Biological Weapons
Recent terrorist attacks throughout the world, have left nearly all countries on extremely high alert to impending attacks. These attacks have also raised the issue of the possibility of biological weapons being used against humans. The threat became a reality when anthrax was distributed throughout the U.S. Postal Service. A relatively small attack like that, sent panic throughout the nation, and left a handful of people dead. The development of biological weapons must be stopped because these weapons serve no real purpose other than terrorism, and could lead to the loss of millions of innocent lives. A month or so before Christmas, three people, most likely male, walked into a crowded shopping mall in Oklahoma City. Dressed as maintenance workers and carrying plant sprayers, they strolled among the holiday shoppers, tending to the potted plants that decorated the gaily lit corridors. A short time later, their work complete, the three walked to mall exits and vanished into the night. At that moment two other teams were doing the same thing at malls in Atlanta and Philadelphia. At 7p.m. on December 9, the president of the United States met secretly with his National Security Council-which included the na
The one country in blue that is known to have biological weapons in its possession is Iraq. Countries in red that possibly have biological weapons include Russia, Israel, China, Iran, and several terrorist groups. The countries in yellow that have biological research programs are Libya, Sudan, Egypt, Syria, and North Korea. While the BTWC had good intentions, it did little to stop biological weapons from being produced. The reason being that biological weapons are extremely hard to trace, therefore making it especially hard for the rules to be enforced. It is quite obvious that biological weapons is a serious issue that threatens every man woman and child on earth, which is why, in 1975 the Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention (BTWC) took place. The goal of BTWC was to eventually cease all production and development of biological and toxic weapons. The convention seemed to have worked as nearly all countries signed the agreement in 1975, and by 1998 every country except for Israel, Syria and Egypt had signed on. However, in 1996 it was revealed that nearly a dozen countries still had biological weapons programs. The diagram below shows the number of countries that are known to possess biological weapons, countries that possibly possess biological weapons, and countries that have research programs. Biological weapons really only serve one purpose: terrorism. Biological weapons are never used on the battlefield. When two countries are at war, the object is usually to inflict immediate damage upon the other country. If one country decides to use a biological weapon upon their opponent, they would have to wait days, weeks, or even months for the effects of the attack to be felt. " While biological agents in relatively small quantities are theoretically capable of causing massive casualties, their military utility as an instrument of war has long been questioned. They would appear to be too slow-acting and unpredictable for surprise attacks or repelling the immediate attacks of others. [Canadian Security Intelligence Service] Furthermore, if a country gets attacked through the use biological weapons, chances are that they will retaliate with a biological attack of their own which could in effect spread disease throughout the rest of the world. It does not seem like a logical decision for a country to employ the use of biological weapons, which leaves terrorist groups as the only ones who could actually
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Approximate Word count = 1634
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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