[Peace] Bioterror tonight at 7pm

[Kranich, Kimberlie]

The clandestine history of the U.S. program on bioterrorism is part of a
special in-depth look at bioterrorism tonight at 7pm on NOVA on WILL-TV. See
below for a full program description.  More info. available online at
www.pbs.org
 

On September 11, 2001, the world was shocked by the unprecedented attacks on
New York City and Washington, D.C. As we came to grips with the tremendous
scale of the tragedy, a new fear loomed that terrorists would strike again
with biological weapons. The first anthrax attacks on American soil have now
led to a media firestorm of speculation and confusion. NOVA, in
collaboration with the New York Times and Granada Media, presents a special
program on the science of germ warfare that distinguishes fact from rumor
and delivers an authoritative, up-to-the-minute analysis of the current
threat. In addition, the show reveals astonishing, previously unknown
details of the secret biological warfare programs conducted by the Soviets
and the U.S. during the Cold War. 

NOVA's "Bioterror" is the product of more than two years of intensive
investigation and production efforts. The show follows New York Times
reporters and authors of the best-selling book Germs: Biological Weapons and
America's Secret War, Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg, and William Broad,
as they delve into the murky past and alarming present of biological
weapons. NOVA viewers will accompany Miller as she visits abandoned Soviet
germ factories in central Asia that produced enough biological poisons
during the Cold War to kill everyone in the world many times over. In
Kazakhstan, 800 Soviet scientists toiled in perhaps the world's largest
bioweapons facility, built expressly for creating a new, more lethal variant
of anthrax. 

With the implosion of the former Soviet economy, many of its bioweapons
experts have taken their skills elsewhere. We'll meet two Soviet germ
warriors who defected to the U.S. in the early '90s. They'll detail how far
the Soviet program progressed and what we have to fear from their
discoveries. We'll also meet their American counterpart, the chief of
product development at the U.S. Army's Fort Detrick facility, who will
disclose the extraordinary clandestine history of the U.S. program. Among
the secrets revealed on the show is a U.S. plan to spray so-called
"incapacitating" agents on the population of Cuba in order to make them too
sick to resist invading American forces. The New York Times reporters also
explore the evidence of Saddam Hussein's undercover bioweapons program and
investigate its disturbing possible links to today's terrorist groups. 

Defending ourselves from a biological attack is a daunting problem. To
combat that threat, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA,
has set up a futuristic research program encouraging "extreme innovation."
If it succeeds, the research may not only neutralize a BW attack, it could
revolutionize medicine, too. But until such advances are realized, the
United States is far from prepared. As recent events reveal, there is no
single magic bullet that will defend us against a biological assault on
American soil. NOVA and the New York Times present a disturbing and
groundbreaking search for answers.