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Texas Agriculture Archive

December 5, 2003

U.S. ag 'perfect' terrorist target

Agriculture is both a perfect target and a perfect weapon for a terror attack, according to government officials and expert witnesses testifying at a Senate hearing on agricultural terrorism.

The United States is vulnerable to an ag terrorism attack because it would be relatively simple to spread diseases such as foot-and-mouth, which could have devastating consequences.

According to testimony presented at the hearing, numerous documents on U.S. agriculture have been recovered from caves and houses in Afghanistan used by al Qaeda forces.

This information is likely to be used against America's agricultural infrastructure at some point in the future, if not immediately, experts testified.

According to a Rand National Defense Research Institute study discussed at the hearing, feedlots, research labs and food processing plants are the most likely targets for future ag terrorism attacks.