By Patrick J. Buchanan – October 30, 2001

To make the Islamic world hate America, the Taliban may poison food packages the U.S. air-drops to Afghan children. So the Pentagon warned last week. After anthrax, food terror may be the next weapon unleashed. Congress is worried.

But if food terror comes to America, it will not be the first such attack. In 1980, the Rajneesh religious cult used salmonella bacteria to poison 10 salad bars in Oregon and sicken 750 people. Chemical and biological agents have also been used to poison food and murder enemies abroad. In 1992, Kurdish rebels tried to poison the water supply of a Turkish military base with potassium cyanide. In 1995, in Tajikistan, nine Russian soldiers died from a New Year’s bottle of champagne laced with cyanide by Tajik enemies.