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Marion Fleming

Professor Michael D. Finney

EDMG 340

February 24, 2010

Weapons of Mass Destruction: Then and Now

It is a common trend during times of war that the target has shifted from enemy soldiers

to innocent lives. Weapons of mass destructions date back to the middle ages; the first weapon

of choice became biological, then shifted to chemical, and then to nuclear as scientific

advancements allowed. To most, the idea of nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons are

something seen only in movies, but these weapons are gradually becoming more of a reality.

Weapons of mass destruction, such as the nuclear, biological, and chemical ones mentioned,

have historically been shown to be a threat to human lives and will continue to pose a threat now

more than ever.

The threat of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons (NBC) has posed a threat to

human lives since the middle ages. Biological weapons, probably out of convenience, became

the first weapon of choice. One of the best known examples of this is when the Tartars laid siege

to Kaffa in 1346. It was during this siege that an outbreak of plague infested their men thus

prompting the Tartars to use catapults to hurl the plague-infested bodies of their soldiers over the

city walls (Rebehn). This caused the plague to spread through the city like wild fire and resulted

in Europe’s second outbreak of the plague. Chemical weapons came into play during World War

I (1914-1918) when the Germans first used mustard gases1 at the village of Langemarck in 1915;

1 Mustard gas is a member of the sulfur mustards and a class of related cytotoxic, vesicant chemical warfare agents with the ability to form large blisters on exposed skin. It it’s impure form (most common during warfare), this agent is usually yellow-brown and has an odor resembling mustard plants or garlic. (Bruner)

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France and Britain soon followed suit and by 1918 one in every four artillery shells fired

contained a gas of one type or another (Rebehn). There are however, only two cases of nuclear

weapons use on a population; the August 6, 1945 bombing of Hiroshima, and the August 9, 1945

bombing of Nagasaki (Rebehn).

History is scattered with cases of suspected or actual instances of biological warfare, as

seen in Kaffa. In 1710, while Russia and Sweden were at war, the Russian troops too used the

plague to benefit them by using the bodies of plague victims to inflame an epidemic; the British

general Sir Jeffrey Amherst nearly wiped out a portion of the Indian population by providing

them with blankets infested with smallpox2 (Rebehn). Biological warfare is also known as germ

warfare, and is the use of viruses, bacteria, or other disease-causing agents as a weapon. A

biological weapon is typically used to kill or incapacitate a particular group of people, or even an

entire population (Dire). A biological weapon can be an extremely powerful weapon; for

example one gram of the purified botulinum toxin could potentially kill 10 million people (Dire).

In 1925 the Geneva Protocol, the first multilateral agreement that extended prohibition of

chemical agents to biological agents, was signed by 108 nations (Dire). The downside to this

was that there was no method put in place to verify compliance.

One common agent often heard of, especially in more recent years is the anthrax virus.

There have been several cases involving anthrax throughout history. In fact, during WWII the

Japanese operated a secret facility in which biological warfare research was conducted3. During

this time more than 3000 victims were exposed to anthrax, as well as other agents, so as to be 2 It was during the French and Indian war that Sir Jeffrey Amherst provided Indians who were helping the French with blankets infected with Smallpox. This caused an epidemic to breakout, which decimated the Indians and allowed Amherst to capture Fort Ticonderoga. (Rebehn)

3 This research facility is referred to as Unit 731, in Manchuria. (Rebehn)

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observed and dissected for a greater understanding of how these agents affected the human body

(Dire). The United States investigated the use of anthrax as well as the botulinum toxin as a

weapon in 1942-1944; if the Germans initiated biological warfare, then the American’s would

have enough stockpiled to retaliate. In 1979 there was an accidental release of anthrax from the

Sverdlovsk (USSR) weapons facility which resulted in the death of 66 people. The Russian

government claimed it was due to infected meat rather than anthrax, but in 1992 Russian

President Boris Yeltsin admitted to the accidental release (Dire).

Bioterrorism is a very real threat today, in fact it appears to be more of a threat today than

it ever has been, especially with scientific advancements; many countries have ongoing offensive

biological weapons research efforts in place. Terrorist organizations have become users of

biological agents since the 1980’s. There are plenty of examples of hoaxes in more recent times

but unfortunately there are exceptions to this. (Dire) Some examples of recent attacks or

attempted attacks are (Dire):

In September and October of 1984, 751 people were intentionally infected by Salmonella

at an Oregon salad bar. The group responsible for this attack was the Bhagwan Shree

Rajneesh

In 2001, anthrax was delivered via mail to US media and government offices; this

resulted in 4 deaths.

In December 2002 a ricin laboratory was discovered in a Manchester, England apartment,

and 6 terrorists were arrested. Later in January 2003, two more residence were found

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with traces of ricin which led investigators to believe there was a possible Chechen

separatists plan in place to attack the Russian embassy.

On February 3, 2004, 3 US Senate office buildings were closed after ricin was found in

the mailroom that serves Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s office.

There are more than 1200 biological agents that could do a significant amount of harm to

human lives. However, there are few that are ideal to use as a biological weapon. Ideally the

agent would need to be easily acquired, processed and used, and only take a small amount to

serve its purpose of killing or incapacitating. These agents are easily hidden and difficult to

detect as they are odorless, tasteless, and easily hidden. (Dire) These agents have several

delivery methods, and learning these methods can aid in this country’s defense against them.

Biological warfare agents can be disseminated through (Dire):

Aerosol sprays

Explosives; artillery, missles, and detonated bombs

Food or water contamination

Intravenously or absorbtion through skin

The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) was signed on April 10, 1972. This was the

first multilateral disarmament treaty banning the production of an entire category of weapons

(Dire). The BWC is also titled the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development,

Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons Convention

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(BTWC). This, along with the Chemical Weapons Convention, were meant to supplement the

1925 Geneva Protocol. The BWC is divided into eight articles (Dire):

Article I: Never under any circumstance to aquires or retain biological weapons

Article II: To destroy or divert to peaceful purposes biological weapons and

associated resources prior to joining

Aritcle III: Not to transfer, or in any way assist, encourage or induce anyone else to

acquire or retain biological weapons.

Aricle IV: To take any national measures necessary to implement the provisions of

the BWC domestically.

Aricle V: To consult bilaterally and multilaterally to solve any problems with the

implementation of the BWC.

Article VI: To request the UN Security Council to investigate alleged breaches of the

BWC and to comply with its subsequent decisions.

Article VII: To assist States which have been exposed to a danger as a result of a

violation of the BWC.

Article VIII: To do all of the above in a way that encourages the peaceful uses of

biological science and technology.

Next came chemical warfare, which is the usage of lethal and incapacitating munitions and

agents (typically poisons, contaminants, and irritants) (Arnold). Since the first use by the

Germans, there have been twelve conflicts in which chemical weapon agents were used,

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including the Persian Gulf War; during the second Persian Gulf War, the Iraqi military used

chemical weapons against the Iraqi Kurds (Arnold). During Vietnam, soldiers were issued gas

masks in case the North Vietnamese used chemical weapons, but there were no known instances

of such a thing happening. It was just during this last decade that terrorists deployed chemical

weapons against civilian populations; the extremist Aum Shinrinkyo cult deployed sarin in

Matusmoto, Japan in June 1994 which left 7 dead and 280 injured and they also released sarin

vapor into the Tokyo subway system during a morning rush hour which resulted in 12 deaths and

5,000 patients in the local hospitals (Arnold).

There are several characteristics of chemical agents that make them ideal for terrorist

usage. Chemical agents are (Rebehn) : widely available and recipes can commonly be found on

the internet; it is often times difficult to protects oneself against chemical agent attacks; chemical

agents are easily transported and there are several options to choose from with methods of

delivery; and most communities are inadequately prepared to deal with such a chemical attack.

The threat of a chemical attack is especially high in a time of a lot of uncertainties such as this.

Terrorist organizations appear to be making more of an appearance with these agents over the

past ten years, give or take. The Al Qaeda announced after they attacks on September 11 th that

they were acquiring Weapons of Mass Destruction, such as biological and chemical. This

announcemnt could have been taking as a threat or scare tactic if it hadn’t been for the killing of

three dogs by an apparent nerve agent (Robertson). Al Qaeda used chlorine gas during several

bombings in Iraq in the early months of 2007. This has wounded or sickened an exess of 350

people (Robertson) Those bombings were described by United Nations Secretary-General Ban

Ki-moon as being, “clearly intended to cause panic and instability in the country.” (Ban) One of

the most suprising instances in relatively recent history occurred on October 26, 2002 when the

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Russian special forces used a chemical agent during the Moscow theater hostage crisis. The

agent, thought to be KOLOKOL-1 (an aerosolized fentanyl derivative), was used as a precursor

to an assault on the Chechen terrorists involved in the hostage situation (Robertson). By the end

of the hostage situation, 42 terrorists and 120 hostages were dead; all but one of the hostages

died as a result of the chemical agent (Robertson).

The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) was drafted on September 3, 1992 and

signed into effect on January 13, 1993 (Arnold). The CWC is an arms agreement which outlaws

the production, stockpiling and ise of chemical weapons. As of May 2009, 188 states were party

to the CWC, with another two countries that had not yet ratified the convetion (Arnold).

NATION CW POSSESSION SIGNED CWC RATIFIED CWC

IRAN KNOWN JANUARY 13, 1993 NOVEMBER 3, 1997

JAPAN PROBABLE JANUARY 13, 1993 SEPT. 15,1995

NORTH KOREA KNOWN NO NO

RUSSIA KNOWN JANUARY 13, 1993 NOVEMBER 5, 1997

UNITED STATES KNOWN JANUARY 13, 1993 APRIL 25, 1997

Table 1 Countries of Interest in Reference to the CWC (United States Chemical Weapons Convention)

Chemical weapons typically fall into one of seven categories: (Arnold)

Nerve agents (sarin, soman, VX, etc.)

Vesicating or blistering agents (mustards)

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Choking agents or lung toxicants (chlorine, phosgene, etc)

Cyanides

Incapacitating agents

Lacrimating or riot control agents

Vomiting agents

Chemical weapons are usually stored and transported as a liquid but can be deployed as either a

liquid aerosol or vapor, exposing the victim through the skin, respiratory tract, or eyes (Arnold).

The first line of defense against these chemical attacks is treaties such as the one

mentioned above. Along with this, the appropriate government agencies need to be able to

detect very early the signs of chemical weapons capability or possession. If this line of defense

fails and there is a sign of definite danger then detection procedures, collective protection, and

decontamination procedures need to be put into play. (Arnold)

Nuclear weapons are explosive devices that derive its destructive force from nuclear

reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion (GlobalSecurity, Inc.). Both of

these reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. For

example, a modern thermonuclear weapon weighing little more than a thousand kilograms can

produce an explosion comparable to the detonation of more than a billion kilograms of

conventional high explosives4 (GlobalSecurity, Inc.). While there are only two cases of a nuclear

weapon being used against a population of people, these weapons cause a great deal of anxiety

4 Specifically the US B83 nuclear bomb, with a yield of up to 1.2 megatons (GlobalSecurity, Inc.)

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because of their devastating effects; even a small nuclear weapon, no bigger than the size of a

conventional bomb, can devastate and entire city.

On the morning of August 6, 1945 the United States dropped a uranium gun-type device

code-named “Little Boy” on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later the United States

dropped a plutonium implosion-type device code-named “Fat Man” on the city of Nagasaki,

Japan. These bombings resulted in the death of approximately 120,000 people; more deaths

occurred late on from the long-term effects of the bombings. (GlobalSecurity, Inc.) There have

been more than 2000 detonations of nuclear bombs, though solely for testing purposes though.

There are currently several nuclear-armed states which include (GlobalSecurity, Inc.): the United

States; Russia; United Kingdom; France; China; India; Israel (unofficially); Pakistan; North

Korea; and South Africa. As with each of the other mentioned WMDs, nuclear weapons too

have a delivery system which would deliver the weapon to its target. The first method of

delivery, and the method used in the two mentioned bombings, is bomber aircraft; strategic

bombers and tactical fighter-bombers can also be used. Other methods of delivery include

ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missles and multiple independently targetable

reentry vehicles (GlobalSecurity, Inc.). Compared to the other mentioned WMDs, nulcear

warfare may not seem as much of a threat, but with daily advancements in science they may

begin to pose more of a threat.

Nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons are a serious concern for the United States.

Events through history have proved these weapons to be a real threat. It is likely that terrorists

would use any weapons they were able to build or buy, against our nation. The threat of these

weapons is so real in fact that it often times shapes the politics of this nation, as well as fostering

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social movements. It was the threat of potential WMD that President George W. Bush used to

generate support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq (Stauber).