It certainly seems like we’ve been heading that way for a few years now. My training is in European history. I can’t tell you how many discussions I’ve had with people trying to explain the Cold War. How it happened. Why it happened. I didn’t think it would be back so quickly, but I think we’re already there.
CW are frightening but germ warfare is what really frightens me.
Absolutely. The paper you linked to demonstrates this pretty clearly. And it’s a darn good thing they kept getting spooked and always kept trying to manufacturer delivery systems by themselves, or who knows how many more people they might have killed…
Japanese subways are notoriously over-packed during rush hour. God knows how much pushing I endured over the years. There are about 20 million daily passenger rides on trains and subways in the greater Tokyo area. There are several hundred people per car and (depending on the line) about 10 cars per train. The time between stations is two minutes and the doors can only allow so many people out at a time.
They did have the right idea about attacking people on the subway, – fortunately – they just winged the method of delivery
Had they set out to design a delivery system in parallel to the development of the sarin gas itself, then it would have been really ugly. They did have thousands of hardcore adherents with dozens if not hundreds who could have carried out attacks.
However, like a lot of deranged people, they set off with just grandiose, but vague ideas of what they wanted. Somehow the sarin gas was going to trigger the Armageddon.
It was so different living through that experience rather than just reading about it. I was in Japan during the 9/11 attacks and find that not having been in the States, I wasn’t there for a profound experience for most Americans. The reverse was true about this.
Another difference was that without the Net, there was a lot less information available at the time.