U.S. Vulnerable to Cult Attacks, Sen. Nunn Says

WASHINGTON —  Sen. Sam Nunn, one of the top authorities in Congress on security and terrorism, warned Sunday that the United States has many inviting and inadequately protected terrorist targets and should pay heed to Japan’s painful experience with the Aum Supreme Truth cult.

Nunn (D-Ga.) said a study by his staff shows that the Japanese cult, which is accused in the deadly nerve gas attack on Tokyo’s subways earlier this year, was working to develop biological weapons and the means to deliver them. He said the organization was also seeking nuclear technology.

“This gives us the message that we really have a real vulnerability out there when groups like this that are willing to do the unthinkable are also able to get unthinkable destructive power in their hands,” Nunn said on the CBS-TV program “Face the Nation.”

Nunn warned that similar groups could form in many countries, including the United States.

He said that before the subway attack, U.S. intelligence had detected no sign of anything awry with Aum Supreme Truth and that the intelligence services could not be depended on to provide adequate warning of such threats.

The way the cult operated provides a graphic demonstration of society’s vulnerability to secretive groups, he said.

“We have a lot of soft targets” in the United States, he said.

Nunn said his investigation indicated that prompt and effective action by Japanese police and health authorities kept casualties relatively low when sarin gas was released in Tokyo’s subways. He said casualties might be far higher in the United States because the U.S. health system is inadequately prepared to deal with a similar attack.

Nunn alleged that Aum Supreme Truth was planning to take over the Japanese government and had already established a shadow Cabinet to assume control of each of the government’s ministries. The next step, he said, was to provoke a confrontation between Japan and the United States.

“I think the big message here was that the group was international,” Nunn said. “They were dealing with weapons of mass destruction. They were basically involved in an awful lot of planning for killing literally tens of thousands of people.”

He said the cult amassed about $1 billion by encouraging adherents to turn over their assets.

At the time of the attack, he said, the group was actively recruiting nuclear, chemical and biological scientists--especially in Russia, where many of the once-elite corps of Soviet scientists are out of work.

Moreover, the organization had at least one helicopter and two pilotless drone aircraft, considered ideal delivery vehicles for biological weapons, he said.

He said there was strong evidence that the organization had tested its chemical and biological agents on sheep in Australia.

Nunn, chairman of the Armed Services Committee before the Democrats lost control of the Senate last year, announced last week that he will not run for reelection next year.