America unprepared for biological, chemical warfare, according to senator and top general

A U.S. senator and a top Army general are warning that the United States is not prepared to deal with the threat of chemical or biological warfare, especially as it relates to the food supply.

Army Gen. Richard Clarke, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, said Russia has demonstrated a willingness to use chemical weapons against political opponents as far away as London and that the United States needs prepared for that warfare to expand one day.

“As we go into the future, we have to be prepared for that eventuality, and I don’t think we talk about it as much as we should and look for methods to continue to combat it,” Clarke said.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, told the same Aspen security conference that more attention needs to be paid to the vulnerability of food stocks to pathogens.

”If we look at food security, what can our adversaries do with biological weapons that are directed at our animal agriculture, at our agricultural sector?” Ernst said over the weekend.

“Highly pathogenic avian influenza, African swine fever, all of these things have circulated around the globe, but if targeted by an adversary, we know that it brings about food insecurity. Food insecurity drives a lot of other insecurities around the globe,” she added.