The Aum Shinrikyo
Asahara, the group’s leader, ordered his top generals to execute Sakamoto, who was the legal representative of the families’ that lost their children to the cult, and the planning for his death started. The chosen method was to use an injection of potassium chloride. However, at the meetings, the use of botulinum was also discussed. Botulinum was an agent that, in large quantities of a small dose, would shut down the nervous system. This is how the group started the use of biological weapons. The group decided to stick to this method due to the effortless planning required, the non-effectiveness of crude methods, the absence of women, and the attacks were carried out by top tier members. The group invested in biological weapons by obtaining Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium that produces botulinum toxin (Danzig & Center for a New American Security, 2012). The mission was a success as it was disguised as a research item because Aum ran a hospital. The collection of the bacterium was in Ishikarigawa Basin from the soil. This method of collection, rather than buying, was facilitated by the fact that the group wanted self-reliance. The group was successful in the propagation of botulinum in large quantities. The group, however, failed because they did not put the effort in concentrating and purifying the broth from fermentation and realized that people did not die in their attacks.
The Rajneesh
Wasco county health department started receiving numerous complaints about food poisoning on September 17, 184. The department, however, dismissed the complaints on the basis that a few times, people would get sick over the mishandling of their food. However, the calls did not stop, and the number increased to over 750 (Török, 1997). The CDC later determine the cause of the complaints to be salmonella Typhimurium. The CDC also determined that the cause was not natural but rather an intentional one caused by the Rajneesh group. The group belonged to the followers of the spiritual leader from India, Bhagwaan Shree Rajneesh. The poisoning was a precursor to the planned attack on the Oregon water supply to disrupt the voters. The bacteria were being produced at Rajneesh medical corps, where the scientists were also working on a more deadly strain as well as a better adapted AIDS virus (Török, 1997). The group, however, only succeeded in the first part of their plan as locals began reporting to the authorities suspicious behaviors of some attendants at the restaurant as well as the followers of Rajneesh. The FBI was able to obtain information using wiretaps and caught all the involved members.