(CNSNews.com) - A bipartisan commission empanelled by Congress released a report today saying that terrorists are likely to carry out a weapons-of-mass-destruction attack somewhere in the world in the next five years.

The commission concluded that the terrorists are more likely to use biological weapons than nuclear weapons and that the United States is not prepared for such an attack.

In one scenario envisioned by the president’s Homeland Security Council, the commission reports, terrorists driving a truck with a concealed sprayer would infect five different U.S. metropolitan areas with anthrax in two waves of attacks conducted two weeks apart.

“The Commission believes that unless the world community acts decisively and with great urgency, it is more likely than not that a weapon of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by the end of 2013,” says the report.

“The Commission further believes that terrorists are more likely to be able to obtain and use a biological weapon than a nuclear weapon,” says the report, which is entitled, “World at Risk.”

The Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism was created by an act of Congress in 2007.  The act chartered the commission to assess the nation’s programs to prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their use by terrorists.  The commission was chaired by former Sen. Bob Graham (D.-Fla.), who served as Senate intelligence chairman.  Its vice chairman was former Sen. Jim Talent (R.-Mo.), who served on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The commission report says that the life sciences community—unlike the nuclear science community--is not as keenly aware of the threat of terrorism as they ought to be.
 
“The nuclear age began with a mushroom cloud—and, from that moment on, all those who worked in the nuclear industry in any capacity, military or civilian, understood they must work and live under a clear and undeniable security mandate,” says the report. “But the life sciences community has never experienced a comparable iconic event.  As a result, security awareness has grown slowly, lagging behind the emergence of biological risks and threats.  It is essential that the members of the life sciences community—in universities, medical and veterinary schools, nongovernmental research institutes, trade associations, and biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies—foster a bottom-up effort to sensitize researchers to biosecurity issues and concerns.”

To dramatize their point, the commissioners pointed to Government Accountability Office investigators who cased the Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) labs at Georgia State University in Atlanta and the Southwestern Foundation for Biomedical Research in San Antonio, Tex.., where highly dangerous pathogens that could be used in a bio-weapons attack are stored.

“They were looking for even the slightest security vulnerability—anything that might give an edge to terrorists seeking to steal small quantities of Ebola virus or other lethal disease agents for which there are no treatments, no known cures,” said the commissioners.
 
“These individuals discovered that in a number of places, the lab was unprotected by barriers and that outsiders could walk right up to the building housing these deadly pathogens,” the commissioners said of Georgia State. “Around back, they watched and took notes as a pedestrian simply strolled into the building through an unguarded loading dock.”
 
The situation was similar at the San Antonio facility.
 
“On another day, the same people went to San Antonio to check out another BSL-4 lab, the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research,” said the commissioners. “They discovered that the security camera covered only a portion of the perimeter, and that the only barrier to vehicles was an arm gate that would swing across the roadway. The guards assigned to protect the facility were unarmed. Once again, these individuals walked the perimeter.  This time they spotted a window through which, standing outside, they could watch the scientists as they worked with top-security pathogens.  Now they knew exactly where the world’s most deadly pathogens were kept.”
 
The commission released a scenario put together by the president’s Homeland Security Council that described how a terrorist group—such as al Qaeda—could launch a devastating biological attack on the U.S. Homeland.
 
The Homeland Security Council's scenario, printed on pages 5 and 6 of the report, unfolds as follows:
 
“This scenario describes a single aerosol [anthrax] attack in one city delivered by a truck using a concealed improvised spraying device in a densely populated urban city with a significant commuter workforce.  It does not, however, exclude the possibility of multiple attacks in disparate cities or time-phased attacks (i.e. ‘reload’).

"For federal planning purposes, it will be assumed that the Universal Adversary (UA) will attack five separate metropolitan areas in a sequential manner.  Three cities will be attacked initially, followed by two additional cities 2 weeks later.
 
“It is possible that a Bio-Watch [atmospheric sensor] signal would be received and processed, but this is not likely to occur until the day after the release. The first cases of anthrax would begin to present to Emergency Rooms (ERs) approximately 36 hours post-release, with rapid progression of symptoms and fatalities in untreated (or inappropriately treated) patients.

“The situation in the hospitals will be complicated by the following facts: The release has occurred at the beginning of the unusually early influenza season and the prodromal [early] symptoms of inhalation anthrax are relatively non-specific. Physician uncertainty will result in low thresholds for admission and administration of available countermeasures (e.g., antibiotics), producing severe strains on commercially available supplies of medications such as ciprofloxacin and doxycycline, and exacerbating the surge capacity problem.
 
“Social order questions will arise.  The public will want to know very quickly if it is safe to remain in the affected city and surrounding regions. Many persons will flee regardless of the public health guidance that is provided. Pressure may be placed directly on pharmacies to dispense medical counter-measures directly, and it will be necessary to provide public health guidance in more than a dozen languages.
 
“The attack results in 328,848 exposures; 13,208 untreated fatalities; and 13,342 total casualties. Although property damage will be minimal, city services will be hampered by safety concerns.”
 
President Bush created the Homeland Security Council after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in order to “ensure coordination of all homeland security-related activities among executive departments and agencies, and to promote the effective development and implementation of all homeland security policies.”