Salon Newsreal | Debunking the "ethno-bomb"

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DEBUNKING THE "ETHNO-BOMB" | PAGE 1, 2
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"I have no doubt that Israel has worked on both chemical and biological offensive things for a long time," Richardson said. "I don't think you'll find much on it. We've always seemed to have a double standard on Israel, compared to talking about the threats from other countries. There's no doubt they've had stuff for years, but getting anybody to say anything publicly about it is going to be pretty hard."
Yoram Shapira, a scientific attaché at the Israeli embassy in Washington, said he hadn't read the story and wouldn't comment on it.
Richardson and others said Israel's biotechnology industry is as good as, if not better than, that of the United States, having pioneered such devices as pregnancy tests and means of detecting an anthrax attack.
"Basically, that's pretty much state of the art in biological detection right now, little tickets or strips that change color, or a tape that goes through a machine and changes color when it detects anthrax," Richardson said.
Dr. Victor Delvecchio, a University of Scranton (Pa.) scientist who has developed means for detecting poisonous gases, said the "ethno-bomb" was "theoretically possible, but I don't know if it's been done yet. I don't think we know enough about the human genome yet to say that one particular race has a particular gene that could be targeted by these organisms. But again, theoretically, it's possible."
White scientists in South Africa tried for years to develop a "pigmentation weapon" targeting blacks but failed, according to Dr. Daan Goosen, who ran one of the apartheid regime's chemical and biological warfare plants. The regime did produce a wide variety of poisons and assassination devices, such as a lipstick injected with the drug ecstasy, but the program was more Keystone Kops than Frankenstein, according to many analysts. Reacting to the London Times story in November, a leading South Africa weekly, the Mail & Guardian, ridiculed Israel if it was depending on any South African expertise for its "ethno-bomb."
"I don't want to say it's not possible," said Kamely. "They have [research institutes], they're capable of doing research that's equivalent to ours if not further ahead of ours. [But] you're talking about producing a complex immunological reaction in an entire population. It doesn't sound possible."
Delvecchio was only slightly less dismissive. "Yeah, you could probably do it," he said. "Again, it's theoretically possible, but we don't have the database of human genes to do this yet, as far as I'm concerned."
Deploying such a weapon also holds mind-boggling challenges, pointed out Louis Toscano, a former Jerusalem bureau chief for United Press International and author of "Triple Cross," a 1990 book on the leaking of Israel's nuclear secret.
"I've never had much doubt that they were producing a limited arsenal of chemical weapons. In fact, it was widely rumored that a chemical factory was operating under the guise of a university research center around Haifa," Toscano said. "What makes it all the more dangerous is that they, unlike Saddam or any of the other Middle East bogeymen, have developed weapons systems capable of delivering such weapons.
"Of course, the close proximity [to Israel] of potential targets would very likely make them think long and hard about using such weapons."
SALON | Dec. 2, 1998
Jeff Stein covers national security issues for Salon.

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R E L A T E D_.S A L O N_.S T O R I E S
Remember Halabja If the U.S. really is concerned about Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction," it has a funny way of showing it.
By Christopher Hitchens
March 2, 1998
Purveyor of catastrophe Now that land mines have been banned, argues the author of a new book on U.S. arms sales, it's time to go after the larger weapon systems -- and their chief purveyor, the United States.
By Jonathan Broder
Dec. 5, 1997

T A B L E+T A L K Size-ism: How big a problem is it? Discuss discrimination experienced by overweight people in the Social Issues area of Table Talk R E C E N T L Y Who's behind ethnic violence in Indonesia? By Peter Dale Scott "Provocateurs," most likely within the military, are trying to bury the country's hopes for a secular civilian democracy (12/01/98) "Black people must be stupid" By Joel Dreyfuss David Horowitz can't accept that African-Americans shrewdly voted their self-interest in the last election (12/01/98) A conversation with Jonathan Pollard By Walter Ruby Betrayed by Gingrich and Netanyahu, the convicted spy for Israel blasts the politics behind his latest failed hope for clemency (11/30/98) One big happy family By Alan Wolfe The election was a referendum on morality, after all, but Americans voted for tolerance, not vengeance (11/25/98) The "young lady" who got under Kenneth Starr's skin By Joan Walsh U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren is pressing the independent counsel to think harder about when he learned of Linda Tripp's tapes (11/25/98) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Browse the Newsreal Archives - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - S A L O N E M P O R I U M FREE! 12-ounce bag of Salon Blend with a purchase of $30 or more. While supplies last.
		DEBUNKING THE "ETHNO-BOMB" \| PAGE 1, 2 - - - - - - - - - - "I have no doubt that Israel has worked on both chemical and biological offensive things for a long time," Richardson said. "I don't think you'll find much on it. We've always seemed to have a double standard on Israel, compared to talking about the threats from other countries. There's no doubt they've had stuff for years, but getting anybody to say anything publicly about it is going to be pretty hard." Yoram Shapira, a scientific attaché at the Israeli embassy in Washington, said he hadn't read the story and wouldn't comment on it. Richardson and others said Israel's biotechnology industry is as good as, if not better than, that of the United States, having pioneered such devices as pregnancy tests and means of detecting an anthrax attack. "Basically, that's pretty much state of the art in biological detection right now, little tickets or strips that change color, or a tape that goes through a machine and changes color when it detects anthrax," Richardson said. Dr. Victor Delvecchio, a University of Scranton (Pa.) scientist who has developed means for detecting poisonous gases, said the "ethno-bomb" was "theoretically possible, but I don't know if it's been done yet. I don't think we know enough about the human genome yet to say that one particular race has a particular gene that could be targeted by these organisms. But again, theoretically, it's possible." White scientists in South Africa tried for years to develop a "pigmentation weapon" targeting blacks but failed, according to Dr. Daan Goosen, who ran one of the apartheid regime's chemical and biological warfare plants. The regime did produce a wide variety of poisons and assassination devices, such as a lipstick injected with the drug ecstasy, but the program was more Keystone Kops than Frankenstein, according to many analysts. Reacting to the London Times story in November, a leading South Africa weekly, the Mail & Guardian, ridiculed Israel if it was depending on any South African expertise for its "ethno-bomb." "I don't want to say it's not possible," said Kamely. "They have [research institutes], they're capable of doing research that's equivalent to ours if not further ahead of ours. [But] you're talking about producing a complex immunological reaction in an entire population. It doesn't sound possible." Delvecchio was only slightly less dismissive. "Yeah, you could probably do it," he said. "Again, it's theoretically possible, but we don't have the database of human genes to do this yet, as far as I'm concerned." Deploying such a weapon also holds mind-boggling challenges, pointed out Louis Toscano, a former Jerusalem bureau chief for United Press International and author of "Triple Cross," a 1990 book on the leaking of Israel's nuclear secret. "I've never had much doubt that they were producing a limited arsenal of chemical weapons. In fact, it was widely rumored that a chemical factory was operating under the guise of a university research center around Haifa," Toscano said. "What makes it all the more dangerous is that they, unlike Saddam or any of the other Middle East bogeymen, have developed weapons systems capable of delivering such weapons. "Of course, the close proximity [to Israel] of potential targets would very likely make them think long and hard about using such weapons." SALON \| Dec. 2, 1998 Jeff Stein covers national security issues for Salon. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - R E L A T E D_.S A L O N_.S T O R I E S Remember Halabja If the U.S. really is concerned about Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction," it has a funny way of showing it. By Christopher Hitchens March 2, 1998 Purveyor of catastrophe Now that land mines have been banned, argues the author of a new book on U.S. arms sales, it's time to go after the larger weapon systems -- and their chief purveyor, the United States. By Jonathan Broder Dec. 5, 1997