The Pros And Cons Of Biological Weapons

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).

The fear of a Chemical or Biological attack has been a concern to many governments. These attacks, either by state agencies or individuals, have caused loss of life and the United States has not been spared in this forms of attacks.

Welcome to week 4! This week we are discussing what consequences face the Nation if our chosen threat isn’t adequately addressed and whether we believe that it is being addressed adequately now. Of the six security challenges that are mentioned in the 2014 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review, I have chosen to discuss biological threats. Biological terrorism is a scary prospect that should be a growing concern for the country. The reason for this is the ease at which a bio attack can be put into action. Depending on the level of intricacy of the attack, the effects could be isolated to one area or become a pandemic that spreads across the United States. Bioterrorism comes in many forms but as a general explanation biological

“Bioterrorism remains a major threat for the United States despite more than $65 billion spent on protecting the country from myriad dangers, the Bipartisan WMD Terrorism Research Center said in its latest report Wednesday. The center's Bio-Response Report Card evaluated U.S. preparedness for countering threats from bioterrorism and found the country remains vulnerable to multiple threats and "largely unprepared for a large-scale bioterrorist attack."”(UPI.com, 2011). There have been over a dozen leading U.S. bio-defense experts that have taken part in figuring out where we are exactly as a county and what the effects of a terroristic attack

Though originally the plan of the attack was to capture the city, it ended with massive death both in the city, and millions of deaths in the surrounding countries. So although biological warfare is considered a modern tactic, one of the most devastating attacks ever involved biological warfare at the siege of Caffa in 1347.

People will do almost anything to win or achieve their goals and that is sometimes a good thing. However, there have been instances where people have taken the idea to the extreme. So extreme that it was even banned at the end of World War 1 at the Geneva Convention. The topic is Biological Warfare. This type of warfare uses toxins or contagious agents instead of using guns and explosives. Toxins and agents such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses. All of them are different things and have different effects but all have the same goal, and that is to disable or kill humans, animals, and plants to win the war. This warfare is cruel and inhumane and should never be used by anyone. If anyone did they should be punished severely. Why shouldn’t we use this? Well one example is World War 1.

In the wake of the attacks on September 11, 2001 and the anthrax outbreaks that occurred in the United States, a method needed to be developed to determine if an outbreak was natural or intentionally released. “The open or covert use of pathogens and toxins as biological warfare agents can no longer be ruled out” (Grunow & Finke, 2002, pg. 510). The events that occurred in The Dalles, Oregon further show that such a procedure needed to be developed. In 2002 R. Grunow

In closing, governments need to know that even though the possibility of a biological or chemical attack is remote, they have a responsibility to do everything in their power to curb the opportunities, guard, and take action. For the Japanese government their test is to establish how much to organize for a low probability attack, all while safeguarding against on more likely events with significant, but not inevitably disastrous penalties. But the Japanese also need to make sure they understand that terrorist groups don’t always use biological weapons for their attacks, because they often have other alternatives that will better serve the function of the terrorist organization. Through the risk management perspectives of John Parachini, if the Japanese government can

, and lone actors inspired by terror propaganda. Unconventional threats, although difficult to obtain and employ, potentially provide a large payoff to any terror organization when utilized and thus are attractive to those seeking to instill fear, degrade an economy, or attempt to influence policy. A subset of the terrorism threat is the realm of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) hazards. Within this particular subset, there are innumerable methods a terror cell may use to accomplish their goals and a careful analysis of available materials, capabilities, desired effects, and costs versus benefits helps narrow the most likely forms

The hydrogen bomb was much more powerful than even the atomic bombs that the entire world had seen hit Japan. This and all that has happened up to this point caused many anti-nuclear movements to start in many places in the world. Along with this, concerns at a governmental level arose, the Soviet premier, Georgii M. Malenkov said “A new world war … with modern weapons [would mean] the end of world civilization.”. They were fully aware the destruction that could be enacted upon if any of the countries holding atomic weapons were to wage war. The next kind of weapon that was being developed were biological weapons.

The purpose of this essay is to deal with the fact that chemical warfare should be brought back to modern warfare strategies. As Warren Rudman said, “And they will tell you unequivocally that if we have a chemical or biological attack or a nuclear attack anywhere in this country, they are unprepared to deal with it today, and that is of high urgency.” Rudman’s words are true in what they say and that we should do everything to counter-act his statement. Biological weapons are a key to outstanding success in war and therefore, I strongly suggest that chemical warfare is an effective and producible weapon tactic that can be used on today’s battlefield.

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

Biological threats to the homeland are one of six strategic challenges outlined in The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) 2014 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review. Biological threats are sometimes viewed as underrated threat to homeland security compared to the threat of terrorism and nuclear weapons. The following will explain the nature the threat of biological weapons pose on the homeland and the ongoing steps the federal government is implementing to meet this challenge.

After thoroughly reading this week’s course material, choose one potential weapon from one of the chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) categories (i.e. you could select Tularemia, which could be a potential biological weapon). Write in your own words your assessment of your selected potential weapon's characteristics, accessibility, consequences of terrorists using that weapon based in researched facts. Please provide any support information required.

Biosecurity as a definition, according to the textbook, Biosecurity and Bioterrorism Containing and Preventing Biological Threats, by Jeffrey R. Ryan, is the measures taken to help protect a nation’s food supply, as well as, agricultural resources from a biological terrorist attack (Ryan, 2016, p. 26). Similarly, the term Biodefense as a definition, according to the textbook Biosecurity and Bioterrorism Containing and Preventing Biological Threats, by Jeffrey R. Ryan, is a procedure designed, by a nation, to protect and improve biological defenses in the case of an attack (Ryan, 2016, p. 26). Why is bioterrorism such an extremely effective way to bring terror to divergent countries? Pursuing this further, most of the common biological agents found in pathogens are obtained from a natural environment (Ryan, 2016, p. 31). In fact, these “biological