Al-Qaida is after our cows.

[radwriter0555]

That's the concern of the Department of Homeland Security, which announced Friday a $33 million plan for a pair of academic centers to combat possible terrorist attacks on America's livestock and food supply.

The department contends that so-called "agroterrorism" is a "top priority for university research." But outside homeland security and biological defense circles, experts are deeply divided over how realistic the threat actually is.

Some see America's farms as tempting morsels for evildoers looking to sow economic chaos. Others think terrorists are much more likely to stick to their usual diet of exploding trucks, shoulder-fired missiles and suicide bombs.

"I'm not sure how attractive this is to the bad guy," said Phil Anderson, a homeland security analyst at the Center for Strategic & International Studies. "He likes body bags, explosions, things that look good on CNN. So I'm not that worried about the food chain."


oh so much more... http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,61595,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1

[giantrobot_2000]

1. Pork

Even cows can produce pork.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

2. pun intended?

"Some see America's farms as tempting morsels for evildoers looking to SOW economic chaos"

oh, agriculture humor - it doesnt get any better than that.

[MuseRider]

6. This certainly needs

to be herd (sorry). It would be an easy thing to do and would really erode our feelings of security.

[brainshrub]

18. The steaks are high on this one.

(Thank you Dana Lyons)

[Devlzown]

3. So if we have an outbreak of mad cow,

it will be Al Qaeda's fault. They are becoming all-purpose enemies. Better than the Commies ever were.

[radwriter0555]

5. They got them commies AND the yellow peril whupped, hands down

by a MILE.

And ain't no one ever done seed one either.

[Ficus]

4. something my state (IA)

takes seriously. Now, how real is this threat? Who knows.

[loudsue]

8. It's Bush's NEXT 9/11......then he can bail out all his Texas buddies'

who are ranchers, with more of our magical taxpayer dollars that are coming up short.

They have everything under control....corporate control, to be exact.

:kick:

[brainshrub]

7. All your cows are belong to us.

http://kse3.dyndns.org:1129/ah/akon2002/images/DSC00374.jpg

[soothsayer]

9. dammit!

beat me to it ('cept I didn't have the cool pic)

[SoCalDem]

13. Is that an eggplant costume ??

:evilgrin:.. Nice stem :)

[brainshrub]

14. Inside geek-joke.

Here's the link.

http://www.planettribes.com/allyourbase/story.shtml

[madrchsod]

10. i just

finished reading the journal "acumen"-journal of life sciences in which this "agroterroism" is a real threat. the main argument is that the twin towers airplane strikes were the ulimate plane hi-jacking that started in the 70`s.thus this form of terrorism is now played out. the real damage will come in the form of bio-warfare,whether it`s farms or urban areas.
mr anderson thinks it is somehow not attractive to the bad guys to watch thousands of people die of some ebola type plague that we will have no defence against. let`s stick our heads in the sand and hope no one does this.thanks mr anderson ,i feel so much safer with your assement.

[Flightful]

11. But seriously, folks...

It is a concern- there have been several attempts by animal-rights terrorists to poison the food supply, and several other attempts to create economic fallout by claiming to have poisoned our food. I remember about 10 years ago PETA was involved in a sabotage of a Vancouver supermarket's meat supply.

[SoCalDem]

12. They are just covering their bases..

So if ANYTHING happens, they can say.. "Hey, we warned you"..

Of course there is little if any money pledged and delivered to tighten up the regulations that would spot these kinds of "attacks"..

Republicans feel about regulations, like vampires feel about silver crosses & sunlight.. They bluster and strut around acting "protective", but when push comes to shove, they hold tight to our their money..:(

Much ado about nothing.. There is little that any of us can do about these fears, except be afraid..

[TexasPatriot]

15. agroterrorism isnt cost effective

think of how much effort would have to be involved in trying to 'sow economic chaos' in our farms.

now think of the economic damage you could do with an enterprise rentacar, 100 1-gallon cans of gasoline, and a zippo lighter

if they're really going to go for something like the food supply - even then the water supply would be easier.

this is just pork and fearmongering. we have no terrorist cells. If we did, we'd be feeling it.

[NickB79]

16. Look at Foot-and-Mouth disease's impact on Britain

When the FMD outbreak spread through Great Britain a couple yrs ago, it devastated the agricultural sector. Hundreds of thousands of animals were destroyed, and the country lost millions of dollars in exports of animal products. If that same disease were released in the Midwestern US, it would have a far worse and wider-ranging impact. Most countries won't even import meat from countries not certified FMD-free, so we'd lose billions in revenue from exports. A few vials of FMD in the hands of terrorists could inflict more damage to the American people than a few suicide bombers ever could by putting thousands of farmers out on the streets and crippling rural communities.

[Fleshdancer]

17. Why bother with cows when our cargo ships are wide open?

Homeland Security is nothing more than a bunch of hacks indulging in mental masturbation by thinking up all sort of stupid ways America could be attacked. Meanwhile, the obvious problems are not being dealt with and funding for first time responders are being cut.

If crap like this is all Homeland Security is willing to provide, then it would be cheaper to hire Tom Clancey at this point.