al-Qaeda vs Black Death

[MechAg94]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2146286.ece

ANTI-TERROR bosses last night hailed their latest ally in the war on terror — the BLACK DEATH.

At least 40 al-Qaeda fanatics died horribly after being struck down with the disease that devastated Europe in the Middle Ages.

The killer bug, also known as the plague, swept through insurgents training at a forest camp in Algeria, North Africa. It came to light when security forces found a body by a roadside.

The victim was a terrorist in AQLIM (al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb), the largest and most powerful al-Qaeda group outside the Middle East.

It trains Muslim fighters to kill British and US troops.

Now al-Qaeda chiefs fear the plague has been passed to other terror cells — or Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

One security source said: “This is the deadliest weapon yet in the war against terror. Most of the terrorists do not have the basic medical supplies needed to treat the disease.

“It spreads quickly and kills within hours. This will be really worrying al-Qaeda.”

Black Death comes in various forms.

Bubonic Plague is spread by bites from infected rat fleas. Symptoms include boils in the groin, neck and armpits. In Pneumonic Plague, airborn bacteria spread like flu.

It can be in the body for more than a week — highly contagious but not revealing tell-tale symptoms.

The al-Qaeda epidemic began in the cave hideouts of AQLIM in Tizi Ouzou province, 150km east of the capital Algiers. The group, led by wanted terror boss Abdelmalek Droudkal, was forced to turn its shelters in the Yakouren forest into mass graves and flee.

The extremists supporting madman Osama bin Laden went to Bejaia and Jijel provinces — hoping the plague did not go with them.

A source said: “The emirs (leaders) fear surviving terrorists will surrender to escape a horrible death.”

AQLIM boss Droudkal claims to command around 1,000 insurgents. Training camps are also based in Morocco, Tunisia and Nigeria.

AQLIM bombed the UN headquarters in Algiers in 2007, killing 41. Attacks across Algeria last year killed at least 70 people.

In an interview last July, Droudkal boasted his cell was in constant contact with other al-Qaeda “brothers”.

I'd say it is nice to have unexpected allies, but I'm not sure I would want anyone helping a disease like this spread at all.  It does sound like those camps are not set up so well. 

[myrockfight]

I'd say it is nice to have unexpected allies, but I'm not sure I would want anyone helping a disease like this spread at all.  It does sound like those camps are not set up so well. 

I would say it is nice too, but they will quickly figure out how to spread it to their enemies. Welcome to bio-terrorism 101. It kinda makes you wonder how they got it in the first place. You know  :|

[RocketMan]

It kinda makes you wonder how they got it in the first place.

Indeed.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

god has a sense of humour     remember what stopped ghenghis khans armies

[AJ Dual]

One has to wonder if they caught it on their own...

As a bio-weapon against "undesirables" living in known primitive conditions, the plague is not that shabby.

- Short incubation period
- Highly contagious
- Relatively high mortality/Kills quickly

And it's controllable outside your target group with modern hygiene and several different antibiotics. (at least as compared to various nasty viruses, or Anthrax)  And if it spreads, it's got potential to uncover more enemy cells and AO's.

[BridgeRunner]

And it's controllable outside your target group with modern hygiene and several different antibiotics. (at least as compared to various nasty viruses, or Anthrax)  And if it spreads, it's got potential to uncover more enemy cells and AO's.

I dunno.  Can kill within hours + in many large cities, ER waits can last several hours = not so much with the smug.

[Standing Wolf]

Considering the source is an English "news" paper, I'll wait to relieve myself of snide remarks until I see it in a reliable source.

[AJ Dual]

I dunno.  Can kill within hours + in many large cities, ER waits can last several hours = not so much with the smug.

No smug here.

Just the observation that if some no-such-agency, domestic or otherwise was bat-%&# crazy enough to try bio-warfare on AQ, it's ah.. er... a less horrible choice than say, weaponized smallpox. 

It's kind of the bio-war equivalent of saying in a gun discussion, "Of all the crude crappy junk guns, the Hi-Point is kind of reliable."

[Bogie]

Or who is to say that they didn't buy a store of it from some sovblock arms dealer, and then relied upon Allah to protect them from it?
 
I've been thinking of getting one of those HiPoint carbines... I just wish they used Glock or Beretta magazines...
 

[AJ Dual]

Or who is to say that they didn't buy a store of it from some sovblock arms dealer, and then relied upon Allah to protect them from it?
 
I've been thinking of getting one of those HiPoint carbines... I just wish they used Glock or Beretta magazines...
 

I have to admit, that ATI stock that makes the HiPoint look like an ersatz Beretta Storm increased the buyability of it for me 500%. Although it's still hard to justify, it would be awfuly redundant with my Kel-Tec Sub9.

And if the black-ops community really got serious about bio-warfare, they'd just borrow a passle of toddlers from a preschool environment and take swabbings of their hands and noses. I and Mrs. Dual have never been as ill since we started carting our four little snot-monsters about and around...

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

It kinda feels like somebody's bioweapons program wasn't practiced with proper safety procedures. A touch unnerving.

[Regolith]

I kind of doubt that someone helped them along with their little epidemic.  Bubonic Plague is endemic amongst many rodent populations, including various squirrels in the US.  The only reason it doesn't kill thousands each year is because anytime someone comes in contact with it, we have the medical technology to kill it before it endangers the entire population.  Terrorists living in rickety training camps in BFE lack that ability, and they share close quarters with the vectors (rats and their fleas) that are responsible for spreading the disease.

[myrockfight]

It kinda feels like somebody's bioweapons program wasn't practiced with proper safety procedures. A touch unnerving.

Or...it could make you feel a lot better that they are completely incompetent and inept when it comes to handling a weapon of that sort.

To be fair, accidents can happen to anyone. This woman injected herself with the Ebola virus. She was probably only getting paid $1.00 an hour to do the lab work too.

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/bt/vhf/news/may2504ebola.html

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

The evil black ops bio weapon scenarios are certainly fun to think about, but it's far more likely that AQ caught this particular bug naturally.  These guys operate in areas that are so bassackwards and primitive that the the plague is downright modern in comparison.

[Manedwolf]

Or who is to say that they didn't buy a store of it from some sovblock arms dealer, and then relied upon Allah to protect them from it?
 
I've been thinking of getting one of those HiPoint carbines... I just wish they used Glock or Beretta magazines...

Just get the Kel-Tec Sub 2000. Higher quality, folds in half to 16", and it does take either of those mags depending on which version.

I love mine, it's a perfect emergency kit foldup carbine. Quite accurate and also a lot of fun to shoot. It also has a nice sling, and when deployed, looks rather like a subgun to those who don't know, which could serve as deterrence.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Just get the Kel-Tec Sub 2000. It's made much better, it folds in half to 16", and it does take either of those mags depending on which version.

I love mine, it's a perfect emergency kit foldup carbine. Quite accurate and also a lot of fun to shoot.

I've been thinking of getting one of those.  How good are the sights and trigger pull on yours? 

[Manedwolf]

I've been thinking of getting one of those.  How good are the sights and trigger pull on yours? 

Very good, I think. Big fiberoptic front blade and rear peep, easy to pick up targets. And the trigger pull is just fine. Trigger is polymer, and would bend if it was too hard, and it doesn't, so it seems reasonably crisp. Very small groups at 50 yards, which is perfect for a carbine you can carry folded in a laptop bag if you need to. Lighter 9mms like the Geco BAT rounds apparently get way more velocity from the long barrel.

I recommend some things to buy with it, though. Kel-tec's 1" snap on stock extension, a Hogue overgrip, and the Blue Force Gear tube guard. The steel recoil spring tube can be shockingly cold when you try to get a good cheekweld without that. The factory sling you can get is good, too.

[Perd Hapley]

Wouldn't the SU-16 be better?  (Or better yet, an SU-14.)  

[Manedwolf]

Wouldn't the SU-16 be better?  (Or better yet, an SU-14.   

That's longer when folded, much longer. Also, apparently a very limited round count in the manual, and the design is like a monte carlo stock, not a pistol grip. That one felt very plastic-y to me, whereas the 2000 feels like a neat, solid tubegun.

[Perd Hapley]

Do you mean the folding stock model, or do you refer to the model with the solid butt-stock, that only hinges at the trigger guard? 

[PTK]

Also, apparently a very limited round count in the manual, apparently

Er, what? The SU-16 and PLR-16 are both good for many thousands of rounds...

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

Er, what? The SU-16 and PLR-16 are both good for many thousands of rounds...

Overheating, fore-ends melting under sustained/significant rapid-fire.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

I don't think they're meant to duplicate the functionality of a belt-fed weapon.

[Manedwolf]

Er, what? The SU-16 and PLR-16 are both good for many thousands of rounds...

Yes, but apparently even the manual says the receiver has a rather limited life in terms of round count.

[PTK]

The manual for my PLR-16 has no such language in it.