scale

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, a speaker at BioSecurity 2002, now underway in Las Vegas, discusses with Science Blog editor Ben Sullivan issues facing Israel and the Middle East in the biosecurity realm.

Beyond Iraq, to what extent do bioweapons represent a likely threat to Israel and other Middle East countries? Do you believe they are seen as a legitimate weapon by the powerplayers behind the intifada, for example, or does the region’s concentrated geography actually play against the likelihood of their use?

Iraq is clearly the major player of bio-weapon in the region. Syria might be interested in it as a part of its “Strategic Answer” vis a vis the per claimed nuclear capabilities of Israel, namely as a deterrence element. Palestinian terror might not be able to use it on major scale for the reasons you have mentioned…