The U.S. agency responsible for protecting homeland security, has prepared a list of the most terrible future terrorist attack scenarios. This report was inadvertently posted on websites of several American states, including Hawaii, before it was taken down. Homeland security is expected to make this confidential report public over the next few months.
The New York Times, which first reported the draft plan on its website on Tuesday, reports that the terror scenarios include:
* Blowing up a chlorine talk, which would kill 17,500 people and injure more than 100,000.
* Spreading pneumonic plague in the washrooms of an airport, sports arena and train station, which would kill 2,500 and make 8,000 ill.
* Infecting cattle with foot and mouth disease, which would result in the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars.
The report was requested by a presidential directive in December 2003.It has taken a year for the department to come up with a National Planning Scenarios plan that outlines a number of plausible attacks including by nerve gas, anthrax, pneumonic plague and truck bomb.
Homeland Security spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said that the department "has developed a number of scenarios that will aid federal, state and local homeland security officials in developing plans to become more prepared to prevent and respond to an act of terrorism, should it occur,” He added that the plan "will help us better target our efforts and resources in improving the nation's preparedness,".
However, officials stressed that there was no credible indication of such specific attacks being planned.
