Biological Weapons Of Mass Destruction Essay

These biological agents could be viruses, toxins, bacteria, etc. Agents could be used in war or terrorist attacks. Also, they could be modified to cause extreme diseases and disorders, according to The Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It makes bioterrorism even more tempting to use as it is easy and inexpensive to produce, disseminate and can cause a more widespread panic than other acts of terrorism (1).

One threat that smallpox poses, is the use of it in biological warfare. According to Colette Flight, "in the 1990s the public discovered that Russia planned to turn smallpox into an effective weapon".

In the war of 1763 between England and France for control of North America, smallpox was used to defeat the Native American population. British soldiers intentionally delivered blankets infected with smallpox scabs and pustules to the population they needed to defeat. The highly susceptible population was easily defeated as there were extensive numbers of Native American deaths. This use of smallpox gives reason as to why smallpox is considered the first germ warfare agent (Sherman, 2007).

During the first month of World War 1 the French created the first ever tear gas grenades and it was used against the Germans. Tear gas works by irritating the eyes, nose, mouth, and lungs causing the person to have skin problems, trouble breathing, and having chest pain. Expectedly it was effective against the Germans but the they weren’t about to give up. After that attack, they took significant study to making chemical weapons and using it in the battlefield. After some time the Germans made their own tear gas and used it in the Eastern Front. Germans used it on the Russians and were unsuccessful but sadly they still did not give up. They still continued on making and improving their biological

In fact, the former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director James Woolsey has stated that creating a biological weapon is as easy as producing beer and that even a good chemistry high school student is capable of creating a biological weapon (Gerstein, 2010). Moreover, with the increase of natural viruses such as Ebola, terrorists could carry out a biological attack without the need of having to use any technology (Cenciarelli et al., 2015). They could simply travel to the country where a transmittable natural virus is occurring and they could get infected on purpose; then, all they have to do is travel back to their target location and intentionally spread the transmittable virus among large crowds of people (Cenciarelli et al.,

Biological weapons cannot, without explosive components, destroy structures. Nuclear weapons can level entire parts of a city. Nuclear weapons however cannot target specific groups of people within the impact zone whereas biological agents can be deployed in an enclosed space, reducing the number of deaths but targeting only a specific group. This may be important when considering the terrorists constituents. Do they want targeted attacks against only government or military personnel? Would they rather see a high death toll? Terrorist organizations are not typically simply causing death, they are advancing a political or religious ideal that may have limitations that shy away from indiscriminant

Bioterrorism is defined according to Centers of Disease Control & Prevention as “deliberate release of viruses, bacteria, or other germs (agents) used to cause illness or death in people, animals, or plants” (CDC, 2007). Going into history, it can be said that bioterrorism is not a recent phenomenon, since it has been practiced as a war tactic in middle ages, many European wars and in the World Wars (Riedel 2004; Wheelis 2002).In the North American context, it is pertinent to mention about the Siege of Fort Pitt. A British commander by the name of Amherst, has been alleged to order distribution of blankets to Native Americans, which were previously contaminated by small pox patients(Riedel, 2004).It is also reported that many countries were involved in developing biological weapons program both in World War I

A chemical weapon is defined by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons as “...any toxic chemical or its precursor that can cause death, injury, temporary incapacitation or sensory irritation through its chemical action. Munitions or other delivery devices designed to deliver chemical weapons, whether filled or unfilled, are also considered weapons themselves.”

Bioterrorism is purposefully releasing biological agent toxins to cause harm and terrorize people. Bioterrorism was first thought of somewhere in the 1340’s, this was when diseased horse corpses were catapulted over castle walls in France. Germ warfare was also used in the medieval times in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; human bodies were infected with the plague and used as ammunition in central Europe. During World War I Germany had attempted to infect the Allies using anthrax through livestock, which they failed in doing. By Germany attempting this it caused for Geneva Protocol, this is the restriction of chemical and biological weapons being used during war. However, the first bioterrorism occurred in the 1984 in the United States, members of the cult ha sprinkled salmonella on salad bars around Wasco County. There were 750 cases of food poisoning and another 45 cases of people being hospitalized. Many terrorist prefer to use biological agents instead of any other weapon for a few reasons that are; they can easily get there hands on them, they are inexpensive, it is hard to detect, they are easy to make and deliver.

Yes, it could happen. In the remainder of this paper, I will consider whether such an incident of catastrophic biological terrorism will occur, who is likely to perpetrate it, what agents they are likely to employ, to what end they may do so, and what technical capabilities will be required. I will focus on independantly motivated terrorism, as state-sponsorship lies beyond the scope of this paper and my research.

A devastating event nearly as bad as a nuclear war would likely result from the use of biological weapons. The article of Issues and Controversies states that “in 1925, seven years after World War I ended, 38 countries signed the Geneva Protocol, an agreement that prohibited the use of ‘asphyxiating’, poisonous or other gases’ in warfare… however [the countries] reserved the right to retaliate with chemical weapons if they were attacked with them first.” What the Geneva Protocol means is that if any country is attacked by biological weapons, the victim has the right the retaliate with biological weapons of their own. This shows that a single biological attack could result in a full blown war with devastating effects. One country attacking another would cause a domino effect bringing many other countries into the conflict. While biological weapons could be very effective in winning battles, in the end, the effects of using them would be

Chemical weapons are toxic gases, which use in the wars such as World War 1. Chemical weapons used in First World War and they killed a lot of people even children. In addition, chemical weapons are unless color, so people can’t see them. Also, most of people who died through the First World War were civilians. Therefore, who were responsible about them? In addition, people who survived had dangerous and permanent diseases such as cancer, asthma … etc. Even people’s genes effected by these toxic gases and they cause a lot of genetic problems that appeared in a second generation. Even soldiers who were pushed to this war. Then, they died or effected who were responsible about their families. In addition chemical weapons burned a lot of trees and they changed plant characteristics. Also, these gases can react with others to change air and weather characteristics. Therefore, chemical weapons effect on our

The use of biological weapons first started many years ago, it has been detected as far back as 10,000 BCE. Where hunters would use poisonous arrows to fired into the target. Biological agents were also used in World War I, by the Germans infecting the Allies horses and cattle with various microbes on both the western and eastern fronts ( ). Even though biological weapons were used for many years, it does not justify their used. Biological weapons can cause mass deaths, and they can widespread pandemics. A terrorist organization or country that want to cause injuries and death to civilian s might feel like they can justified their use of biological weapons, because they have five different categories of biological agents that they can

Chemical weapons are deadly, in-humane, not safe, and overkill. They are consider WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction) and have been on the rise since the early 1900s. These weapons are past and present proof that chemistry can crossover into technology. And have a huge impact on society for decades.

Moreover, when one thinks of terrorist attacks, the first things he/she may think of are crashing planes, nuclear missiles, and bombs. He/she may not, however, think of using microorganisms, such as anthrax, to start a biological warfare. “In the United States the incidence of naturally acquired anthrax is extremely rare i.e, 1 to 2 cases of cutaneous disease per year. In the year 2001 intentional contamination lead to 22 cases of anthrax (11 cutaneous, 11 inhalational) in the United States. Therefore, the spores of Bacillus anthracis are found to be a chosen weapon of bioterrorism (Saraswathi, Padmavathy, Mamatha, et al, p 2044). B. anthracis was placed in postal letters, where they would be released