Some U.S. Cities Seen Unprepared for Attack

WASHINGTON — Some U.S. cities are unprepared for an attack by weapons of mass destruction, with biological agents a greater danger than nuclear or chemical weapons, an FBI official said on Friday.

“Some American communities are very unprepared. They certainly don’t have the equipment and resources necessary to handle a major attack,” Robert Blitzer, chief of the FBI’s domestic terrorism section, said.

“The real weakness that we have right now is the ability to detect and counter a [biological weapons attack] because it’s much more insidious and much more difficult to detect,” he said.

The FBI official, who was unable to give numbers on how many cities were unprepared, said communities were better able to deal with chemical and nuclear weapons attacks.

Many fire departments have units that deal with hazardous materials and are ready to handle chemical weapons, he said.

“On the nuclear side, there’s a pretty robust capability to handle those kinds of issues and has been for many years,” Blitzer said.

He appeared at the weekly Justice Department news conference with Atty. Gen. Janet Reno, who announced a new office at the FBI to help state and local governments better respond to terrorist attacks with weapons of mass destruction.

Reno said the office would help create training standards for local police, firefighters and rescue squads and would try to make sure they have the necessary equipment.

“I want this new office to be a center for assistance and solutions, not a new bureaucracy,” she said. “We are not interested in a top-down, one-size-fits-all solution.”