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Prophet of Doom
Photograph by Lynn Johnson
He was one of the United States' chief germ-warfare experts during the Cold War, and now Bill Patrick is in more demand than ever. Here he tries to think like a terrorist as he scrutinizes a building in Brooklyn to see how he might infect it with weaponized germs. The building is actually a tough target because its air intake vents are difficult to reach, but Patrick thinks it's "just a matter of time" before terrorists score a big hit somewhere with bioweapons. "I think they'll attack a large population center—a building or arena with 15 or 20 thousand people in it."
This photo was taken the last week of August 2001. The World Trade Center towers, visible at far right, were just days from being toppled. Many of the emergency workers Patrick taught at a bioweapons response seminar that week were killed at ground zero. |
