Veronique de Rugy and Charles V. Peña

In the following viewpoint Veronique de Rugy and Charles V. Peña argue that biological weapons present a greater threat to America’s security than either nuclear or chemical weapons. The authors contend that unlike nuclear and chemical attacks, an assault using biological weapons would not be detected immediately, giving the virus time to spread throughout the population before any antidote could be administered. According to de Rugy and Peña, smallpox is an especially serious threat because of its high fatality rate and ease of transmission. Veronique de Rugy is a policy analyst and Charles V. Peña is a senior defense policy analyst at the Cato Institute, a libertarian public policy research foundation.

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