Weapons of Mass Destruction

international | sci-tech | other press Sunday March 20, 2005 11:08 by pleasant pheasant plucker

Tokyo today remembers the only terrorist attack with WMD in history.

in 1995, the aum Shinrikyo cult placed Sarin canisters in the Tokyo metro station, causing the deaths of 12 people and serious injury to 5000 more.

WMD he used them. Tax he paid it. 5th amendment he got it.

The cult / group still exists focussed in Japan, and though renamed continues its peculiar mish mash of technology, new age-ism, belief in divinely incarnated gurus, belief in apocalypse which found ready believers in post US occupied Japan in the 1950s.

[There was no word from the cult's jailed guru Shoko Asahara on the anniversary but the group, which changed its name to Aleph in 2000, reissued its apology for the massacre.

"We wish to continue compensating the victims," it said in a message on Sunday. The sect has paid an average one million yen (9,500 dollars) to each of the survivors or bereaved families.

"We hereby renew our vow not to repeat such an incident, as a testament for this day after 10 years," it said. ]


The group though now, is no longer considered a serious threat for WMD production.

At one time it was the number one.

Nuclear weapons - the group set up a investigation lab in the Australian outback.

Bacterial weapons - the group set up investigation labs in Australia and SE Asia.

Chemical weapons - the group used them.

Which just ought to remind you all, that crazy billionaires with ideas of doomsday or apocalyptic war and dedicated employees or followers often have better access to laboratory facilities than opium farmers living in caves up the borderlands of mid Asia.

And they often live close to a decent shopping mall.












http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4365417.stm
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/news/stories/s1327528.htm
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/03/20/asia/web.0320sarin.html
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/138317/1/.html