This groundbreaking book covers every aspect of deadly toxic chemicals used as weapons of mass destruction and employed in. The united states faces a rising danger from terrorists and rogue states seeking to use weapons of mass destruction. Apr 14, 2004 the media did not dispute that weapons of mass destruction were an inseparable part of global terrorism. Weapons of mass destruction an overview sciencedirect topics. The use of chemical weapons in the syrian civil war appears to be occasional and somewhat isolated, rather than systematic. The term weapons of mass destruction wmd, used to encompass nuclear nw, biological bw, and chemical weapons cw, is misleading, politically dangerous, and cannot be justified on grounds of military efficiency. Chemical weapons improved response program cwirp playbook guidelines for responding to and managing a chemical weapons of mass destruction terrorist event november, 2000 prepared by. The german army initiated modern chemical warfare by launching a chlorine attack at ypres, belgium, on april 22, 1915, killing 5,000 french and algerian troops and momentarily. Weapons of mass destruction can be better identified as nuclear weapons, biological weapons, chemical weapons, or radiological weapons. A chemical weapon cw is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. The most widely used definition of weapons of mass destruction is that of nuclear, biological, or chemical. Nov 22, 2001 the term weapons of mass destruction wmd, used to encompass nuclear nw, biological bw, and chemical weapons cw, is misleading, politically dangerous, and cannot be justified on grounds of military efficiency. Weapons of mass destruction free college essay examples. We use tear gas for crowd control, laughing gas to knock someone out, and many different types of anesthesia and crowd control devices that are considered small scale chemical weapons of mass destruction wmd.
Weapon of mass destruction an overview sciencedirect topics. Apr 25, 2018 the use of chemical weapons in the syrian civil war appears to be occasional and somewhat isolated, rather than systematic. A chemical weapon cw is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict. Weapons of mass destruction weapons used to kill of harm large numbers of humans andor cause great damage have been termed weapons of mass destruction wmd. Some experts have asserted that the volumes of chemicals required to cause mass casualties makes that scenario unlikely. The term weapon of mass destruction has been in existence since the 1930s. For instance, you still occasionally find someone digging up a ww1 mustard gas shell in france or belgium. Throughout history, chemical weapons have been used as strategic weaponry to devastate the enemy in times of war. According to the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons opcw, the term chemical weapon may also be applied to any toxic chemical or its precursor that can cause death, injury, temporary incapacitation or sensory irritation through its chemical action.
Levy, in international encyclopedia of public health second edition, 2017. Why are chemical weapons considered weapons of mass. When tom lehrer sang well all go together when we go, the world was gripped by fear of nuclear holocaust. Weapons of mass destruction wmd is a term commonly used to refer to. The german army initiated modern chemical warfare by launching a chlorine attack at ypres, belgium, on april 22, 1915, killing 5,000 french and algerian troops and momentarily breaching their lines of defense. Chemical weapons are devices that use chemicals to inflict death or injury. Public opinion over proliferation has varied widely over the past five decades, ranging from mass hysteria during the coldwar era, to indifference. We use tear gas for crowd control, laughing gas to knock someone out, and many different types of anesthesia and crowd control devices that are considered small scale chemicalweapons of mass destruction wmd. Pdf defining weapons of mass destruction researchgate. Chemical weapons work mainly through toxicity, which is a chemical action on. With the rapid erosion of the prohibition on use by states of chemical weapons. Weapons of mass destruction include nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons plus radiological weapons and some others with potential for mass destruction fas 2001. The term nbcs was coined in reference to terrorist weapons of mass destruction, i. Weapons of math destruction makes some good points about the use and abuse of math models and big data.
A weapon of mass destruction or wmd is a weapon that has the ability to kill or harm huge numbers of people. Chemical weapons weapons of mass destruction chemical weapons and their use is one of the most important issues facing the world today. The most persuasive arguments focus on the use of predictive modeling and its use in criminal sentencing, monitoring driving habits to determine auto insurance rates, and monitoring physical fitness as part of health insurance coverage. History and types of weapons of mass destruction online degree. Free essay on weapons of mass destruction wow essays.
With the collapse of the soviet union, the threat was assumed to have gone away. And ricin was found in a motel room in 2008 in las vegas. Army soldier and biological chemical command sbccom domestic preparedness chemical team. This had been pointed out previously by the author 1 and discussed in considerable detail in ref.
Weapons of mass destruction library in a book hardcover may 1, 2006. A weapon of mass destruction wmd is a nuclear, radiological, chemical, biological, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous humans or cause great damage to humanmade structures e. Although nations signing the 1899 hague declaration promised not to use cw, during world war i these weapons, including, in order of use, tear gas, chlorine gas. A weapon of mass destruction wmd is a nuclear, radiological, chemical, biological, or any. Weapons of mass destruction library in a book and millions of other books are available for amazon kindle. The subtitle, the nononsense guide to nuclear, chemical and biological weapons today, is a bit of a misnomer. Among the weapons of mass destruction wmd, chemical warfare cw is probably one of the most brutal created by mankind. Nuclear weapons are generally thought of as explosive devices that derive their destructive force from nuclear reactions. These weapons have been used in history, but most are banned to due to the extent of destruction caused.
A weapon of mass destruction is a nuclear, radiological, chemical, biological, or other device that is intended to harm a large number of people. A weapon of mass destruction wmd is something capable of inflicting mass casualties andor destroying or rendering highvalue assets as useless. The department of homeland security works every day to prevent terrorists and other threat actors from using these weapons to harm. In different sources the phrase may be seen as nbc nuclear, biological and chemical weapons or cbr chemical, bacteriological and radiological weapons. Chemical biological warfare is the term used to describe the use of chemical or biological agents as weapons to injure or kill humans, livestock, or plants. They claim that chemical terrorism is more likely to be small in scale. Managing the emergency consequences of terrorist incidents. Chemical weapon weapons of mass destruction britannica. This chemical attack, which amounted to the first use of a weapon of mass destruction, marks a turning point in world history. Other books on the market only include a sample selection of specific agents. Geophysical and environmental weapons are covered more briefly. A chemical weapon is any toxic chemical that can cause death, injury, incapacitation, and sensory irritation, deployed via a delivery system, such as an artillery shell, rocket, or ballistic missile. This is a war being waged for reasons obscure to many of its potential victims. The term weapons of mass destruction wmd refers to weapons that can.
Handbook of toxicology of chemical warfare agents sciencedirect. The chemical weapons convention of 1993 and the biological weapons convention of 1972 banned the use of these types of wmds worldwide. Wmd as nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons nbc. The department of homeland security works every day to prevent terrorists and other threat actors from using these. The phrase weapons of mass destruction, for example, is an amor phous one, changing meaning according to the whims of the speaker. Martin 5 natural law and weapons of mass destruction 111 c.
Chemical weapons work mainly through toxicity, which is a chemical action on life processes that can cause death, temporary. The media did not dispute that weapons of mass destruction were an inseparable part of global terrorism. Only one chapter each is devoted to chemical and biological weapons, respectively. Chemical weapons did not become true weapons of mass destruction wmd until they were introduced in their modern form in world war i 191418. Chemical weapons weapons of mass destruction essay. They can be nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. In most cases, biological weapons are in the form of deadly viruses.
Cw agents are extremely toxic synthetic chemicals that can be dispersed as a gas, liquid or aerosol or as agents adsorbed to particles to become a powder. Chemical weapons improved response program playbook. Among the weapons of mass destruction, chemical warfare cw is probably one of the most brutal created by mankind in comparison with biological and nuclear warfare. Essentially, there are three types of weapons of mass destruction, namely. And actually, most chemical weapons are not considered wmds. Chemical weapon chemical weapon weapons of mass destruction. Like nuclear and biological weapons, chemical weapons are often classified as weapons of mass destruction.
Although chemical, biological, nuclear, and radiological weapons often serve as examples of wmd, many things can be used as a wmd. The book concludes that it is an urgent necessity to reach a universal accord on a comprehensive ban on the use or possession of weapons of mass destruction. Weapons of mass destruction an overview sciencedirect. Chemical weapons are classified as weapons of mass destruction wmds, though they are. Now, small scale chemical weapons are used on a daily basis. The other weapons of mass destruction oxford research group. Cw are designed to produce direct chemical injury to their targets, in contrast to explosive or incendiary weapons, which produce their effect through blast or heat. In contrast to other transnational security challenges, the united nations has a long history of involvement with efforts to combat the danger posed by weapons of mass destruction. Nuclear weapons are a staple element in science fiction novels.
The book mostly covers the development of nuclear bombswarheads and their delivery systems. The number of attacks by terrorists had reduced since 1980s, but the potency of the attacks had increased due to increasing use of wmd and enhanced technology by these terrorist groups. The term weapons of mass destruction wmd refers to weapons that can cause multiple deaths and severe damage to over a short period of time. Weapons of mass destruction and the environment sipri. Chemicalbiological warfare is the term used to describe the use of chemical or biological agents as weapons to injure or kill humans, livestock, or plants. History and types of weapons of mass destruction online. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.
But libya, iraq, iran and north korea and others are building weapons of mass destruction, nuclear, biological and chemical. Why are chemical weapons worse than other weapons of mass. Weapons of mass destruction wmd is a term commonly used to refer to nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, but the precise meaning of the term is unclear. Biological weapons are agents of combat that contain microorganisms, and toxins from such organisms. Weapons of mass destruction use and proliferation challenges 7 i. This groundbreaking book covers every aspect of deadly toxic chemicals used as weapons of mass destruction and employed.
Not only is the use of such weapons highly controversial, but also the very idea of such weapons of mass destruction being in the hands of dangerous leaders. For patriots like billy sinclair, the iraq war started o. But books on how to develop policy to counter adversaries with chemical and biological weapons, not so much. Weapons of mass destruction, as classified by the fbi, are any destructive devices, chemical or biological agents used with the intention of causing death or injury on a large scale. More recently in 1995, sarin was used to attack subway trains in tokyo byalm. After the mass destruction created by wwi and wwii, chemical weapons have been considered to be inhumane by most nations, and governments and organizations have undertaken to locate and destroy existing chemical weapons. Among cw, one can begin with industrial chemicals such as chlorine, used in warfare in ww i and up the line to more sophisticated nerve agents prepared for use in ww ii and used since then, for instance, in the iraqiran conflict. There is no treaty or customary international law that contains an authoritative definition. While there is only one recorded wmd attack by the. The types of chemicals and pharmaceuticals, known to have been. Chemical weapon, any of several chemical compounds, usually toxic agents, that are intended to kill, injure, or incapacitate.
Like nuclear and biological weapons, chemical weapons are. Aug 14, 2018 the united states faces a rising danger from terrorists and rogue states seeking to use weapons of mass destruction. A weapon of mass destruction wmd is a nuclear, radiological, chemical, biological or other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to. However, not all nations have been willing to cooperate with. Nerve gas, tear gas and pepper spray are three modern examples of chemical weapons.
The study noted that although individual facts about wmd were usually reported accurately, the press represented nuclear, biological, radiological and chemical weapons as a single blurry hazard a pattern of imprecision abetted by the. List of books and articles about weapons of mass destruction. In modern warfare, chemical weapons were first used in world war i 191418. Wells the world set free 1914 when scientists had discovered that radioactive decay implied potentially limitless energy locked inside of atomic particles wells atomic bombs were only as powerful as conventional explosives. Weapons of mass destruction currently the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapons, provides the most serious threat to international security. Although policy makers worry about the use of weapons of mass destruction against the united states, we. Nov 01, 2006 this is a war being waged for reasons obscure to many of its potential victims.
Use of weapons of mass destruction by terrorists criminology. Chemical weapons are inexpensive and are relatively easy to produce, even by small terrorist groups, to create mass casualties with small quantities. The 1943 battle of changde saw japanese use of both bioweapons and chemical weapons, and the japanese conducted a serious, though futile, nuclear weapon program since world war ii, the united states military based nuclear and chemical weapons and field tested biological anticrop. Beginning in the mid1930s, japan conducted numerous attempts to acquire and develop weapons of mass destruction. This became painfully true during the 911 attacks when airliners, loaded with fuel, became missiles, killed thousands of people, leveled the 110story twin towers, and hit the pentagon. Chemical wmds go back as early as bc, when the chinese used arsenic smoke. A planning guide for state and local governments is the result of collaboration and input from experts in the field of emergency operations planning and response to terrorist events involving weapons of mass destruction. A summary report of characteristics and effects congressional research service 3 synthesis and specialized equipment to contain the nerve agents produced. Weapons of mass destruction or wmds can take many deadly forms, and this quiz and worksheet combo will gauge your understanding of the many types of weapons of mass destruction. The scope and usage of the term has evolved and been disputed, often signifying more politically than technically. Weapon of mass destruction an overview sciencedirect. Chemical weapons are considered weapons of mass destruction and their use in armed conflict is a violation of international law. The phrase atomic bomb predates their existence, and dates back to h.
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