ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Espionage, Intelligence, and Security Volume ...

AnthraxFollowing the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report, someminor reforms were instituted to guard against the possibilityof another security breech.Ames was sentenced to life in prison without thepossibility of parole. To gain leniency for his wife, Amesplead guilty to all charges levied against him.❚ FURTHER READING:BOOKS:Nash, Jay Robert.Spies: A Narrative Encyclopedia of DirtyDeeds and Double Dealing from Biblical Times to Today.M.Evans, 1997.SEE ALSOCIA (United States Central Intelligence Agency)KGB (Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti, USSR Committeeof State Security)Russia, Intelligence and SecurityHanssen (Robert) Espionage Casethe globe, and the United States in particular. During theGulf War of 1990 to 1991, and in subsequent UnitedNations inspection efforts, the government of Iraq’s developmentof advanced anthrax based bioweapons wasrevealed.Although the incidents have not been directly linked,following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on theWorld Trade Center buildings in New York City and thePentagon in Washington, D.C., anthrax was used as abioterrorist weapon. Letters containing a powdered formof Bacillus anthracis, the bacteria that causes anthrax,were mailed to representatives of government and themedia, among others. Multiple attacks eventually killedfive people.Anthrax refers to a disease that is caused by thebacterium Bacillus anthracis. The bacterium can enter thebody via a wound in the skin (cutaneous anthrax), viacontaminated food or liquid (gastrointestinal anthrax), orcan be inhaled (inhalation anthrax). The latter in particularcan cause a very serious, even lethal, infection.❚ BRIAN HOYLEAnthraxThe disease has been present throughout recordedhistory. Its use as a weapon stretches back centuries.Hundreds of years ago, bodies of anthrax victims weredumped into wells, or were catapulted into enemy encampments.Development of anthrax-based weapons waspursued by various governments in World Wars I and II,including those of the United States, Canada, and Britain.In the 1990s, the use of biological weapons by terroristsbecame a serious threat to the security of countries aroundHumans naturally acquire anthrax from exposure tolivestock such as sheep or cattle or wild animals. Theanimals are reservoirs of the anthrax bacterium.A microscopic view of the anthrax bacteria is seen in this photo from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command at Ft. Detrick, Maryland. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS.Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security33