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”.