The Aum Shinrikyo Cult and Shoko Asahara

1000 Words2 Pages

There have been countless amounts of terrorist attacks occurring across the country. Vicious groups or terrorists who are responsible for those attacks have been apprehended due to supporting evidences found and the cooperation of rogue members; nevertheless many groups are still untouchable and causing chaos. As Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) senior noncommissioned officers, we must be trained and ready to face any type of attack. Throughout history, it is clear that terrorist groups are relying more on biological warfare due to the ease of acquiring and life threatening effects on the intended victims. However, not all biological attacks are successful and the Aum Shinrikyo cult’s miserable attempt in dispersing airborne anthrax would have been catastrophic if executed appropriately.
Before discussing the failed attempt in releasing the biological agent anthrax in Kameido, let us begin with the cult responsible for fear and biological attacks in Tokyo, Japan (Rosenau, 2001). The Aum Shinrikyo cult was formed and lead by a blind, yoga instructor by the name of Shoko Asahara and the cult’s name is derived from meditation and the “supreme truth” (Walton, 2010). Asahara devoted his life to the ultra practice of meditation and spirituality. He influenced many followers into believing nuclear war would come to Japan; therefore they had to develop their own type of defensive weapons (Walton, 2010). Asahara leadership was beyond manipulative. Amazingly, he inspired multiple of influential and respected individuals like government officials, police, and scientists into joining his organization (Walton, 2010).
Anthrax was not Aum Shinrikyo first unsuccessful attempt in biological weapon and definitely...

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...uld discontinue the amount of vengeance directed towards all people, especially when the process of developing such a dangerous weapon fails.

Works Cited

Meyer, R. (2004). The psychological effects of weapons of mass destruction (wmd) on military and civilian personnel (Publication No. CR-04-10). Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD:
Chemical and Biological Defense Information Analysis Center.
Rosenau, W. (2001). Aum shinrikyo’s biological weapons program: why did it fail? Studies in
Conflict and Terrorism, 24, 289-301.
Takahashi, H., Keim, P., Kaufmann, A., Keys, C., Smith, K., Taniguchi, K., Inouye, S., & Kurata, T. (2004). Bacillus anthracis incident, kameido, Tokyo, 1993. Emerging Infectious Disease, 10(1), 117-120.
Walton, T. (2010). Challenges in intelligence analysis: lesson from 1300 BCE to the present. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

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