Posted: March 12th, 2023

HLSC 720-DISCUSSION 7-REPLY 2

The thread must be a minimum of 200-400 words. MINIMUM OF TWO SOURCES BESIDES THE TEXTBOOK. Must cite at least 2 sources in addition to the Bible.

TEXTBOOK: Bennett, B. T. (2018). Understanding, assessing, and responding to terrorism: Protecting critical infrastructure and personnel (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN: 9781119237785.

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WMD: The advent of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) into the subcategory of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) became forefront during WW1 following their prolific usage (Bennett, 2018). The devastating effects of CBRNE eventually manifested into the high point of America bombing Japan with two individual nuclear bombs, killing hundreds of thousands (Bennett, 2018). Although ancient history to many younger people currently partaking in scholarly works, the detonating of these nuclear devices marked the first, and hopefully last, time a CBRNE of this magnitude was unleashed (Bennett, 2018). Each individual category has specific items of influence, for example, biological agroterrorism or chemical phosgene gases, amounting to an extensive network of attacks and subsequent defensive strategies (Adebola, 2021). Therefore, it seems fitting to analyze WMD from a more modernized risk perspective, as nuclear and explosives are both widely covered, dipping inside the world of agroterrorism (Adebola, 2021).             CBRNE Complications: The inception of the acronym CBRNE truly defined how complex these WMDs are, its wide-ranging, all-encompassing, and elaborate nature speaks volumes (Bennett, 2018). Most of the complication, from a risk analysis perspective, is within the diversity of attack avenues that WMD/CBRNE have (Allison et al., 2022). For example, the most horrific and difficult CBRNE to plan for is nuclear, the number of preventative measures necessary to protect assets from nuclear bombs is excessive (Allison et al., 2022). Only the most valuable assets and critical infrastructures in America should be worthy of preventing nuclear attacks, however, improvised explosive devices (IED), part of the explosive CBRNE, are covert and difficult to detect or prevent (Garcia-Fernandez et al., 2022). Garcia-Fernandez et al. (2022) paint a complex picture of IED detection by use of drones, ground penetrating radar, and synthetic aperture radar, illustrating how intense IED preventative measures are becoming.             Agroterrorism Example: Intentional sabotage of American food storage supplies or farmland roughly describes agroterrorism, this example has existed as known today when the Nazis poisoned American livestock during WW2 with anthrax (Pinkerton et al., 2019). Pinkerton et al. (2019) articulate how American farms and agriculture companies are particularly vulnerable to an organized agroterrorism onslaught. Most American farms lack strong infrastructure, like fences or security systems, utilize migrant or undocumented laborers, and invest relatively little in long-term preventative measures (Pinkerton et al., 2019). In an analysis of this attack strategy, several mitigating factors are achievable for American farmers, simple fences, vetting new hires, and CCTV (Pinkerton et al., 2019). Agroterrorism can also encompass sabotage into current food supplies, for example, covert operations with chemical WMD into food processing plants could jeopardize millions of Americans before the origin was discovered (Pinkerton et al., 2019). The progression of this type of attack would cripple American food storages, poison millions, and shut down major processing plants (Pinkerton et al., 2019). Therefore, major processing plants can take suggested preventative measures, again vetting employee hiring decisions more thoroughly, creating stringent floor operational guidelines, enhanced CCTV, security checkpoints, and chemical monitoring systems (Pinkerton et al., 2019). To extend a biblical perspective on the subject of CBRNE preparedness the Bible teaches us about being ready, “But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man” (English Standard Version, 2001/2016 Luke 21:36).                                     References Adebola, O. (2021). Analyzing the Threat, Vulnerability, and Consequences of Agroterrorism.             Proliferation of Weapons-and Dual-Use Technologies. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73655-2_14     Allison, D., Herzog, S., & Ko, J. (2022). Under the Umbrella: Nuclear Crisis, Extended Deterrence, and Public Opinion. Journal of Conflict Resolution. 66(10). https://doi.org/10.1177/00220027221100254 Bennett, B. (2018). Understanding, Assessing and Responding to Terrorism. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoboken, NJ. English Standard Version. (2016). Bible hub. Retrieved from https://biblehub.com (Original work published 2001). Garcia-Fernandez, M., Alvarez-Narciandi, G., Lopez, Y., & Fernando, A. (2022). SAFEDRONE Project: Development of a UAV-Based High Resolution GPR System for IED Detection. IEEE. https://doi.org/10.23919/EuCAP53622.2022.9768934   Pinkerton, M., Thompson, S., Casuso, N., Hodges, A., & Leppla, N. (2019). Engaging Florida’s Youth to Increase their Knowledge of Invasive Species and Plant Biosecurity. Journal of Integrated Pest Management. 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/jipm/pmy019