The Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism, which predicted a WMD terrorist attack likely will occur by 2013, focused on weapons of mass destruction rather than possible use of missiles to deliver those weapons, because it is "difficult" for terrorists to obtain missiles, a commission leader said in an interview.

Commissioners concluded that it would be easiest for terrorists to fashion biological weapons, rather than to build or buy nuclear weapons.

Former Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.) was asked by Space & Missile Defense Report why the commission focused more on weapons, and little on how they might be delivered to attack the United States.

To begin with, Talent made clear the commission regards missiles as a serious threat.

"We studied nation-state proliferation [of WMDs] also," Talent said. "And obviously, the missile technology is significant when you consider the possibility of a first strike by some nation state. And that is one of the dangers of proliferation."

True, the commission didn’t focus on missiles, or on delivery systems generally, but focused instead on weapons of mass destruction, he said.

"Peripherally, we looked at [the missile threat] in the context particularly of North Korea. It’s a concern because part of what we did is [to study and assess] nation-state proliferation."

However, he noted, the commission centered its work heavily on terrorists and their capabilities.

"Missile technology is significant," he said. "But I would say, as far as dealing with the … terrorism aspect of it, the concern was more that they would weaponize it" — referring to gathering disease pathogens, and then delivering them to a victim population "using other means than missiles."

The commission took the approach of assuming that terrorists would use other delivery means than missiles, "because it [missile technology] is very difficult, and there are other ways that they could deliver it," Talent said.