Types of Terrorism - Case Study Example

Terrorism is characterised by use of violence indiscriminatively against civilians with intensions of gaining publicity of cause for individuals or groups. Bioterrorism is a kind of terrorism that involves the dessemination of any bioplogical agent, in its natural or modified human form and that agent has anadverse effect on the health of individuals. The biological agents here may include but not limited to bacteria, bacterial toxins, fungal toxins and viruses. This are sometimeds descrinbed as biological weapons and have been used in warefare in manay nations incliuding the United States of America.

Bioterrorism is one of the most attractive weapon for terrorism because it consist mainly of the biological agents and hence less expensive dispite the fact that it causes wide spread panic and fear as well as the actual physical damages that they cause to the body. Bioterrorism has a wider and undiscriminatory impact if applied in millitary or warfare. Because of these reasons therefore the use of biological agents may only be useful in terrorism. As observed by Guillemin (2001), the use of biological agents have wide range of limitations for their use in war since it effectsis experienced passsed the target groups and individuals.

It is not possible to dissminate the biological agents such that only the enemy is affected and in most instances, even the friendly forces are affected by the biolofgical agent (Guillemin, 2001). It is therefore useful for the terrorits due to the ease of creating mass panicx as well as disrupting the society and their activities. As warned by Fong & Alibek (2009), there is potential power that the results and advanccements in genetic engineering is palcing on the hands of the terrorists in the future.

In his study he has also indicated that the genetic technology would benefit the terrorists more thn it would benefit its intensions in the future. Bioterrorism also includes also those aspects of the use of bioloical agents to disriupt a wider range of the society and the peole living in the society. This does not mean that it must result into the deaths of the peole but it may result into wider impact on the economy in terms of economic losses and other impacts. For example, in the year 2001 and the year 2007, the United kingdom witnessed the a wide outbreak and spread of the foot and mouth disease.

While this did not infect the humans, it resulted into serious econnomic damages as well as public concerns and panic. Bioterrorism therefore includes both the aspects economy as well as the health of individual populations and the impacts such as panic, infections or deaths. Bioterrorism is also different from natural outbreak. This is because the natural outbreaks are not engineered by anybody but occur naturally while bioterrorism includes the use of biological gagents that are directed towards an individual or poipulation.

Anthrax oubreak is one of the impacts of the biological agents used in bioterrorism in many nations. Anthrax is caused by a spore forming bacterium known as Bacillus anthracis. It is non contagious and hence transmissiom from one individual to the other through contacts is not very easy. Bacillus anthracis was first use in biological warfare in in germana when the German working stafs were supplied with the anthrax bacterium and used it against the Russian Army in Finland (Guillemin, 2010). The most recent attack and outbreak