Chemical & Biological Warfare Essay, Research Paper
Ever since the beginning of time people have used
tools, which were later called weapons. People have
used weapons to defend his or her life, family,
property, prosperity, country, and even his honor.
Over the years weapons have improved greatly and
people are still trying to make them even better. In
earlier times when man started using weapons they were
made of stones, sticks, fire, or whatever was
available to them. Now, the weapons I speak of weren’t
as harmful and deadly as the weapons of today, but as
the old story goes, David did kill the giant Goliath
with a sling-shot and a stone. These weapons could
still kill someone if they didn’t receive the proper
attention, because of the infections they would cause.
Some of the weapons used now are very powerful and
deadly to any living things; some that could wipe out
entire cities. Good examples of these types of weapons
are chemical and biological weapons. The power of
these type of
weapons would be fatal to anything it comes across.
These weapons hold so much power that humans and other
living things would die and not even realize it was
coming. Chemical and Biological weapons have been used
in war many a time in which mankind had the chance to
see their power and their harmfulness. These types of
weapons are very powerful and undetectable in most
cases and could be made from mostly any virus or
chemical.
Humans have seen the power of chemical and
biological weapons on a many occasions. If any of
these kind of weapons are used in any certain area the
chances of survival are very limited, because most of
the chemicals and viruses used to make these weapons
are deadly. The U.N. and other major world
organizations have created many laws and rules against
the use in any way of chemical and biological weapon
use. Over the past few years the U.N. had to keep it’s
eyes on a few countries that were trying to make and
use these weapons. Some of these countries even had
the chance to use these weapons. Countries like Iran,
which in 1993 used chemical weapons on a small village
killing over 1500 people (War Marvels, History
Channel). If one has ever seen what some of these
chemicals and viruses do to all living things then I
believe, that they would consider not using these
extremely deadly weapons of war.
The most impressive and scary fact about chemical
and biological weapons is that most of them, when
used, are undetectable to every human sense possible.
They cannot be seen, smelled, or even tasted. During
the Gulf War the United States created many devices
for detection and protection in case of chemical or
biological weapon attack. One of these inventions was
a small box that would work kind of like a smoke
detector. In the case of an attack, this small box
would make a loud noise, which would let soldiers know
that some kind of chemical or virus had been dropped.
Another invention was a suit that would prevent
soldiers from breathing or making any contact with the
outside air where the weapon had been dropped. When
chemical or biological weapons are dropped on a
certain area, people don’t realize it until they see
other people dropping to the ground and by the time
they realize what is happening, it is too late to try
to escape.
Some of the chemicals used to create these weapons
of destruction are chloride (in its gas state),
ammonium, nitrogen, and many other combinations of
chemicals. These chemicals will make people sick or
kill them by poisoning them. When making biological
weapons, people use viruses, diseases, and bacteria
like the Ebola virus and other deadly virus that
attack the human body by skin contact or breathing.
Ways that these weapons can be used could be by
dropping them from airplanes or launching it in a
missile head. When put into the air these types of
gases or viruses will descend to the ground and kill
anything that is living: humans, animals, plants, or
anything else that may need or give off oxygen.
Making or using these types of weapons anywhere in
the world is illegal, because in 1993 more than 120
countries signed a treaty banning the production,
stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons and
establishing an independent organization to make sure
that everyone follows the treaty. The United States
and many other countries are getting rid of all their
chemical weapons. The U.N. is trying to regulate any
country with these types of weapons, but many
countries have either refused or lied about doing it.
It is a slow process, because it takes a lot of time
and money in order to get rid of or neutralize
chemical and biological weapons. Countries in the
Middle East are the ones with the largest amounts of
these types of weapons. The U.N. is actually doing a
good job by trying to have all countries get rid of
these weapons, because a lot of innocent people are
being killed or have already died from the use of
these deadly weapons. This is why these weapons of
destruction are being destroyed or put away so that no
one will suddenly decide to launch some, do major
damage, and take many innocent lives. Although
chemical and biological weapons could stop a war, is
it really worth killing so many innocent people just
because they are titled the “enemy”.