Anthrax Attack Essay

In October of 2001, the United States was attacked with a form of biological terrorism in which anthrax was hidden in certain letters sent through the postal services. Anthrax, caused by the bacteria Bacillus anthracis, is a common disease received by livestock but is usually very rare among humans in the United States. However, anthrax is a very dangerous disease when contracted by a person and can result in severe breathing problems and death. In the weeks following the 9/11 attacks, the population of the U.S. was jolted into mass fear and panic, and the anthrax attacks exacerbated this trepidation. Our response teams, government, and pharmacies collectively struggled to control the situation, which proved that our country was woefully unprepared

for an attack of biological agents. Robert Stevens, a photo editor in Florida, was the first victim of inhalation anthrax and was followed by 4 more who died among the many who tested positive for the disease. Furthermore, it was uncertain whether the attacks were perpetrated by an individual within the United States or if it was the same group responsible for the terrorist attacks on September 11th. Thus, these events served to be a reminder of the gravity of the different threats of bioterrorism and domestic terrorism on the United States and what new measures we needed to make to protect the population.
Victims of the attacks received mailed letters sent to offices, homes, and postal facilities across the United States. Inside these letters was a fine, white powder which contained the anthrax bacteria. The culprit was never identified, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation narrowed the search and shed some light on the reasoning behind these attacks. The FBI concluded that these attacks did not have a direct link to organized terrorism, so subsequently it was most likely a form of domestic terrorism by an individual. Groups and individuals of domestic terrorism are known to harbor intense hatred of the American government, follow racist or hate based ideologies, or are involved in special interest terrorism in which they hope to affect change on a topic. Furthermore, many of these groups are willing to use violence and perform extreme measures to achieve their aspirations. Since we were never able to capture the perpetrator, we do not know the underlying reason for the crime, but we do know they aimed to inflict widespread fear, disruption, and violence to achieve a specific goal.
The mailing of the anthrax-contaminated letters resulted in an overwhelming amount of panic and chaos among the population.

The experience highlighted the fact that the United States was vulnerable to biological terrorism and very unprepared for such an event. Since our population was gripped by underlying fear caused by the 9/11 attack a month earlier, the anthrax attack truly created a mass hysteria of fear and paranoia. When it became known to all that anthrax was within the mail service, many became overly fearful and thus created multiple false alarms where people claimed they were infected when they were not. Because of this, hospitals were being flooded with swarms of people and pharmacies began to run out of the antibiotics needed to treat those who were positively tested of the disease. The attack wreaked havoc on the people of the United States and even caused other countries to be on high alert for a possible attack on their own people. Furthermore, as an effect of the event, President Bush announced a new federal budget plan to spend more money on biological counterterrorist measures. This new budget acknowledged the danger that biological terrorism could bestow on our population. Also, the situation provided the evidence that our country needed new extensive measures to be taken to protect our population. Overall, the anthrax attack generated horror and mass hysteria among the population and disrupted our social and political processes at the

time.
The anthrax attack of 2001 is just one of many events that resulted in mass hysteria among a group of people. Even though the attack of the anthrax infested letters was a dangerous event because of the possibility of a severe amount of deaths, but it also serves as an example and warning to avoid becoming trapped by fear and panic. A chemical terrorism threat needs to be placed into a more proper context rather than becoming a cause to outrageous media hype and public anxiety. Many people tend to forget that bioterrorism requires much more effort and resources than most terrorist groups have readily available to them. Also, there are several more obstacles that need to be dealt with before someone carries out a mass-casualty attack. Overall, the likelihood of chemical terrorism depends on too many factors and will most likely only be on a small scale if it were to occur. So, even though chemical terrorism does present a very real and frightening threat to our population, there is no reason to go on living in fear. We cannot allow ourselves to overstate the likelihood of bioterrorism and cause unnecessary alarm. As seen in the anthrax attacks of 2001, there was a surplus of people in panic which caused more harm than good. Rather, we should continue the effort to locate and apprehend terrorists and ultimately prepare to deal with the aftermath of a large-scale terrorist attack. By taking this course of action, we can minimize both the psychological and physical effects of this new form of terrorism.