EVER tried to dream up the cheapest and simplest way to disrupt a major
economy? It’s easy. Take a trip to one of the 20-odd countries with foot and
mouth disease. Wipe an animal’s blistered tongue with a clean washcloth. Fly to
the enemy’s country with the cloth in a plastic bag in your luggage, and wring
it out in a drinking trough at a livestock market. Walk away.
If the foot and mouth disease ravaging Britain has taught the world anything,
it is this: germs make great weapons. No one seriously believes Britain’s
current outbreak was deliberate; why would…
