Ricin - Terror - Al-Qaeda - US press

[General Geiger]

I'll start with a background for anyone from the US who isn't aware. Over the last couple of weeks there have been two series of arrests in which ricin, one of the deadliest substances known to man, capable of killing in almost-microscopic quantites, was found (admittedly in an almost-microscopic quantity) in London. There were later arrests in Birmingham, in which ricin-producing equipment was found, though no ricin as such. In both cases those arrested were male, North African immigrants, and in the second case one of the arrested men stabbed four policemen before being brought under control. One died.

Has this completely escaped notice in the USA? It's the most potentially devastating terror plot uncovered since September 11th - a bottle-full of ricin could kill many thousands, if poured into a waterworks - and I was just rummaging through the Washington Post website; I had to look under "World", then "United Kingdom" before I found even a brief report on it. What is going on? Are Americans really so unredeemably self-absorbed that these events aren't even on the front page? Or is stopping some poxy little power freak in the Middle East who's been hammered so hard so much he can barely feed his army on top of his own excessive gastronomic and sexual appetites, let alone wage war on the western world, really more important than helping prevent the malicious production and dissemination of a substance lethal enough to slaughter a city, in quantity?

To this end, my question to all Americans (and other foreigners, but they're by-the-by) who use these boards: Prior to reading this, were you aware that traces of ricin, one of the most lethal substances known to man, were discovered in England in a North London flat a couple of weeks ago?

nope

but then and again I wouldn't know a nuke had been launched at us until I was dead so I wouldn't rely on me for an informed political opinion

[Scoot951]

I don't get a paper here, but I do get CNN, and I can say it most definitly has been covered. But it doesn't seem as major here as it probably does to you.

[Pilatus]

One dead Saddam Hussein with a nuclear bumb is better then one dead Bush with a nuclear bumb. I'm personally not a bush fan, but i think it's better to be on the safe side, cause most likely Hussein would use a nuclear bomb if he got the chance. Or do you really think that saddam were against the bombing on the twin towers ?

[Sandsnake]

I was aware of it, however discovering ricin is more common than you beleive (scary, isn't it?). The one that didn't make the news was the guy carrying enough on him to kill over 100,000 people.

It's not that we don't care, it's simply that discovering the vague potential for a terrorist threat is no longer a "big deal." If they made a big deal out of every poison/bomb/weapon found worldwide, we'd be in for a really, REALLY long newscast.

[General Geiger]

Originally posted by Pilatus
One dead Saddam Hussein with a nuclear bumb is better then one dead Bush with a nuclear bumb.

A nuclear bumb?

[Apothos]

Originally posted by General Geiger
A nuclear bumb?

They make hot curries in Iraq, y'know.

[General Geiger]

Originally posted by Apothos
They make hot curries in Iraq, y'know.

Yeah, I was thinking . . .

That must be what he meant. No one could be so f*cking illiterate as to spell "bomb" "bumb" twice in a sentence without meaning to. Could they?

Sandsnake: Disconcerting indeed. That's the best response so far, apart from the impressive piece of geo-political analysis about the nuclear bumb.

[General Geiger]

Incidentally, a gram of ricin is apparently sufficient to kill 36,000 people. A guy in the UK was assassinated by the Bulgarians (don't ask me why) a couple ofdecadesagousing ricin. The assassin used an adapted umbrella to deposit a ricin-coated tablet onthe target's leg.

100,000 people dead, therefore, requires three grams of ricin.

[Sandsnake]

Originally posted by General Geiger
Incidentally, a gram of ricin is apparently sufficient to kill 36,000 people. A guy in the UK was assassinated by the Bulgarians (don't ask me why) a couple ofdecadesagousing ricin. The assassin used an adapted umbrella to deposit a ricin-coated tablet onthe target's leg.

100,000 people dead, therefore, requires three grams of ricin.

the delivery system was unconfirmed, however he was shot in the leg with a bb coated in it...not even enough cyanide to give you a headache apparently.

The stuff is 8000x more powerful than cyanide and extremely hard to trace..not something we'd want runnng about on our streets.

[Texan]

Originally posted by General Geiger
snip
To this end, my question to all Americans (and other foreigners, but they're by-the-by) who use these boards: Prior to reading this, were you aware that traces of ricin, one of the most lethal substances known to man, were discovered in England in a North London flat a couple of weeks ago?

I have read four or five articles on the subject in the last week or so. I believe that six people have now been arrested. One was a woman who was released. I am not a normal American. I have access to news articles that are not available to everyone in the general public. (Example: Someone in Dallas could not easily find the contents of page 24 of the NYT.) The U.S. Department of Defense gathers news from around the world related to defense issues and publishes it on a government web site Monday through Friday.

[General Geiger]

Originally posted by Sandsnake
the delivery system was unconfirmed, however he was shot in the leg with a bb coated in it...not even enough cyanide to give you a headache apparently.

The stuff is 8000x more powerful than cyanide and extremely hard to trace..not something we'd want runnng about on our streets.

So are there any substances more lethal than ricin?

Have now been reading up on ricin. Apparently the problem with using it as a weapon is delivery. It has to be very pure to have an effect; a very small amount, coated around a pellet, somehow placed inside someone, would kill. An equally small amount diluted into a drink would end up dispersed through someone's bowels, and do no damage. Why this is so I don't know. And it is rarely effective unless deposited inside a person. Brushing it against someone's skin is liable to be useless, unless it hits a sore or open wound. It's not something you'd want to try for macho kicks, though. Therefore, my bottle-poured-in-a-waterworks idea would be utterly ineffective. As mentioned in the news, brushing it on subway turnstiles would be better. A few people would get it by touching the turnstiles - maybe half a dozen. They would die and mass panic - usually the most effective result of a terrorist biological or chemical action - would have at least as much of an impact as the deaths themselves.

Texan: Most abnormal. Cheers.

[pablissimo]

Originally posted by General Geiger
Has this completely escaped notice in the USA? It's the most potentially devastating terror plot uncovered since September 11th - a bottle-full of ricin could kill many thousands, if poured into a waterworks - and I was just rummaging through the Washington Post website; I had to look under "World", then "United Kingdom" before I found even a brief report on it.

Perhaps they recognise the absurdity of the reports that the UK media were making. RICIN: IT COULD KILL US ALL!

Bollocks.

The only way to kill someone with Ricin is to get it into their bloodstream somehow. It's a protein, so putting it in food won't work as it'll cease to work after its been cooked. It can't be released effectively into the air, putting it in a bomb would destroy it (what with the 'bomb' creating 'heat and flame' and all), etc, etc

****test...weapon...ever

The *only* real use for it is assassination, and it'd be easier to just 'hire a sniper'.

[Black Dog]

A big hearty thanks to Pablissimo for injecting a sense of proportion and common sense into a thread otherwise consumed by idiocy and exaggeration.

Originally posted by General Geiger
There were later arrests in Birmingham, in which ricin-producing equipment was found, though no ricin as such.

It was Manchester, not Birmingham.

[Black Dog]

Originally posted by End in Tears
It was Manchester, not Birmingham.

Of all the errors you could have pointed out...

[BesigedB]

Originally posted by Pilatus
One dead Saddam Hussein with a nuclear bumb is better then one dead Bush with a nuclear bumb.

Only Bush himself would make such dumb mistakes.

[Mushroom]

Originally posted by Pilatus
One dead Saddam Hussein with a nuclear bumb is better then one dead Bush with a nuclear bumb. I'm personally not a bush fan, but i think it's better to be on the safe side, cause most likely Hussein would use a nuclear bomb if he got the chance. Or do you really think that saddam were against the bombing on the twin towers ?

What about one dead Saddam with a nuclear bomb and one alive Kim Jong Il with about 500?

[vampire_lestat]

I never knew that and i'm English. Still, thanks for the update geiger.

[oldtown]

Well maybe you just dont watch the right news. All the cable news channels such as CNN, Fox News Channel etc ..covered the story daily as well as the second set of arrests...... I cant speak for the main network news as I rarely watch them anymore ....