The Impact of Bioligical Weapons on Human and their Environment

Instinctivist theories on human aggressiveness often promote the notion that warfare is in the nature of humankind and therefore cannot be prevented. However Margaret Mead eloquently refuted this idea in her renowned essay Warfare: an Invention – Not a Biological Necessity. Mead states, “War is inevitable unless we change our social system and outlaw classes, the struggle for power, and possessions; and in the event of our success warfare would disappear, as a symptom vanishes when the disease is cured.” Through this statement Mead makes it clear that because aggression and subsequently warfare is a learned invention, it can be avoided. For the purposes of this essay, aggression will be defined as “a response that delivers noxious stimuli to another organism.” This essay will outline how and why aggression, and thus warfare, is not biological and is rather a behaviour that is learned as a reaction to social stimuli. Furthermore, it will be explained that violence is used by societies as a political weapon to achieve ostensible objectives.

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).

Agent Orange is a herbicide mixture used by the US military during the Vietnam War. (Agent Orange Vietnam War History). The Department of defense advance project (DARPA) had an important role in the U.S development of herbicides as a military weapon (usa.gov). The first large scale defoliation by the US military took place in Fort Drum using a chemical called agent purple and a spray system that was the model for the one used in Vietnam (Buckingham). The use of chemicals in war is considered biological warfare toxins used with the intent to kill or incapacitated human’s animals or plants as an act of war (history of biological warfare).

Chemical terrorism is the use of natural or synthetic substances such as mustard gas to kill a group of civilians (Freedmen 1). There is also such thing as bioterrorism. Bioterrorism is the use of a biological weapon against a civilian population such as smallpox and fungus (Hoyel 1). Chemical and biological terrorism is very dangerous because it intends to kill a lot of people at a time. Terrorists can get their hands on chemicals but it is much easier for them to get biologics (biological agents) because they are harder to detect and are cheaper to make.

One of Jared Diamonds many questions in his book Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies is why did agriculture developed where and when it did? Diamond uses chapter five to explain why some societies had and some had not. Diamond begins the chapter with explaining how archeologists can find ancients, therefore explaining how Diamond gathers his information and what his limits of the information is. Limits like how calculations of radiocarbon dates based on assumptions through a continuous ratio, which is can have some errors.

The origin of anthrax. Anthrax spores occur naturally in soil and are found in animals such as cattle, sheep and goats. They can also be produced in a lab. Anthrax has first been used as a weapon in biological warfare in WW 1 by the German military. Japan, The United States and Great Britain also experimented with anthrax as a weapon.

As the wind moves the smoke in the sky and the ground trembles from the causations of man, mankind is surely but slowly bound to crumble. In many of the essays, speeches, letters, and novels that were made by influential people such as Margaret Mead(“War Is Not A Biological Necessity”), Tim O’brien (The Things They Carried), Rick Loomis(“Imagine Dying”), Elie Wiesel (“Hope, Memory, and Despair”), Mike Royko (“A Faceless Man’s Plea”), and John F. Kennedy (“Address to The UN General Assembly, September 1961”); they all summarize the true nature of war, what it does to people, and the immoral acts that are initiated by it. War itself takes away all what is there to mankind. It dehumanizes and conflicts against the moral philosophy towards society.

In many cases, war is fought in order to gain something. It could be territory, or wealth, or power, but in some cases it is fought simply to kill. A type of warfare that exemplifies this is chemical and biological warfare. These attacks are aimed simply at killing everybody. In addition, most people think of biological warfare as a very recent war tactic, dating back not much further than agent orange, deployed in Vietnam. In fact, one of the first and one of the most devastating instances of biological warfare occurred much earlier, in 1347. This was the attack that brought the black plague from it’s origins in western Asia to Europe through Caffa, a city on the modern Crimean peninsula.

Bioterrorism is the deliberate release of viruses, bacteria, toxins or other harmful agents to cause illness or death in people, livestock, or crops. These agents are typically found in nature, but could be mutated or altered to increase their ability to cause disease, make them resistant to current medicines, or to increase their ability to be spread into the environment. Bacillus anthracis is one of the most popular agents to be used in a bioterrorism attack. Anthrax could be used in many forms, for example, it can be placed into letters and mailed, much like the 2001 anthrax attack, anthrax can be released into the air where the spores can be easily blown by the wind and inhaled or can be carried around on objects such as people’s clothes to which it has

The U.S. continues to have issues with students bringing weapons to school and using those weapons against their classmates and teachers. In my opinion, I believe that teachers should be allowed to carry a weapon to protect themselves, as well as their students, from students who bring gun violence to the schools. Some school districts have limited funding and are not able to employee a law enforcement officer; therefore, teachers having the right to carry a weapon, would allow the teachers the possibility to protect and defend their school. Teachers having the right to carry a weapon would allow them the opportunity to be able to asses the violent situation more swiftly, and could allow the circumstances to have a better outcome. If teachers

In the last 60 years, the advancement of biological technology and easily attainable chemicals has led to an increase in chemical weaponry and biological pathogens. While nuclear and radiological attacks are more common, chemical attacks are brutally efficient and biological attacks can be engineered with new technology (Madsen, 2001). Chemical particles are able to disseminate through large areas quickly and efficiently, and in some cases, are not easily detectable until lethal doses are achieved. Unfortunately, not all of the pathogens that are considered dangerous are man-made as antibiotic resistant strains of common illnesses are

Public health is essentially what the society does to assure its people of health and safety (Institute of Public Health, 1988). War is a significant anathema to public health and directly accounts for almost millions of deaths occurring annually throughout the world. Apart from bruising and injuring the public health, it destroys the societal infrastructure as well food and water supplies, adequate housing, access to good and adequate public health services and healthcare. It is therefore evident that it accounts for more deaths when it is compared to other hazards and catastrophes.

“Since the 1980s, terrorist organizations have become users of biological agents.” “Biological weapons include any organism or toxin found in nature that can be used to incapacitate, kill, or otherwise impede an adversary. Biological weapons are characterized by low visibility, high potency, substantial accessibility, and relatively easy delivery.” (Dire &Darling, 2011)

By the 1900s, the scientific revelations in germ-theory and bacteriology led to possibilities of their implementation in war.

Dating back to the 1100’s there have been records of the use of biological weapons in warfare. This involved the usage of human and animal corpses to pollute water sources and to spread diseases. Post World War One increased interest in biological weapons lead to them becoming more advanced. With this improvement it is evident that warfare has evolved. This progression in warfare can be seen when looking at the manner in which wars were fought prior to the introduction of biological weapons in the 1100’s, and comparing it to the manner in which they were fought succeeding the advancement of these weapons in the 1900’s. Although biological weapons have rarely been used, their effects on warfare are apparent. When studying biological weapons one must deliberate on the factors that have driven its use and creation as well as the responses and threats thereof. This essay will therefore focus on depicting biological weapons and their uses throughout history; beginning with its most medieval applications in siege warfare and comparing it to its various uses in World War One, Japan in the 1920’s , the Cold War and the Persian Gulf War. The reasons as to why biological weapons have been used and created differ in each circumstance, ranging from its advantageousness in imperialism to its role in instilling fear. Furthermore, to properly determine the impact of biological weapons on warfare this essay will examine the outcomes of its use. With the main response being the