by treatment.

Not only this, the government should identify the terrorists who had such motive of taking people’s lives, creating panic among them, and evacuating them from the city.ReferenceseMedicineHealth. (2010). Smallpox.

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