Rockets as WMD

sure they are. thats why we keep employees and fire the office chairs.

The destruction does not need to be of buildings, but of the "target" societies ability to resist or retaliate and often this is reflected in manufacturing, transportation, and communication infrastructure.

Chemical and biological weapons can disrupt or even destroy social structure, and the resulting riots take care of the rest. Even if they only cause small scale panic, with limited actual casualties, the following political over reaction may be more damaging than the actual attack.

Bioweapons have the potential, if sufficiently contagious, to qualify as WMD as measured by number of casualties or economic damage. The anthrax "attack" in the US had limited actual casualties but a significant economic cost. Had this been a more contagious agent, anthrax almost acts like a persistent chemical agent, things might have been different.

Chemical weapons might qualify if the cleanup/mitigation costs were high enough (cesium oxide? powder release in Brazil), although some of this might be caused by popular/political over reaction. While the infrastructure might still be standing, nobody can use it.

Actually, the most credible "evil" use of MR technology that I can think of would be a "bogus" attack - give the impression that a bioagent release may have occurred (don't tell them that's just ordinary tracking powder, not the "Ft. Detrick Special Blend"...)

Our Fearless Leaders will feel compelled to assume that it was real and act accordingly. ("What if it were real and it appeared that we didn't act? People would accuse us of failing to prevent casualties! We can't take that political risk!")

At the time that business was going down, I was busy priming and sanding a large rocket, using white UV Smooth Prime. I commented to my roommate, "It's a good thing the Postal Service delivers down in the lobby - all of this white dust might make them nervous!"

-dave w

I was onsite at a customers correspondence processing center when they opened an annonymous, threatening letter containing a bunch of white powder. It turned out to be a benign substance....baking soda....but seeing the local Fire Department seal off our floor and walk through in their Hazmat gear was a little unsettling.

Mark A Palmer TRA 08542 L3

Eric Pederson wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.boeing.com:

Yeah,delivery of anthrax by letter envelope is about as effective a distribution method as tossing it out the window of one's car.