Biological Weapons and Biological Warfare
Thesis: Biological Warfare is morally and inhumanely wrong, It is the wrongful killing of men, women, and children. It should be stopped no matter what the circumstances are.
I. Introduction into the bad effects of biological warfare through some examples.
a. Example of single affect of biological warfare
b. Example of a country using Biological Warfare
II. Definition of Biological Warfare
a. Biological Warfare Agents
i. Micro-Organisms
ii. Toxins
b. History of biological warfare
i. Definition
ii. Affects it has on people
III. Reasons why biological warfare should be stopped.
a. Biological weapons are inhumane.
b. Impossible to control or predict its effect.
c. Pollutes the environment
d. Genetic Mutation
IV. Countries that still produce biological weapons
V. Biological and Toxins Convention
VI. Conclusion
The Effects of Biological Weapons on the Past and Present Society
In 1978, a popular writer and Bulgarian exile by the name of Georgi Markov was going on his way to work in the British Broadcasting Corporation, which is better known as BBC, where he broadcasted to his homeland from a station named Radio Free Europe. While he was walking he felt a sudden sharp pain in his leg. When he turned around he observed a man picking up an umbrella. The man apologized for what he had done and kept on walking.
Georgi Markov became sick that night and died a couple of days later. The autopsy that was conducted on the body uncovered a small pellet that had a coat of ricin on it, which is a biological poison (Mayer, p 4).
Throughout the early 1900’s, Great Britain was developing a biological weapon program.
It all started because Great Britain was afraid that Germany and Japan had a great advantage in biological technology in comparison to them. They were testing to see the range of spread of the anthrax spores. Great Britain tested its weapons on the coast of the Island of Gruinard in Scotland were they thought it was far enough from they coast so it would not contaminate or hurt the mainland. In the year of 1943 throughout many experiments that were conducted it was proven that sheep and cattle were affected with anthrax. The British government thought of decontaminating the island that that meant that they had to brushfire they entire island to kill all of th...
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...cy on biological warfare. During his visit to Fort Detrick, he announced that the United States would terminate all research on biological weapons. By the year 1972 the United States had completely destroyed all biological weapon stockpile. In return of this act the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention was held, As a result of 118 countries signed a agreeing not to develop, produce, or stockpile any form of biological weapon(Mayer p4). Unfortunately despite many laws passed over time, few countries have abided by them. Evidence of this came in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s there were reports that the Soviet Union was using biological weapons in Laos, Kampuchea, and Afghanistan (Mayer p 4).
In conclusion, it is clear that a biological weapon is wrong. When Saddam Hussein threatened to turn the Persian Gulf War into “the mother of all wars” the world shook with the possible implications. The United States managed to divert the course of the war such as this did not happen. In other situation these results have not been as successful, unfortunately, and many people have suffered and died. I hope that civilization is moving towards total illumination of biological weaponry.
This summer we had an opportunity to dive into the world of bioweapons, through Richard Preston’s novel The Demon in the Freezer. His book explored the colorful world of smallpox and its use as a biological weapon. Earlier this week we were graced with this authors present for an ACES event. He discussed some of the found topics in his book such as animal testing, what small pox is, and even its eradication. One of the great things we had the chance of vocalizing were our many opinions on the gloom associated with this intriguing disease.
Guillemin, J. (2005). Biological weapons: From the invention of state-sponsored programs to contemporary bioterrorism Columbia University Press.
History has proven the use of chemical weapons ranging back for decades. From the Greeks in ancient Europe using Greek fire to South American tribes using a form of tear gas made of grounded up hot chili peppers to scare away enemy tribes. As well as dipping the tips of spear heads with a poisonous toxin. Poisonous toxins used from live reptiles like frogs and venom from the snakes found from whichever region had enough potency venom to exterminate. The past has proven, that in order for Armies to survive and win, it relied on out smarting the enemy. New technologies and the evolution of weaponry were left to the brightest minds from those eras to develop.
Anthrax is one of the most preferred biological warfare agents for many highly identified reasons. First, anthrax is extremely lethal. Anthrax can contain up to 100 million lethal doses in just one gram of anthrax spores, which is 100,000 times more lethal than any other biological warfare agent. It is also known that inhalation anthrax is almost always fatal if the symptoms are allowed to progress without any treatment. Anthrax is also the silent and invisible killer. On top of the fatality rate of anthrax, there are also very low barriers to produce the biological weapon. Anthrax spores are very easy to produce in large quantities, and the process of production is very inexpensive. Also, there is plenty of available information on how to weaponize anthrax and not a whole lot of technology is needed to be able to produce anthrax. Anthrax is also easy to weaponize because it is extremely stable as a dry powder in the form of spores. These spores can live for decades and still be very lethal to the human body. Anthrax can be put into an aerosol form disseminated into a spray can, and it can also be freeze-dried into a bomb. Presently anthrax is the most preferred biological agent is because we have no accurate detection capability.
The purpose of this essay is to deal with the fact that chemical warfare should be brought back to modern warfare strategies. As Warren Rudman said, “And they will tell you unequivocally that if we have a chemical or biological attack or a nuclear attack anywhere in this country, they are unprepared to deal with it today, and that is of high urgency.” Rudman’s words are true in what they say and that we should do everything to counter-act his statement. Biological weapons are a key to outstanding success in war and therefore, I strongly suggest that chemical warfare is an effective and producible weapon tactic that can be used on today’s battlefield.
The 2001 anthrax attacks was one of the worst bio-weapon attacks on the US in history. The attacks where done through the mail. The anthrax was placed in envelopes with a letter and mailed from various locations to different people and organizations. The anthrax filled letters ended up killing 5 people, causing 17 to become sick and exposing anthrax it is believed to as many as 30,000 people. During the mail process spores of anthrax from the letters escaped and got on mailroom equipment exposing postal employees. If a person was exposed to enough anthrax and developed symptoms they typically died in a few days. Postal workers during the attacks where told that anthrax will appear as a white powder t...
Clark, D. K. (1959). The Species of the World. Effectiveness of chemical weapons in WWI. Bethesda, Md. -. Operations Research Office, Johns Hopkins University.
The Al Qaeda and Its Attempt to Use Chemical and Biological Warfare as a Means of Attack
Publication of this can help us to develop better cures for the worst viruses. In addition, people will know how deadly it is, and if they get the virus, they will know what it is. On the other hand, Michael Specter gave an example of Clinton’s speech about bioterrorism. Hilarity Clinton says, “Evidence in Afghanistan. Al Queda in the Arabian Peninsula made a call to arms for – and I quote – ‘brothers with degrees in microbiology or chemistry to develop a weapon of mass destruction”.
In the 1950s, allegations surfaced that the United States had experimented with biological weapons in remote areas of Northern Korea. “The US government denied the charges of biological weapons use, and this denial was generally supported in the West by eminent scientists who challenged the Needham report. The allegations are still a matter for study.” (Guillemain, 2005, p. 100) The scope of this paper is to neither attempt to solidify the convictions of the accusers, nor is it to vindicate the American government of the time. This paper will outline the purported evidence and accusations against the Americans for their use of biological weapons in Korea.
enemy. It has been around for thousands of years, but in different forms. To take a case in point, the article, “History of Bioterrorism,” states that the Assyrians poisoned the well of their enemies with rye ergot in the 6th Century B.C. More recent examples of bioterrorism include the anthrax inhalation from received mail in 2001 (Office of The Surgeon General). Although these are only recorded acts, there is a whole other story to what should happen once a victim is diagnosed with any type of bioterrorism and what treatment they should undergo, if one exists. For example, the medical response and treatment are different for anthrax, smallpox and tularemia. The medical response and treatment depend on the severity of the case and the type of bioterrorism.
Selgelid, M. (2007). A Tale of Two Studies:Ethics, Bioterrorism, and the Censorship of Science. Project Muse, 3, 35-43. Retrieved February 13, 2011, from http://journals.ohiolink.edu/ejc/article.cgi?issn=1552146x&issue=v37i0003&article=35_atotsebatcos
Mangold, T., & Goldberg, J. (2000). Plague wars: the terrifying reality of biological warfare. New York: St. Martin's Griffin.
The soviets tested several deadly poisons on prisoners in the gulag like mustard gas, ricin, digitoxin and several others. The soviets wanted and tried hard to find a tasteless and...