A paper which looks at the increasing threat from bioterrorism, the way in which the aims and methodology of this form of attack differ from other forms of terrorism, and the extent to which biological methods of warfare have been used in previous historical periods. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: JL5_JLbio.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
to look in some detail at the concept of bioterrorism, it might be useful to look at the definition of terrorism in general, the increase in its application over recent
years, and the reasons why bioterrorism is an aspect of the topic which is currently giving so much cause for concern.
Even though in some respects terrorism can be difficult
to define, partly because what is considered by one group to be terrorism is perceived as guerrilla warfare or freedom fighting by another, there are some elements which all terrorist
activities have in common, whether the methodology used is biological or some other form of weapon.
For example, the primary aim of a terrorist group is not to
attack the government or the military directly, but rather to focus their attacks on civilians. This is not simply because governmental and military bases would be well guarded - there
have been a number of instances of the IRA targeting British politicians, for example - but because attacks on civilians can be more widespread, more public and induce greater panic.
The aim of terrorism is to create fear and panic in the public, in order to intimidate policy makers into changing whatever policy or ideological stance the terrorists object to.