Paper Topic:

CBRN Agents in the hands of Terrorists

Running Head : CBRN AGENTS

CBRN Agents in the hands of terrorists

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Date Chemical , biological , radiological and nuclear weapons are commonly referred to as (CBRN . These agents are together referred to as weapons of mass destruction (WMD . These agents are either weaponized - delivered using bombs or other explosives or non-weaponized-delivered as dangerous goods (DG 's ) or hazardous materials (HAZMAT , which include contaminated food , livestock and crops (Bowman , S . 2007 , March 7 . This aims to discuss the likelihood of these agents getting into the

br hands of terrorist it also tries to identify which of these agents pose the greatest threat to humanity . After the end of cold war in 1991 world leaders led by U .S .A signed the non-proliferation treaty (NPT that was meant to stop the development as well as the possessing of the WMD . They agreed that the nuclear weaponized countries (China , Russia and the U .S ) stop further development of the WMD . They further appealed to other countries especially the nuclear capable countries (Iran and North Korea to desist form developing as well possessing these dangerous weapons . However , the recommendation of this treaty was never to be followed and the nuclear capable countries have gone ahead and tested their nuclear weapons . The events of September 11th 2001 in the world trade center have changed the perception of many people who fear that there is a possibility that these dangerous weapons have reached the hands of terrorists . The question that many people ask themselves is how the terrorists came to possess these weapons . This is because these weapons are very expensive to own , they require a lot of technology as well as some of them are very large in size for these terrorists to carry to their intended place (The Stanley Foundation . 2006 , December 11 . However , it is been realized that the network of terrorists is very wide and well funded . Like the Al Qaeda , their leadership is comprised of very rich but very learned individuals , Osama Bin Laden who is their leader is an engineer by profession and very rich . Hence the probability of them possessing them is very high

The other question that people ask themselves is why they use these weapons (WMD ) when they can use other conventional weapons which are cheaper and less injuries . It is believed that these terrorist have realized that the use of CBRN can disrupt , impair emergence services ability to respond , provoke mass media interest , concern the public and put political pressure on target governments and therefore CBRN are not used by terrorists to cause mass casualties but as a psychological weapon (Jenkins , B . 1988 . While trying to understand why terrorists are leaning towards nuclear weapons we must first consider the impact of psychological pressure , which removes the usual rational thinking

Mass casualty CBRN attacks have always been associated with extreme religions , anarchist , and right wing or cult beliefs , in particular groups who believe that extreme measures are needed to defend Islam from west with an...

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