The Attack by Aum Shinrikyo
The Attack by Aum Shinrikyo
Britt W. Gerdes
Grand Canyon University
Terrorism and Emergency Management
EMM 442
Prof. Jim Gallagher
August 30, 2010
The Attack by Aum Shinrikyo It was March 20, 1995 and the time was 0800 hours, when the City of Tokyo was subjected to a terrorist act by a radical religious group. This group was Aum Shinrikyo, when translated mean “supreme truth”. The attack consisted of members of Aum Shinrikyo releasing poisonous gas into the crowded subway system. This particular terrorist group did not coordinate the attack for political revenge; it was an organized religious group attempting to devastate the Japanese government. By using John Parachini’s risk assessment perspectives the Japanese government could have prevented the attack on their citizens. This attack by using poison gases at the time was the first large scale use of chemical agents by a terrorist group. It was estimated by government officials that the terrorist group had expected to weaken the Japanese government and seize control in the mass confusion. The coordinated attack by the Aum Shinrokyo struck five subway systems at the same time, which recorded 12 people being killed and an estimated 5,000 being hospitalized. So you may be asking yourself, how did they do this so easily? Well here is how the radical group conducted their business. “They placed innocent-looking packets containing chemicals under their subway seats. Each terrorist punctured the lethal container just before 8:00 a.m.; upon exposure to air, sarin gas clouds began working their way through the subway cars with immediate results” (White, 2009, p. 313). To begin I want to give a little background on John Parachini, so you know and understand his perspectives. John Parachini currently is the director of the Intelligence Policy Center at RAND Corporation. He has an education background in philosophy, international relations and advance international studies. In his
Britt W. Gerdes
Grand Canyon University
Terrorism and Emergency Management
EMM 442
Prof. Jim Gallagher
August 30, 2010
The Attack by Aum Shinrikyo It was March 20, 1995 and the time was 0800 hours, when the City of Tokyo was subjected to a terrorist act by a radical religious group. This group was Aum Shinrikyo, when translated mean “supreme truth”. The attack consisted of members of Aum Shinrikyo releasing poisonous gas into the crowded subway system. This particular terrorist group did not coordinate the attack for political revenge; it was an organized religious group attempting to devastate the Japanese government. By using John Parachini’s risk assessment perspectives the Japanese government could have prevented the attack on their citizens. This attack by using poison gases at the time was the first large scale use of chemical agents by a terrorist group. It was estimated by government officials that the terrorist group had expected to weaken the Japanese government and seize control in the mass confusion. The coordinated attack by the Aum Shinrokyo struck five subway systems at the same time, which recorded 12 people being killed and an estimated 5,000 being hospitalized. So you may be asking yourself, how did they do this so easily? Well here is how the radical group conducted their business. “They placed innocent-looking packets containing chemicals under their subway seats. Each terrorist punctured the lethal container just before 8:00 a.m.; upon exposure to air, sarin gas clouds began working their way through the subway cars with immediate results” (White, 2009, p. 313). To begin I want to give a little background on John Parachini, so you know and understand his perspectives. John Parachini currently is the director of the Intelligence Policy Center at RAND Corporation. He has an education background in philosophy, international relations and advance international studies. In his
References: Combating Terrorism: Assessing the Threat of Biological Terrorism, Cong., 9 (2001) (testimony of John Parachini). White, J. R. (2009). Terrorism and Homeland Security (6th ed.). [Adobe Digital Edition]. doi: 1009-0001-15E7-000015E8