"In May 1995, Larry Wayne Harris, a former member of neo-Nazi organizations, purchased three vials of the bacterium that causes bubonic plague through the mail. He placed his order with American Type Culture Collection, a company that has sold biological agents to Iraq. No law prohibited Harris or any other American from purchasing the germ that wiped out a quarter of Europe's population in the 14th century. He was convicted of mail fraud because he had misrepresented himself on his purchase order."
(see page 8)

"A possible motivation for terrorists' use of weapons of mass destruction is premillennial tension. The millenarian idea is that the present age is corrupt and that a new age--the millenium--will dawn after a cleansing apocalypse. Only a lucky few will survive the apocalypse and experience paradise... Most millenarians believe that God is responsible for determining the date of the apocalpse, which is a precondition for the appearance of the Messiah. But some believe that humans can speed the process along. Prayer, repentence, and martyrdom are common techniques--but some millenarians may add terrorism to this list...The Christian Research Institute, which tracks what it calls "millennial madness cults," reports that thousands of these groups are now in existence. As we approach the end of the millenium, the director of the Institute says, millenarian and Christian groups that believe in UFOs are increasing in number, and many of them are using the Internet as a form of "techo-shamanism" to create "mystical connections" in cyberspace.

Many seers have predicted that the world will end around the year 2000, and some 350 organizations subscribe to this view, according to a recent study...Some forsee floods or conflagration, others epidemics such as AIDS and starvation, while others predict that wars or nuclear terrorism will bring about the end of the world. What is clear is that as the millenium approaches millenarians are likely to become more dangerous--both to others and to themselves."
(see pages 71-73)

"During the 1970s, 8,114 terrorist incidents were reported around the world, resulting in 4,798 deaths and 6,902 injuries. During the 1980s the number of incidents increased nearly fourfold, to 31,426, with 70,859 deaths and 47,849 injuries. From 1990 to 1996 there were 27,087 incidents, causing 51,797 deaths and 58,814 injuries. The number of deaths due to terrorism varies from year to year, but there is a clearly increasing trend. Between 1970 and 1995, on average, each year brought 206 more incidents and 441 more fatalities. In 1996 the number of international incidents declined, but according to the State Department, deaths and injuries continued to increase."
(see page 6)

"Nuclear facilities such as power plants may be attractive targets for terrorists. People who live near these facilities are highly sensitized to the health risks of radiation. The regulatory procedures that have been devised to deal with nuclear accidents are more rigorous than required for public safety but not rigorous enough to reassure the public. For example, if a radiation level five times higher than background were detected outside Rocky Flats in Colorado, officials would be required to evacuate the city even though scientists consider this level harmless. A terrorist whose objective was to create panic and wreak havoc (rather than kill people) could take advantage of these tight regulations: a relatively small amount of radioactive material disseminated near Rocky Flats would be enough to force the city to evacuate--with significant economic and psychological repercussions for residents."
(see page 56)

"Hundreds of tons of nuclear material, the essential ingredient of nuclear weapons, are stored at vulnerable sites throughout the former Soviet Union, guarded by underpaid, hungry, and disheartened people. At least eight thefts of materials that could be used to make nuclear weapons from formerly Soviet facilities have been confirmed. While Russia's long-range strategic weapons are protected by locks, thousands of smaller weapons have less sophisticated protection or no locks at all...According to Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs, 80 percent of [former Soviet nuclear] facilities have no monitors to detect nuclear materials carried through the gates...Some facilities store hundreds or even thousands of kilograms of bomb-grade materials in rooms secured with simple padlocks. Troops are being replaced at some facilities by old ladies employed by the paramilitary guard detachment because they are cheaper. Some facilities are guarded, as one expert put it, by 'Aunt Masha with a cucumber.'"
(see pages 9 and 95-6)