To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu
--------------------------------------------------------------
This story was printed from Warfare,
located at /27393/dreamwvr/warfare/introduction1.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------
WARFARE
INTRODUCTION
Biological and chemical weapons have had a long and checkered
history. Incidentally, instead of proliferating, like conventional warfare, the
use of biological and chemical warfare (CBW) has decreased over time. The advent
of biotechnology, namely in the fields of microbiology, molecular chemistry and
genetic engineering have opened new doorways for human race to propel itself to
a better future. However, like all things, there is a darker, more sinister side
to biotechnology. One element of this "dark side" is the manufacture
and proliferation of biological and chemical weapons. For example, last year,
Iranian scientists revealed that they could easily create person specific or
group specific viruses and bacteria. If Hitler had these weapons at his
disposal, he needn’t have gone through all that trouble to drag Jews into
concentration camps and gas them. He’d simply have to release a few
"Israelite specific" pathogens into the water supply and let nature
take its course.
This section on warfare will focus on 5 main parts:
A concise history of chemical and biological warfare (CBW)
A discussion on the pro and cons of biological weapons
A look at the CBW programs of Russia, South Africa, Japan, China and a special
section on the Iraq-Iran war
An exclusive feature detailing the various delivery systems employed nd the
methods of protection against CBW
Finally, we see what has been done on an international level via the Biological
and Toxic Weapons Convention (BTWC)
ADVANTAGES OF USING BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS
It is a known fact that any crackpot government can easily start it’s
own CBW program. Any nation with a reasonably advanced pharmaceutical and
medical industry can do so since all you need is a team of scientists reasonably
well versed in bacteria production and some rudimentary lab equipment.
There are four main advantages and three huge disadvantages to using biological
weapons.
Probably the biggest advantage is the fact that biological weapons are extremely
efficient. It is hypothesized that one gram of purified botulinum toxin could
kill 10 million people. This is approximately 3 million times more deadly than
Sarin, a popular nerve agent. Yet another advantage is that gram for deadly
gram, biological weapons are the cheapest of the lot. To "affect 1 square
kilometer, it would cost about $2000 using conventional weapons, $800 using
nuclear weapons, $600 using chemical weapons and a grand sum of $1 using
biological weapons. Do the math.
This disturbing fact has caused biological weapons to be considered the
"Poor man’s atomic bomb". Perhaps you could more accurately describe
it as the "Poor and extremely lazy man’s atomic bomb" since not only
are biological weapons easy to produce, quantify and weaponize, they are also
alarmingly easy to conceal. This is because a lot of the equipment used to
produce viruses and other such pathogens are "dual-use", meaning that
they can be both used for illegal or legitimate purposes. For example,
centrifuges, culture flasks, petri dishes. Even the science laboratories of most
schools have these items. In fact, to "grow" and "harvest"
biological agents, all one needs is a standard lab, albeit with ultrasafe
working conditions.
The last advantage concerns the "live" nature of these biological
agents. Conventional weapons explode once, kill a few hundred people, maim
thousands of others, disrupt traffic and stop. Biological agents, on the other
hand, can spread from person to person. (Think of AIDS). With a few carriers of
an airborne strain of the Ebola virus, hundreds, nay, thousands more can get
infected. These thousands will infect hundred of thousands more and pretty soon,
you have one heck of an epidemic on your hands. Not very good for tourism,
epidemics.
DISADVANTAGES OF USING BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS
The biggest disadvantage of using biological weapons is that they are
really quite unpredictable. Who’s to say that you won’t end up infecting
your own troops? Another disadvantage is that these agents last for quite some
time. Anthrax, for example, can live for up to 50 years in soil. Therefore, it
would be impractical to send in troops to occupy the area. No use killing
everyone in your enemy’s country and then finding out you can’t occupy it.
It’s just like getting a toy without batteries. Don’t you just hate it when
you wake up on Christmas morning to find that the wonderful remote controlled
car your dad bought for you came without batteries and all the shops are closed?
The last major disadvantage is that people, in general, don’t like biological
weapons. These people hate it even more when someone actually uses these weapons
(particularly, when they are used on them. Actually, come to think of it,
if the biological weapons were used on them, they wouldn’t be able to complain
much since they’d be dead pretty soon). Now imagine the ruler of that country
being accused by the media and in the Oprah Winfry Show of using biological
weapons for military gain. Chances are, that person won’t get too popular with
the people for very long.
--------------------------------------------------------------
For copyright information, visit our Sources
and Citations Page,
located at /27393/dreamwvr/citations.html
--------------------------------------------------------------