Agroterrorism?

Not a term that is batted around too often in the news here….but apparently it is a problem to consider….

But first a little background into this upcoming situation….

The United States enjoys a safe, plentiful, and inexpensive food supply. Americans spend only 11 percent of their income on food compared with the global average of 20 to 30 percent.¹ The nation’s agricultural abundance helps drive its economic prosperity. As many as 1 of 6 jobs are linked to agriculture, a trillion-dollar industry. Agriculture-related products comprise nearly 10 percent of all U.S. exports, amounting to nearly $68 billion in 2006.²

Terrorists consider America’s agriculture and food production tempting targets. They have noticed that its food supply is among the most vulnerable and least protected of all potential targets of attack. When American and allied forces overran al Qaeda sanctuaries in the caves of eastern Afghanistan in 2002, among the thousands of documents they discovered were U.S. agricultural documents and al Qaeda training manuals targeting agriculture.

A subset of bioterrorism, agroterrorism is defined as “the deliberate introduction of an animal or plant disease for the purpose of generating fear, causing economic losses, or undermining social stability.”³ It represents a tactic to attack the economic stability of the United States. Killing livestock and plants or contaminating food can help terrorists cause economic crises in the agriculture and food industries. Secondary goals include social unrest and loss of confidence in government.

https://leb.fbi.gov/articles/featured-articles/agroterrorism-threats-to-americas-economy-and-food-supply

Now that there is some clarification of the term….what started me on this line of research was a story I read the other day and it is news….

Two Chinese nationals are facing federal charges after allegedly smuggling a crop-destroying fungus—deemed a potential agroterrorism weapon—into the United States. Yunqing Jian and Zunyong Liu are facing federal charges in Michigan over the fungus, Fusarium graminearum. Authorities allege Liu attempted to bring the fungus through Detroit’s airport to study it at a University of Michigan lab where Jian, his girlfriend, worked, the BBC reports. They say Jian may already have been handling the fungus at the lab without the necessary federal permits, the Guardian reports.

The fungus in question is known to cause disease in major crops such as wheat, barley, maize, and rice, with the potential to destroy yields and contaminate food supplies, according to the US Attorney’s Office. Its presence can lead to vomiting and liver damage if it enters the food chain and is ingested, and officials note the pathogen is cited in scientific literature as a possible “agroterrorism weapon.” It can also cause reproductive defects in both humans and livestock. It’s blamed for economic losses in the billions across the globe annually.

Prosecutors say Jian is a member of China’s Communist Party and received Chinese government funding for her research on the fungus back in China. US Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. called the case a matter of the “gravest national security concerns,” claiming the scheme involved using a university lab to further unspecified goals. The case comes at a time of heightened US-China tensions, following new visa restrictions for Chinese students announced by the Trump administration and trade disputes between Washington and Beijing. Jian has appeared in court, but Liu returned to China after being turned away at the Detroit airport last year.

This will add a new twist to the prevention of terrorism and one that we all should think about for if even a portion of our food supply is tainted it will lead to more hunger and we know what hunger can do to a people….(think French Revolution)

Just something else that we can worry about in these troubling times.

As long as we are speaking of terrorism….meet the new head of terrorism prevention for the WH….

When Thomas Fugate graduated from college last year with a degree in politics, he celebrated in a social media post about the exciting opportunities that lay beyond campus life in Texas. “Onward and upward!” he wrote, with an emoji of a rocket shooting into space.

His career blastoff came quickly. A year after graduation, the 22-year-old with no apparent national security expertise is now a Department of Homeland Security official overseeing the government’s main hub for terrorism prevention, including an $18 million grant program intended to help communities combat violent extremism.

The White House appointed Fugate, a former Trump campaign worker who interned at the hard-right Heritage Foundation, to a Homeland Security role that was expanded to include the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships. Known as CP3, the office has led nationwide efforts to prevent hate-fueled attacks, school shootings and other forms of targeted violence.

Fugate’s appointment is the latest shock for an office that has been decimated since President Donald Trump returned to the White House and began remaking national security to give it a laser focus on immigration.

https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-dhs-thomas-fugate-cp3-terrorism-prevention

Good to see Donny is consistent….he hired an person with no experience in the field of terrorism prevention….in other words yet another damn amateur….

I feel so much safer now that we have a high schooler in charge of preventing terrorism (can he spell ‘terrorism’)

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”