Weapons of Mass Destruction, Research Paper Example

The topic of weapons of mass destruction is not an easy subject to discuss; however it is vital to understand the threats that are present at any given point. There are several weapons of mass destruction which cause great concern in today’s day and age. This paper will strive to delve into the history and current status of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons. All weapons of mass destruction pose a threat; however there are some that are more concerning than others. “A nuclear war using only a fraction of existing arsenals would produce massive casualties on a global scale—far more than we had previously believed,” Dr. Ira Helfand, the report’s author and IPPNW co-president, said in a statement. (Dreams, 2013). It shows what could happen in the event a nuclear weapon fell in the wrong hands. Nuclear weapons of mass destruction are the biggest threat to the United States today.

Chemical Weapons of Mass Destruction

The chemical weapons of mass destruction date back to as early to 1000 B.C. when the Chinese would use arsenic smoke. These types of attacks were used during World War I and II. The first chemical weapon was used by Germany in 1915. They launched a large-scale attack of poisonous gas against the French troops during the battle of Ypres. The allies created and used their chemical weapons. At the end of the war, the chemical warfare had imposed over a million casualties. Of the million, around 90,000 were fatal. The Nazis used chemical warfare to terminate the Jews. The gas chambers were used hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide to kill the captives during World War II. The United States used several types of defoliants like Agent Orange and tear gas during the Vietnam War.

In 1925, the Geneva Protocol was established to prohibit using poisonous or other gases, asphyxiating, and any other bacteriological methods of warfare during the war. The law did not prohibit the manufacturing or hoarding of such weapons. There were about 40 countries involved in ratifying the protocol. In 1993, more than 140 nations signed the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993 which established a ban on the possession and development of all chemical weapons. It is believed that there is still some nations that possess such weapons. There has been chemical warfare even more recently.  In 1995, sarin was used in a subway train attack in Tokyo. More recently, in 2008 ricin was found in a Las Vegas motel room. “A chemical weapon attack on a city could be expected to produce a maximum of thousands of deaths. During the First World War, “successful” gas attacks would use tons of gas and produce hundreds to thousands of deaths and thousands of injured” (Macfarlane, 2005). Chemical weapons of mass destruction pose very serious threats and needs to address with all necessary precautions.

There are many types of chemical weapons that include psychiatric compounds, blister agents, choking hazard agents, blood agents, vomiting agents, tear gas, and nerve agents. Chemical weapons are effective through consumption or by making contact to the skin. It is important to know that chemical weapons are not viewed as dangerous as biological weapons because they are less efficient. They need a more significant amount of chemicals to reach the desired effect, and it translates to a lower number of casualties. Chemical weapons in contrast to biological weapons is that chemical has immediate results. We cannot discount the potential that a sophisticated delivery system would have a significant and deadly effect.

Chemical agents are classified based on the specific symptoms that they may cause.

There is nerve agents, blistering, sarin (GB), mustard gas, VX, and tabun. Other types of chemical agents include forms of nitrogen mustard, blood agents, arsine, chloride and hydrogen chloride, cyanide, mustard-lewisite mixture, cyanogens, choking agents, ethyldichloroarsine, diphosgene and phosgene, vesicants, such as distilled mustard and other nerve agents. Chemical weapons also include a ‘harassing agents’ that are the chemicals used to control riots and vomiting agents. Toxic weapons are also another form of chemical weapons, and they are made from readily available industrial materials. The most typical forms of hazardous materials that are used in toxic weapons are choking agents, irritants, industrial compounds, oxidizers, incendiary gases and liquids, chemical asphyxiates, flammable industrial gas, water supply contaminants and organophosphate pesticides

The symptoms from chemical weapons can range from blistering or burning of skin and eyes, water-like blisters jerking and miosis, twitching, coughing, involuntary defecation and urination, headache, dizziness, respiratory disease, convulsions, nausea, and drowsiness. There are some available methods of treatment against chemical weapons; however the treatment is directly dependent upon the type of exposure. There is concern that some nations still have chemical weapons. Al Qaeda terror network has tried to make chemical weapons, as well as Russia and the United States who have stockpiles of sarin. South Korea, Syria and India are believed to have various supplies of nerve agents. The United States believes that there will be an increasing trend in the use of such weapons.

Biological Weapons of Mass Destruction  

The first to use biological weapons of mass destruction took place in 1763 when British officers planned to distribute smallpox blankets. An attempt like this continued throughout the war as soldiers were determined to kill off their enemies.  In modern times, biological weapons are now used by individuals more so than groups. The biological weapons can include dangers like Q fever, bacterial, and or anthrax. It also can induce viruses such as hepatitis, smallpox, and toxins like botchalism, avian influenza, ricin, and staff. Biological weapons can work in three different ways. Because biological weapons work in serval ways, gastrointestinal, pulmonary, and contact, it can be extremely difficult. It presents a significant hazard and is fairly easy to get ahold of. If the United States were the victim of a biological attack, it would not only cause mass casualties but also because of the issue of spreading it could become a global danger.

Biological weapons have been referred to as the poor man’s nuclear weapon and can range in the amount of damage it can do. The proper type of aerosolized release of a biological element could eliminate an entire city. “The Biological Weapons Convention, signed in 1972, prohibits the manufacture, stockpiling and use of biological weapons. But there are several countries that continue to make and study them. Some countries’ stockpiles are unaccounted for, as is the case with Iraq” (Weapons, 2006). In 1969, President Nixon banned the use and production of biological warfare agents and ended the United States’ bio warfare program. The Biopreparat program that belonged to the Soviet Union continued until the 1990s. The United States announced a bioterrorism detection system that could establish an early warning when anthrax, smallpox, and other deadly germs are present in the environment. The established system was tested all the way till 2002. It was also used at the Winter Olympics that were held in Salt Lake City, Utah. President Bush asked for an additional $6 billion in his 2004 fiscal budget to launch the ‘Project BioShield’. The project was for research that would allow for production efforts for effective treatments and vaccines that would work against bioterrorism agents that are currently existing.

There are many different biological weapons that can be used in an attack. There are three classifications of weapons, Category A, B, and C. Category A consists of plague, anthrax, tularemia and viral hemorrhagic fever, ricin, and botulinum toxin. These are on the top of the Disease Control and Prevention’s list for the most common forms of biological attacks. ”’Category B’ weapons are the second-highest priority to the CDC because they are fairly easy to disseminate, cause moderate amounts of disease and low fatality rates. But these weapons require specific public-health action such as improved diagnostic and detection systems. These agents include Q fever, brucellosis, glanders, ricin, Enterotoxin B, viral encephalitis, food safety threats, water safety threats, meliodosis, psittacosis, and typhus fever” (Weapons, 2006). Category C weapons are classified as emerging infectious disease threats. They are easy to obtain, disseminate, and produce while carrying a high rate of mortality and disease. Category C includes the Hantavirus and Nipah virus. There are other agents that some may use as a weapon. They include viruses such as influenza, trichothecene mycotoxins, bacteria such as scrub typhus and trench fever, multi-drug tuberculosis, aflatoxin, and other forms of fungi, protozoa, and hemorrhagic fever. The agricultural bioterrorism can also result in famine or even widespread malnutrition.

The delivery systems of biological weapons can be used through aerosolized methods and can spread in the air and then inhaled. Biological weapons can also be put into water or food supplies to be ingested. Finally, it can come into contact with human skin and do damage in that manner. The symptoms associated with exposure can be exhaustion, weight loss, pneumonia, flu-like symptoms, shock, respiratory failure, and stomach pain. Biological weapons can take some time to affect the individual, and the public health system is not in a position to pinpoint the bioterrorism immediately.  It is because most of the symptoms mirror those of a common cold or flu and can take some time to recognize. Treatments can include pumping the stomach, antidotes, vaccines, and antibiotics. Current we know that the United States has some substances such at anthrax and other laboratory biological items. Russia has an accumulation of various biological weapons. Syria, Iraq and North Korea are a few nations believed to possess biological weapons.

Radiological Weapons of Mass Destruction

Radiological weapons of mass destruction are also referred to as the ‘dirty bomb’. It is believed terrorist will most likely choose weapons of mass destruction for their statements and control. “Radiological weapons are generally felt to be suitable largely for terror, political, and area denial purposes, rather than mass killings. Unlike nuclear weapons, they spread radioactive material contaminating personnel, equipment, facilities and terrain” (Cordesman, 2014). The radioactive material contaminates everything that comes in contact with can be extremely harmful and in some situations, fatal. The ‘dirty bomb’ is more often chosen by terrorist because it can injure or kill people by exposing them to materials that are radioactive. These materials include cobalt-60, iridium-192 or cesium-137.

Experts found that a dirty bomb explosion containing one kilogram of plutonium that is set off in the heart of Munich, Germany could lead to an estimated 120 cancer cases that can be blamed on the blast. “The effectiveness of such weapons is controversial, and the impact can vary sharply because of the time require to accumulate a disabling or significant dose of radiation through ingestion, inhalation, or exposure” (Cordesman, 2014). The methods for detonation a dirty bomb can include an artillery shell or a bomb, which can disperse the harmful radioactive materials. Such a weapon could also contamination food crop, fish, and livestock. A terrorist cannot contaminate the water suppliers or reservoirs because the most radioactive material is not soluble in water. There are other ways to launch radiological weapons of mass destruction with little to no prior knowledge.

There are many potential symptoms that can range from reddening of the skin to cancer and death. Radiation sickness and acute radiation syndrome typically occur when an individual gets a high dose of radiation in a short period of time. It just a few minutes it can cause diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. After the radiation has set it, there can be the infection, bleeding, flu-like symptoms, loss of appetites, and bone marrow depletion that can lead to weight loss. A warning sign for people is to be suspicious of materials that give off the heat without any real sign of having a heating source. It is also important to be aware of glowing particles or materials, the glowing show the likelihood of it being a radioactive substance.

Nuclear Weapons of Mass Destruction

Nuclear weapons are the worst type of weapons of mass destruction. A joint statement by 124 States delivered to the United Nations General Assembly in October stated: “It is in the interest of the very survival of humanity that nuclear weapons are never used again, under any circumstances” (Dreams, 2013). Nuclear weapons are devastating in their long-term effects on animal and human life along with the environment that they win. These are the hardest type of weapon of mass destruction to make because they are very expensive, and they require a critical nuclear element of plutonium and or a highly enriched uranium, which are extremely difficult to come by.

In 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, which ended World War II. The Soviet Union followed suit and became the next country to create an atomic bomb. It was the beginning of an arms race which considered the global interest in nuclear fission devices. The threat is not in the traditional nuclear weapons; the officials are worried that terrorist might target the world’s nuclear power supplies and plants. An example of a worst-case scenario is a simulation of a one-megaton explosion taking place in Detroit. It would be equivalent to a million tons of TNT and could injure more than a million, kill over 250,000 and flatten all building in a 1.7-mile radius.

There have been decades of arms control negotiation that has caused a significant reduction in the number of nuclear weapons that are around the world. The U.S. Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program has destroyed 491 ballistic missiles and 438 ballistic missile silos, 365 submarine-launched missiles, 101 bombers, deactivated 6,032 nuclear warheads, and destroyed 25 strategic missile submarines, and 408 submarine missile launchers since 1991. They have also sealed 194 nuclear test tunnels. On May 1, 2000, France, China, Russia, the U.S. and Britain, the five nuclear weapon states, issued a 23-point joint statement pledge. They committed an “unequivocal commitment to the ultimate goals of complete disarmament under strict and effective international controls” (Weapons, 2006). There are other nations who are believed to have nuclear weapons such as Pakistan, Israel, North Korea, and India, yet they have not signed such an agreement.

Out of all types of weapons of mass destruction, nuclear weapons are the biggest threat and concern. There are a very few ways to get nuclear weapons. One can smuggle weapons in, and combine the radiological material with a traditional explosive device. One can also choose to target nuclear facilities, or use materials already in the U.S. or getting chemicals that can be weaponized. Americans are fearful of weapons of mass destruction because they know in the wrong hands, the terrorist can do irreversible damage. Terrorist groups may decide to use weapons of mass destruction to create prestige or for their own ideological reasons. It is a very strategic motivational factor and can be very empowering and very devastating.

Nuclear weapons include atomic bombs, loose nukes, suitcase bombs and hydrogen bombs. The delivery system for nuclear weapons most likely will be delivered from a bomb or a missile. A terrorist could also choose to attack a nuclear power plants, nuclear waste vehicles, or hospital’s nuclear medicine machines. The size of the nuclear weapon could be quite small, but the damage would be disastrous. The size has caused more fear because a terrorist could drive a nuclear warhead into a large city and destroy it. The symptom of nuclear exposure could cause individuals to die for the initial blast. However the survivors would die later from the radiation exposure, and at very least could become extremely ill. The treatment is to take all exposure away such as getting rid of clothing and washing immediately. The victims may also need a laxative, stomach pumping or other medication to stop the absorption into the body.

The concern at this point is who owns these type of weapons. The United States has 12,500 nuclear weapons and around 103 power plants. Russia has a similar supply to the United States. India and Pakistan have both had nuclear devices explode in a test blast. North Korea and Israel are both believed to have possession of nuclear weapons. The United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency handles overseeing 900 of the world’s nuclear facilities. There is an ongoing concern primarily with North Korea, who has recently dictated their plans to continue their nuclear arms program and took away their desire to participate in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The concerns of the United States is not that North Korea has such weapons, it’s more so their willingness to sell the bombs to the highest bidders, which can be terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda.

Nuclear weapons of mass destruction are the biggest threat to the United States today. It is extremely alarming to know that there is a possibility of such dangerous weapons being in the hands of the wrong party. The United States has gained quite a few enemies along the way based on their involvement and control of political and economic situations. It is very easy to see why the United States is so concerned with other nations having nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction at their access. Even if the select nation would not use the weapons of mass destruction, it is highly possible that it could fall in the wrong hands or be sold to the highest bidder. It is important to understand the dangers associated with weapons of mass destruction and to know the efforts that the United States is taking to ensure they are not used against us.

References

Cordesman, Anthony H. (2014). Radiological Weapons as a Mean of Attack. Retrieved from http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/radiological[1].pdf

Dreams, Common. (2013). Nuclear War Could Mean ‘Extinction of the Human   Race’.  Retrieved from http://www.commondreams.org/news/2013/12/10/nuclear-war-could-mean-extinction-human-race

Macfarlane, Allison. (2005). All Weapons of Mass Destruction Are Not Equal. Massachusetts Instituted of Technology, June, 5-8.

Weapons of Mass Destruction Handbook. (2006). Retrieved from http://www.foxnews.com/story/2006/06/20/weapons-mass-destruction-handbook.html