Author: Jonathan B. Smith

Date: September 8, 2004

Michigan State University 's School of Criminal Justice
Foundations of Homeland Security
Professor Phillip D. Schertzing, Ph.D.
Module 3: The Modern Threat of Terrorism and WMD

WMD of Choice to Date

The WMD of mass destruction to date has clearly been explosives. Historically explosives have been the weapon of choice because the are:

• Materials are readily available
• Relatively inexepensive
• Manuals for building these devices are readily available on the Internet even though the Feinstein Amendment SP 419 "prohibits the distribution of bombmaking instructions in the United States." (Helmenstein, 2004)
  • The Anarchist Cookbook (Link Intentionally Omitted)
  • "How to build a bomb" (Link Intentionally Omitted)
• Delivery of these weapons is reasonably simple and effective.
• "Vast majority (98%) of all terrorist attacks involve explosives" (Schertzing, 2004)

Probable Choices for the Future

The most likely choice for future attacks are explosives. They have proven highly effective and available in the past and I do not feel that this will change in the future.

Works Cited

Helmenstine, Anne., How to Build a Bomb: Feinstein Amendment SP 419
Retrieved September 16, 2004, from
http://chemistry.about.com/library/weekly/aa021003a.htm

Shertzing, Phil, WMD Powerpoint Module 2
Retrieved September 16, 2004, P. 2-38
https://angel.msu.edu/section/content/default.asp?WCI=pgDisplay&WCU=CRSCNT&ENTRY_ID=DF1955D328D841D89EC39FB48CA850A2

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