When the designers of a comprehensive new Internet database of international terrorist incidents sat down to draft their plans, they were determined to keep the information as flexible and relevant as possible, to respond to the ever-changing nature of modern terrorism. That meant, for example, creating a “weapons” category that includes such traditional means as bombs, guns and knives, and also the more terrifying variants of chemical and biological agents, all of which have been employed by terrorists during the last four decades covered in the database. But it also meant creating another category that remains hidden from public view: the one labeled “nuclear.” It’s being held in reserve, against the day when some terrorist group might finally lay its hands on a nuclear device or detonate a radioactive “dirty” bomb. “To our knowledge, there have been no acts of nuclear terrorism so far,” said Chip Ellis, the chief designer of the database. “But if something happened, yes, it’s available to be added to the database.” The database, known as the Terrorism Knowledge Base, is still in its final shakedown stage and has yet to be officially unveiled, but it is already available for public use at www.tkb.org. Created by the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism in Oklahoma City, a research institute founded after the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building, the database represents the largest repository of international terrorism information ever made publicly available on the Internet. Full Story
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