US faces 'quite real' threat of terrorist attack: Cohen

[William Knowles <erehwon () C4I ORG>]

http://english.hk.dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/world/afp/article.html?s=hke/headlines/000529/world/afp/US_faces__quite_real__threat_of_terrorist_attack__Cohen.html

Monday, May 29 1:22 AM SGT

WASHINGTON, May 28 (AFP) -

The United States faces a "quite real" threat of a terrorist attack on its
soil with nuclear, chemical or biological arms within the next 10 years,
US Secretary of Defense William Cohen warned Sunday.

"The likelihood is quite real," Cohen told NBC television's "Meet the
Press" program. "There is a chance it is going to happen."

"The likelihood of an attack on American soil, using either a chemical or
biological or, indeed, a nuclear weapon, is quite, not only possible, but
probable," added the defense secretary.

The warning followed a reassessment of external threats facing the United
States in the post-Cold-War world conducted by the administration of
President Bill Clinton.

Military analysts believe that even though the collapse of the Soviet
Union has left the United States the sole military superpower, it is
likely to be confronted with unconventional security threats for which it
may be ill-prepared.

"No country is going to take us on head-on," said Cohen.

"They'll look for asymmetric types of threats and attacks, for example,
through the use of chemical or biological agents, through the use of
cyberattacks," he explained.

He said the Clinton administration was aware that about two dozen nations
were developing chemical and biological weapons but did not name them.

[...]


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