Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2001 02:41:58 -0800 From: Kris Kennaway <kris@obsecurity.org> To: chat@FreeBSD.org Subject: [kelley@interpactinc.com: Believe Me or Not, It's Up to You] Message-ID: <20011101024158.A1313@xor.obsecurity.org>
next in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
--liOOAslEiF7prFVr Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable A very interesting email. Kris ---- From: Red Thomas Subject: BELIEVE ME OR NOT---IT'S UP TO YOU THE REAL STORY With all the hysteria that has been going around about the use of=20 biological weapons (not to mention chemical and nuclear), I think the best= =20 antidote of all is education and level-headedness. So here is the REAL STORY. Remember, terrorists can't win if we aren't=20 terrified. Since the media has decided to scare everyone with predictions of chemical,= =20 biological, or nuclear warfare on our turf I decided to write a paper and= =20 keep things in their proper perspective. I am a retired military weapons,= =20 munitions, and training expert. Lesson number one: In the mid 1990's there were a series of nerve gas=20 attacks on crowded Japanese subway stations. Given perfect conditions for= =20 an attack less than 10% of the people there were injured (the injured were= =20 better in a few hours) and only one percent of the injured died. 60 Minutes= =20 once had a fellow telling us that one drop of nerve gas could kill a=20 thousand people; well he didn't tell you the thousand dead people per drop= =20 was theoretical. Drill sergeants exaggerate how terrible this stuff was to keep the recruits= =20 awake in class (I know this because I was a Drill sergeant too). Forget everything you've ever seen on TV, in the movies, or read in a novel= =20 about this stuff, it was all a lie (read this sentence again out loud!)!=20 These weapons are about terror, if you remain calm, you will probably not= =20 die. This is far less scary than the media and their "Experts," make it sou= nd. Chemical weapons are categorized as Nerve, Blood, Blister, and=20 Incapacitating agents. Contrary to the hype of reporters and politicians=20 they are not weapons of mass destruction. Instead, they are "Area denial",= =20 and terror weapons that don't destroy anything. When you leave the area you= =20 almost always leave the risk. That's the difference; you can leave the area= =20 and the risk; soldiers may have to stay put and sit through it and that's= =20 why they need all that spiffy gear. These are not gasses; they are vapors or air borne particles. The agent=20 must be delivered in sufficient quantity to kill or injure, and that=20 defines when and how it's used. Every day we have a morning and evening=20 inversion where "stuff," suspended in the air gets pushed down. This=20 inversion is why allergies (pollen) and air pollution are worst at these=20 times of the day. o, a chemical attack will have its best effect an hour of= =20 so either side of sunrise and sunset. Also, being vapors and airborne=20 particles they are heavier than air so they will seek low places like=20 ditches, basements and underground garages. This stuff won't work when it's freezing, it doesn't last when it's hot,=20 and wind spreads it too thin - too fast. They've got to get this stuff on= =20 you, or, get you to inhale it for it to work. They also have to get the=20 concentration of chemicals high enough to kill or wound you. Too little and= =20 it's nothing, too much and it's wasted. What I hope you've gathered by this= =20 point is that a chemical weapons attack that kills a lot of people is=20 incredibly hard to do with military grade agents and equipment so you can= =20 imagine how hard it will be for terrorists. The more you know about this=20 stuff the more you realize how hard it is to use. We'll start by talking about nerve agents. You have these in your house;=20 plain old bug killer (like Raid) is nerve agent. All nerve agents work the= =20 same way; they are cholinesterase inhibitors that mess up the signals your= =20 nervous system uses to make your body function. It can harm you if you get= =20 it on your skin but it works best if they can get you to inhale it. If you= =20 don't die in the first minute and you can leave the area you're probably=20 gonna live. The military's antidote for all nerve agents is atropine and=20 pralidoxime chloride. Neither one of these does anything to cure the nerve= =20 agent, they send your body into overdrive to keep you alive for five=20 minutes, after that the agent is used up. Your best protection is fresh air= =20 and staying calm. Listed below are the symptoms for nerve agent poisoning. sudden headache,= =20 Dimness of vision (someone you're looking at will have pinpointed pupils),= =20 Runny nose, Excessive saliva or drooling, Difficulty breathing, Tightness= =20 in chest, Nausea, stomach cramps, Twitching of exposed skin where a liquid= =20 just got on you. If you are in public and you start experiencing these=20 symptoms, first ask yourself, did anything out of the ordinary just happen,= =20 a loud pop, did someone spray something on the crowd? Are other people=20 getting sick too? Is there an odor of new mown hay, green corn, something fruity, or camphor= =20 where it shouldn't be? If the answer is yes, then calmly (if you panic you= =20 breathe faster and inhale more air/poison) leave the area and head up wind,= =20 or, outside. Fresh air is the best "right now antidote". If you have a blob of liquid=20 that looks like molasses or Kayro syrup on you; blot it or scrape it off=20 and away from yourself with anything disposable. This stuff works based on= =20 your body weight, what a crop duster uses to kill bugs won't hurt you=20 unless you stand there and breathe it in real deep, then lick the residue= =20 off the ground for while. Remember they have to do all the work, they have= =20 to get the concentration up and keep it up for several minutes while all=20 you have to do is quit getting it on you--quit breathing it by putting=20 space between you and the attack. Blood agents are cyanide or arsine, which affect your blood's ability to=20 provide oxygen to your tissue. The scenario for attack would be the same as= =20 nerve agent. Look for a pop or someone splashing or spraying something and= =20 folks around there getting woozy and falling down. The telltale smells are= =20 bitter almonds or garlic where it shouldn't be. The symptoms are blue lips,= =20 blue under the fingernails rapid breathing. The military's antidote is amyl= =20 nitride and just like nerve agent antidote it just keeps your body working= =20 for five minutes till the toxins are used up. Fresh air is the your best=20 individual chance. Blister agents (distilled mustard) are so nasty that nobody wants to even= =20 handle it let alone use it. It's almost impossible to handle safely and may= =20 have delayed effect of up to 12 hours. The attack scenario is also limited= =20 to the things you'd see from other chemicals. If you do get large, painful= =20 blisters for no apparent reason, don't pop them, if you must don't let the= =20 liquid from the blister get on any other area, the stuff just keeps on=20 spreading. It's just as likely to harm the user as the target. Soap, water,= =20 sunshine, and fresh air are this stuff's enemy. Bottom line on chemical weapons (it's the same if they use industrial=20 chemical spills); they are intended to make you panic, to terrorize you,to= =20 herd you like sheep to the wolves. If there is an attack, leave the area=20 and go upwind, or to the sides of the wind stream. They have to get the=20 stuff to you, and on you. You're more likely to be hurt by a drunk driver= =20 on any given day than be hurt by one of these attacks. Your odds get better= =20 if you leave the area. Soap, water, time, and fresh air really deal this=20 stuff a knock-out-punch. Don't let fear of an isolated attack rule your=20 life. The odds are really on your side. Nuclear bombs. These are the only weapons of mass destruction on earth. The= =20 effects of a nuclear bomb are heat, blast, EMP, and radiation. If you see a= =20 bright flash of light like the sun, where the sun isn't, fall to the=20 ground! The heat will be over a second. Then there will be two blast waves,= =20 one out going, and one on it's way back. Don't stand up to see what=20 happened after the first wave; anything that's going to happen will have=20 happened in two full minutes. These will be low yield devices and will not level whole cities. If you=20 live through the heat, blast, and initial burst of radiation, you'll=20 probably live for a very, very long time. Radiation will not create=20 fifty-foot tall women, or giant ants and grass hoppers the size of tanks.= =20 These will be at the most 1-kiloton bombs; that's the equivalent of 1,000= =20 tons of TNT. Here's the real deal, flying debris and radiation will kill a lot of=20 exposed (not all!) people within a half mile of the blast. Under perfect=20 conditions this is about a half-mile circle of death and destruction, but= =20 when it's done it's done. EMP stands for Electro Magnetic Pulse and it will= =20 fry every electronic device for a good distance, it's impossible to say=20 what and how far but probably not over a couple of miles from ground zero= =20 is a good guess. Cars, cell phones, computers, ATMs, you name it, all will= =20 be out of order. There are lots of kinds of radiation, you only need to worry about three;= =20 the others you have lived with for years. You need to worry about "ionizing= =20 radiation", these are little sub atomic particles that go whizzing along at= =20 the speed of light. They hit individual cells in your body, kill the=20 nucleus and keep on going. That's how you get radiation poisoning; you have= =20 so many dead cells in your body that the decaying cells poison you. It's=20 the same as people getting radiation treatments for cancer; only a bigger= =20 area gets radiated. The good news is you don't have to just sit there and= =20 take it, and there's lots you can do rather than panic. First; your skin=20 will stop alpha particles, a page of a news paper or your clothing will=20 stop beta particles, you just gotta try and avoid inhaling dust that's=20 contaminated with atoms that are emitting these things and you'll be=20 generally safe from them. Gamma rays are particles that travel like rays (quantum physics makes my=20 brain hurt) and they create the same damage as alpha and beta particles=20 only they keep going and kill lots of cells as they go all the way through= =20 your body. It takes a lot to stop these things, lots of dense material on= =20 the other hand it takes a lot of this to kill you. Your defense is as always to not panic. Basic hygiene and normal=20 preparation are your friends. All canned or frozen food is safe to eat. The= =20 radiation poisoning will not affect plants so fruits and vegetables are OK= =20 if there's no dust on em (rinse em off if there is). If you don't have=20 running water and you need to collect rainwater or use water from wherever,= =20 just let it sit for thirty minutes and skim off the water gently from the= =20 top. The dust with the bad stuff in it will settle and the remaining water= =20 can be used for the toilet that will still work if you have a bucket of=20 water to pour in the tank. Finally there's biological warfare. There's not much to cover here. Basic= =20 personal hygiene and sanitation will take you further than a million=20 doctors. Wash your hands often; don't share drinks, food, sloppy=20 kisses,etc., ... with strangers. Keep your garbage can with a tight lid on= =20 it, don't have standing water (like old buckets, ditches, or kiddie pools)= =20 laying around to allow mosquitoes breeding room. Vectors, that is bugs,=20 rodents, and contaminated material, carry this stuff. If biological warfare= =20 is so easy as the TV makes it sound, why has Saddam Hussein spent twenty=20 years, millions, and millions of dollars trying to get it right? If you're= =20 clean of person and home you eat well and are active you're gonna live. Overall preparation for any terrorist attack is the same as you'd take for= =20 a big storm. If you want a gas mask, fine, go get one. I know this stuff=20 and I'm not getting one and I told my Mom not to bother with one either=20 (how's that for confidence). We have a week's worth of cash, several days= =ED=20 worth of canned goods and plenty of soap and water. We don't leave stuff=20 out to attract bugs or rodents so we don't have them. These people can't=20 conceive a nation this big with this many resources. These weapons are made= =20 to cause panic, terror, and to demoralize. If we don't run around like=20 sheep they won't use this stuff after they find out it's no fun. The=20 government is going nuts over this stuff because they have to protect every= =20 inch of America. You've only gotta protect yourself, and by doing that, you= =20 help the country. Finally, there are millions of caveats to everything I wrote here and you= =20 can think up specific scenarios where my advice isn't the best. This letter= =20 is supposed to help the greatest number of people under the greatest number= =20 of situations. If you don't like my work, don't nit pick, just sit down and= =20 explain chemical, nuclear, and biological warfare in a document around=20 three pages long yourself. This is how we the people of the United tates=20 can rob these people of their most desired goal, your terror. FC Red Thomas (Ret) Armor Master Gunner Mesa, AZ Unlimited reproduction and= =20 distribution is authorized. For archives see: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/ </backwarded> ----- End forwarded message ----- --liOOAslEiF7prFVr Content-Type: application/pgp-signature Content-Disposition: inline -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (FreeBSD) Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org iD8DBQE74Sb1Wry0BWjoQKURAhIlAJ9JI7ZVfLnjR2EDHdKq7ix0ipJG7wCbBCLG a7ErqnCCnjtrShWoeYyXVOs= =TQ4y -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --liOOAslEiF7prFVr-- To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?20011101024158.A1313>