biological/chemical terrorist attacks

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Biological and chemical weapons have a long history having developed from scientific progress in research and discoveries in the fields of biology and chemistry . Initially , the biological and chemical weapons were developed within military context . There has not yet been an outright use of these weapons in large scale , but there have been isolated pockets of case on their use or attempts to not only carry out tests not only on animals , but on humans as well . The use of biological

br and chemical weapons in any sense whether in actuality or through testing all portend the biological or chemical warfare or the biochemical warfare . Unlike conventional weapons , these weapons harm the individual by altering the the body 's physiological processes while others kill by spreading diseases or making the body 's immune system weak thus leaving the body susceptible to invasion by diseases . However the most insidious thing about biological and chemical weapons is their ability to attack without immediate detection . Terrorist nations and terrorist cells have used biological or chemical attacks on large populated areas with many victims being innocent bystanders

The use of biological and chemical weapons did not predate the first world war since they were still unreliable (Cole , 2002 . Britain tried to use it against the German soldiers but the wind blew the chemicals back to them instead . However , various forces have increased the advancement and use of the biological and chemical weapons . Some of these forces include the revolutionizing of science , and the competition for world domination in international relations

There has been various cases of reported use of these weapons . In 1984 the Rajanashees in Oregon sickened hundreds of people when it deployed a bacterium that causes food poisoning , Salmonella Typhimarium . Of much recent cases , the US suffered fatal anthrax attacks in 2001 for the first time in 25 years , thereby confirming the fear of the possibility of worldwide bio- terrorist attacks . There were hundreds of reported causalities in the US public life . The fatality of the matter is imminent in the sense that this germ is airborne . Similar cases relating to pneumonic plagues were reported in the western Indian state of Gujarat , Surat city . Attack by the Anthrax bacterium (which lives in the soil , and is mostly carried by animal hides and skin ) on the human system through consumption , or inhalation or contact with the skin causes death within days owing to severe pneumonia and collapse of blood vessels and organs

In North Korea , a former prisoner by the name Lee Sun Ok gave a grueling account of what is believed to must have been a case of bio- chemical testing on humans . She cites a case she witnessed whereby 150 prisoners (most of them crippled or incapacitated by diseases or old age and therefore not so labor productive ) were taken from their prison cells only to be found later in a hill bleeding from every orifice enshrouded by a strange smell and under heavy security of gas masked guards . In Cambodia the most bombed country , in 1973 , 600 ,000 people most of them peasants died in their fields following US bombings (Robinson and WHO , 2004

In Iran , 100 ,000 Iranians died in the 1980- 1990 Iraq- Iran War . At this time , Iraq under Saddam Hussein was being supported and financed by the US . Iraq is known to have used biological and chemical weapons against Iran and against his very own citizens , the Kurds . Towards the close of the Vietnam War , after it had emerged that the US could not succeed either in the war or in the installation of its choice of leaders into the Vietnam government , the US to revenge on the defeat of its 58 ,022 fallen soldiers released millions of tons of Agent Orange and detonated Nepal bombs which claimed the lives of 250 ,000 Vietnamese civilians . Further damages were accrued by the Vietnam

government courtesy of US sanctions and blockades killing an additional 1 .5 million civilians

In the same vein , in 1995 , a Japaneses Cult and militant group by the name Aum Shirinkyo released a deadly nerve gas by the name Sarin , which killed twelve people and injured thousands of people

According to the UNICEF and the World Food Program reports , 1 ,200 ,000 children died in Iraq due to the use of biological and chemical weapons by the US and also as a result of the UK and US sanctions that extirpated food and drug supply after the gulf war between 1990 and 1997 . All these facts underscore the fact that the age of biological and chemical weapon has arrived and is here to stay

It is on the backdrop of these facts that measures have been proposed and enacted to lessen if not to eradicate the manufacturing and use of these bio- chemical weapons to keep at bay the glaring prospects of human extinction . The measures taken by different states vary depending on the country 's economic development and the extent it thinks it is vulnerable by looking at the diplomatic relations as a state it has

More than a hundred nations have joined the Biological Weapons Compliance (BWC ) after the second world war so as to counter the spread of activities on the biological weapons . The most important feat this convention has achieved is the crafting of the 1970s US- Soviet disarmament clause and the enactment of this same program . This occurred on the premise that US and the Soviet Union had accrued a lot of biochemical and nuclear weapons during the cold war era (Meselson ,1978 The shortcoming of this program is that it lacked provision and therefore it left loopholes for states to overstep its mandates

It is also as a result of the failure on BWZ that the United Nation Special Commission was formed to carry out to the latter , the process of disarmament . The UN on the other hand has a lot of challenges in the sense that it lacks autonomy since it is funded by nations of whom the major sponsors are the developed economies . For instance , the US funds over 65 of the UN budget . These developed countries are the ones with high potential of possessing and using these chemical and biological weapons

Most nations have adapted certain controls by ensuring the existence of export monitoring and export inspection , with most materials being subject to inspection being chemical materials and materials that are associated with technology

Conversely , the Chemical Weapon Convention (CWC ) has also been formed with many countries being members . The main program carried out by the CWC is to ensure the verification of mechanisms set in place to make provision for inspection of imported substances (Croddy , Hart and Perez- Armendez , 2001 . The authorities in charge of this undertaking are provided with a list of substances to counter check with . The areas of inspection extend to military and commercial sites

In particular , America has taken numerous strides to ensure the safety of its citizens in the wake of a potential bio- chemical terrorist attack . America for instance has come up with diverse information sources that seek to educate the citizens about bio-chemical weapons and terrorism and what these portend . In addition to this , these centers educate the citizens beforehand what to do encase of a bio- chemical attack . Some of these centers and sites include the Airborne Pathogen Database , the NOVA bioterror , the CIA , Noah 's ark and the Project Shipboard Hazard And Defense

In addition to the above measures , the federal government has set in place under the aegis of the Department of Defense , the family force initiative (FFPI ) to offer protection services to the families of the employees of the Defense Department . Apart from these , the outfit may accord protection to those who are in danger of terrorist attacks after the gravity of the matter has been ascertained (Spiers , 1964

In response to the past cases of anthrax attacks , the US has come up with the Cyproflaxacin Stocking Program which entails the practice of providing its citizen with a three days ' Cyproflaxacin stocking supply program . This program is offered to all individuals who are perceived to be within an area susceptible to potential anthrax attacks . The drug Cyproflaxacin is known to be the antidote for the anthrax germs and either woks by keeping an individual 's immune system high to counter any chances of anthrax attacks or by deactivating further activity by the bacteria , once it has entered the human system . America has made this drug very accessible to make this program effective by issuing it freely to anyone going on a foreign mission

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also been set up to deal with any emergency cases such as immediate and unprecedented outbreaks that may seem to point at a biological and chemical weapon attack Reference

Cole , A . L (2002 . Biological and chemical warfare : The politics of the 11th plague . US : Henry Holt and Company

Croddy , E , Hart , J , Perez- Armendez , C (2001 . A Comprehensive survey of chemical and biological weapons . US : Springer

Meselson , M (1978 . Chemical weapons and arms control : Discussions and s . US : Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Robinson ,

. J . and World Health Organization (2004 . Biological and chemical weapons : Public Health Responsibility . World Health Organization

Spiers , M . E (1964 . A study of proliferation of chemical and biological weapons . US : Palgrave Macmillan

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