Weapons of Mass Destruction and Risk Galore

Weapons of mass destruction are ‘weapons that can devastate large areas and kill huge numbers of people’. There are 3 types of WMD’s; Nuclear Weapons, Biological Weapons and Chemical Weapons. In the world there are only 8 counties that own nuclear weapons and these include USA, Russia, UK, China, France, India and Pakistan and unofficially Israel. In this essay I will be looking at whether or not Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD’s) can be justified, we can link this to the just war theory. I will also be looking at the 1945 Atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima and whether or not it can be justified.

“We were told, ‘it’s totally safe and it won’t hurt you at all,” he added. “We were told you can drink it, you can brush your teeth with it, or you can bathe in it. It won’t hurt you. Those were lies.” (“U.S. Soldiers Sprayed Agent Orange across Korea” 1) Agent Orange was an herbicide used by the United States military forces in Vietnam between 1962 and 1971 to destroy their enemies’ food supply, land, and protection. Twelve million gallons of this toxin were sprayed. (Department of Preventive Medicine 1) It affected the Vietnamese and the American troops who were fighting in the same jungle. Little did the United States military know the effects of this dangerous herbicide. It caused many long-term complications, including health problems

Nuclear weapons have been used twice in war – on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. More than 210,000 civilians died, while many more suffered small injuries. Even if a nuclear weapon were never again exploded over a city, there are horrible effects from the production, testing and deployment of nuclear weapons that are experienced as a personal and community catastrophe by lots of people around the world. This must inform and motivate efforts to get rid of these weapons.

When dreams turn to nightmares, most individuals have sights of monsters hiding underneath their bed or a scene of themselves between lowered into a vat of garter snakes. However war-stricken victims nightmares become a tangible reality with the use of napalm. Since World War II, the use of napalm has not only taken the lives of innocent bystanders but expanded the limitless boundary of the brutality of war and unlike chemical weapons. Without an enforced world wide ban, the expansion of this inhuman substance will continue to capture the lives of innocent civilians.

Armies started to use gas in WWI. Two of the most common gases were chlorine and mustard. Many were killed using these gases. Chemical weapons were extremely effective during WWI. By the end of WWI, 1,250,000 gas casualties occurred. Of these, 91,000 were fatalities. Chemical technology continued to be used in WWII, which killed even more. It killed so many people that chemical war was banned and considered inhumane. In 1968, the Chemical Warfare Convention occurred, banning the use of gas and stockpiling chemical weapons. Even though they were banned, the early ideas of gas technology and chemical warfare were advanced and were recently used in the Middle East. Chemical weapons were used by the Syrian government against the Syrian population. This presents another example of the impact of WWI technology on modern times. Despite being widely recognized as horrific, efficient chemical weapons remain a temptation to some governments

After World War II, tensions reached a new high in the United States. The American people experienced Cold War fears, which changed the way they lived, and acted politically. The U.S. was at ends with the Soviet Union, and this tension manifested itself into the population through the fear of nuclear missiles, and communism, and thanks to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and his administration, many of these fears were resolved, or at least minimized.

Thinking back to the days of one’s youth, one might recall taking a family trip to the local amusement park during the warmer months of summer. Standing, walking, or even running, one can spend hours underneath the beating heat of the sun. Moving from ride to ride, families pass by tents spraying mists of cooling, refreshing water to help soothe the pain from standing out in the sun. Children run back and forth through the mist, laughing with excitement. There is hardly a care in the world when the family is having so much fun. Now replace the amusement park with the jungles of Vietnam, and the tent, now a two engine C-123 cargo plane, sprays deadly chemicals instead of harmless water on the young American soldiers stationed there. This was the situation many Vietnam veterans were placed in during the conflict in Vietnam, and they were clueless and unprepared for the aftereffects of the chemicals sprayed across the battlefields. The chemical that was being sprayed across Vietnam was a potent herbicide that came to be known as Agent Orange, named after the color band that wrapped around the canisters it was transported in. This herbicide, while extremely efficient at its job of destroying forests and crops, it also did a great job at harming humans. Since the end of the war in Vietnam, many negative health effects of Agent Orange such as cancer and birth defects have come to light. Even though these health effects were caused by the spraying in Vietnam, many

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.

Some groups who use chemical and biological weapons is the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq or ISIS and other terrorist groups have carried out attacks in the middle east. According to the Syrian government the

Chemical warfare, mastered by the Germans, was a savage form of fighting during World War I. This weaponry was effective in mass carnage, causing countries affected by Germany’s initial chemical attacks to begin formulating their own chemical weapons even though it went against their beliefs. Chemical warfare was revolutionary but was not an ideal weapon due to the lack of consistency and immoral brutality of the death that ensued.

Title 18 U.S.C. 2332a, WMD refers to any material, weapon, or devices that are intended to cause, or is capable of causing death or serious bodily injury to a significant number of people through release, dissemination, or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals or precursors, a disease organism, or radiation or radioactivity, including (but not limited to) biological devices, chemical devices, improvised nuclear devices, radiological dispersion devices, and radiological exposure devices. (WMD, 2016).

The Nuclear bomb, the most feared weapon in the world. A weapon that has the power to wipe out a whole state let alone a large chunk of earth. On the 6th of August, 1945 an American bomber dropped the first ever atomic bomb wiping out over 90 percent of Hiroshima and instantly killing over 80,000 people. (Yavenditti, 1974) At the time the bomb hit only one state had nuclear weapon capability, this state was The United States of America. Since 2010, the world has nine states with nuclear weapons Russia, United States, France, United Kingdom, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and lastly the most recent addition North Korea. (Norris and Kristensen, 2010) The spread of nuclear weapons has created a constant debate. Some have argued the world is safer

The first World war chemical weapons were used then outlawed for combat. “Unlike when the U.S. was the only nuclear power and first used the technology against Japan without fear of reciprocation” ( The Ch.1 The Dangers). As a country we didn’t know the effects of a bomb on a living city, but now we know the consequences. Now what

Is the use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons in war ethical? Is there an appropriate time to use them? A dilemma will later be presented for consideration. Different ethical theories can either support or oppose the use of CBW depending on the circumstances. However, chemical, biological and nuclear agents are dangerous, uncontrollable and undifferentiating weapons of mass destructions. Actions must be taken to see that there are no future instances of use during war. However, before one discusses the legal and ethical issues involved with CBW, one must understand what chemical, biological and nuclear weapons are and how they function.

Are Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD’s) able to be used ethically in time of war without consequences? A question with many different answers from all over the world, from children, adults, and elders alike. Today, we will review quite a few things about WMD’s, such as what uniquely defines the ability of WMD’s from that of the average weapons. We will also view who created them, and why they created them in the first place. Furthermore, we will look into what was stated earlier: Are WMD’s able to be used ethically in time of war without consequence? We’ll answer this and more, with the paragraphs ahead.