CHEMICAL, BIOLOGICAL, RADIOLOGICAL, AND NUCLEAR WEAPONS:
THE NEXT FACE OF TERRORSM
A Master Thesis (Draft)
Submitted to the Faculty of American Public University by Brock A. Lindsey
Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts
July 2015
American Public University
Charles Town, WV
The reality that countries like North Korea, Iran, and Iraq are working on ballistic missiles. And that terrorists who fly no national flag are trying to acquire chemical and biological weapons.
-George J. Tenet, June 14, 2001
I. Introduction Terrorism is far from new to nations around the world. Attacks that make the headlines in international news occur almost daily. However, each act of terrorism provides its own goal or objective, which may or may not have a different aim than a previous attack, which makes the threat even more difficult to prevent. Terrorism is a concept that is hard to define, but many government organizations and authors around the world have defined or attempted to provide a definition of terrorism. In spite of the lack of a single definition, terrorism is commonly referred to as a phenomenon because it is constantly evolving. This, in turn, makes terrorism even more difficult to predict and forecast.
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) have been a significant fear since the attacks of 9/11. Al-Qaeda’s use of airplanes as a weapon became the cause of mass terror and destruction to the American people as well as the world. The threat of Chemical, Biological,
Terrorism is defined as an act of violence that is committed by an organization or a single person in order to be heard. Terrorist acts are usually based on a couple factors such as, historical grievances, foreign policy decision, poverty, and religion. Terrorism is not a new act amongst the world but something that has been around since the beginning. To understand a criminal you must think like a criminal, and understand why they committed a crime or a violent act, then you can prevent and conquer.
There are three major types of weapons of mass destruction and those are nuclear weapons, biological warfare agents, and chemical warfare agents. These weapons share their potential for large-scale destruction and the indiscriminate nature of their effects, notably against civilians. WMD’s challenges our peace and security here in the United States. There is a strategy for dealing with weapons of mass destructions, and it is the three pillars, which are counter proliferation, nonproliferation, and WMD consequence management. The United States has tried to stop other countries; however, it has gotten to a point that if the United States is attacked with nuclear weapons, then the U.S. will use WMD as a response to the attack. When it comes to weapons of mass destruction in the possession of hostile countries and even terrorists, it is one of the greatest security challenges facing the United States. The first strategy to combat WMD is counter proliferation to combat WMD use, counter proliferations are fully integrated into the basic doctrines, in trainings, and even equipping of all forces, since it is important for the U.S military and appropriate agencies to be prepared to deter and defend against any possible WMD event. With strengthened nonproliferation to combat WMD proliferation, in order to prevent states from acquiring WMD and missiles, we must enhance diplomacy, arms control, multilateral agreements, threat reduction assistance, and export controls. That is to slow and make it more costly to access sensitive technologies, materials, and expertise.
I believe that the use of Chemical weapons by groups such as Aum Shinrikyo and the Iraqi government in the late 1980's has had a huge impact on the United States' counter terrorism preparedness. The United States has continued to make improvements to our WMD defense programs ever since the first use of chemical weapons, specifically Chlorine and Phosgene gasses, during WWI. The U.S. continued to improve its defense at that point by designing masks that were able to counter such weapons. As times have changed and evolved, so has the defense programs and equipment of our country. Since the use of chemical weapons by groups like Aum Shinrikyo and the Iraqi Government you can see even the smallest the changes in our defense, such as with the
Micheal P. (2013), 5 Weapons of Mass Destruction the U.S. Military Uses Every Day, Forbes Cover Story
There are many differing definitions of terrorism. What is terrorism? How do we define it? Why is one man’s terrorist another man’s freedom fighter? These are just a few of the questions that face the world on a daily basis. There are many challenges that face the international community when it comes to how to define terrorism and what it constitutes. This paper will explore the challenges facing scholars when it comes to labeling terror and discuss potential ways to properly define it.
For the reading this week it would seem clear that at a minimum terrorist groups are very interested and motivated to gain access to a CBRN weapons or Weapon of Mass Destruction. This new focus for terrorist groups is a focus that has comes with some very real concerns for the Homeland Defense and Homeland Security industries. As, Sinai, eludes too in his work, “The Evolving Terrorist Threat: The Convergence of Terrorism, Proliferation of WMD, and Enabling Conditions in Weak and Strong States”, terrorist have a criminal network they use for fundraising. This network often includes drug trafficking, which by nature has sophisticated smuggling operations. This same network could potentially be used to smuggle proliferated CRBN weapons or Weapons
Of the many problems that society faces today, terrorism is one that is more serious. The presence of terrorism can be felt across the globe, which make this issue a global concern. In all countries, whether they are developed or in the process of developing, this issue is always up for debate in todays society. History has shown us the clear evidence that the presence of terrorism is very much real and has gone through tremendous changes over the years. Terrorism now has become more difficult to control, more widespread, and more lethal. In todays society, terrorism is a serious challenge because of its presence around the world. Terrorists create chaotic conditions leading to mass murder and destruction to undermine the stability of society,
Of the five types of WMD’s that I have chosen to highlight for this assignment, three fall under Biological warfare, while the other two fall under chemical warfare.
Terrorists today are more than unlikely to use WMD in the future as they fear retaliation from the target country, also states that supply and train. terrorist groups cannot completely control them and they have no guarantee that a terrorist group would not use WMD against them. This article analysis shows that there is a need for more research that will explain how events and situations will make an impact on a terrorist group's decisions about using WMD. Only then can we appropriately analyze the threat of the future use of WMD by terrorists. To continue to prepare for the future use of WMD, governments should boost the training of efficient response personnel and increase funds to proliferation, research and development programs such as
Two short years after the terror attacks of 9/11 on March 20, 2003 the US declared war against a corrupt Iraq. George Bush believed that the Iraqis had Weapons of Mass destruction (WMD). The world has known of Iraq having chemical weapons, in 1988 the government ordered a chemical weapon attack against the Kurdish Iraqis, whether they had a nuclear bomb was still a question. The potential threat of Nuclear warheads in Iraq could be a threat to any opposing country to Iraq including: US, Israel, and any other ally of the US and more. Saddam Hussein had claimed that he was nearing a completion of a working warhead and aimed the statement at Iraq and the US, even though none were found after the invasion, America could take no chances. As tensions
The possibility of terrorist groups attacking and gaining access to nuclear facilities has been examined in much detail since September 11, 2001 (Chapin et al.). Opponents of nuclear power generation claim that it is far too easy for rebel forces to make dirty bombs out of nuclear waste. Dirty bombs could be made from spent fuel rods and could be devastating if detonated in an urban area; however, they are also harmful to their maker and easily detected (Chapin et al., Maiello). Large cities such as New York have also begun training first responders to detect and deal with dirty bombs (Maiello).
Terrorism in the twenty-first century has some similarities and differences from terrorism in the twentieth century. Terrorism is, in its broadest sense, the use or threatened use of violence in order to achieve a political, religious, or ideological aim. Also useful to remember that because the two entities involved, the terrorists and the terrorized, are on the opposite end of the political, religious or ideological continuum, the same act is viewed by them differently. There is much sense in the phrase one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.
Secondly, despite over 400 unfettered U.N inspections, there has been no evidence reported that Iraq has reconstituted its WMD program. Indeed, the Bush administration's claims about Iraq's WMD capability appear demonstrably false. [1] [2] Third, and despite President Bush's repeated claims, the CIA has not found any links between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda. To the contrary, some intelligence analysts believe it is more likely Al Qaeda might acquire an unsecured former Soviet Union Weapon(s) of Mass Destruction, or potentially from sympathizers within a destabilized Pakistan.
Think of the word terrorism. What is the first thing that comes to mind? One might think of kidnapping, assassination, bombing, or even genocide and guerrilla warfare. Because it is such a broad and complex issue, an all-encompassing definition is hard to formulate. The United States Department of Defence defines terrorism as…
Terrorism, which has been around for as long as people can remember, has been on the rise for the past ten years. Terrorists usually use murdering, kidnapping, hi-jacking and bombings to achieve their political purpose. For instance, according to Wikipedia.com (2006), in 1985 816 deaths, then in 2003, more than 1,000 people died by terorist acts around the world. In recent years, terrorism seems to be at a new height and attacks are much more violent than in the past. Unfortunately, in spite of many anti-terror campaigns, projects and organizations are being created for prevention (to prevent) terrorism, the number of terrorists only is increasing. These days terrorism is all over the world.