Chemical and Biological Warfare

I

Introduction

Chemical and Biological Warfare, method of warfare in which toxic or incapacitating chemicals or biological agents are used to further the goals of the combatants. Until the 20th century such warfare was primarily limited to starting fires, poisoning wells, distributing items contaminated by smallpox, and using smoke to confuse the enemy.

II

Chemical Agents

Greek fire, invented in the 7th century as an incendiary mixture sprayed at the enemy, was probably the first form of chemical warfare. Gases such as tear gas, chlorine gas and phosgene (lung irritants), and mustard gas (causing burns) were first used in World War I to break the trench warfare stalemate. Flame-throwers were also tried but at first proved ineffective because of their short range. Technical improvements and the development of napalm (composed of napthenic and palmitic acids), a thickened petrol that sticks to surfaces and causes horrendous injuries, led to the widespread use of flame weapons in World War II and to its further, extensive use in the Vietnam War.

By the end of World War I, most European powers had integrated gas warfare capabilities into their armies at some level, and nerve gases such as sarin, small amounts of which cause paralysis or death, were developed in Germany between World Wars I and II. Despite the availability of gases, only Japan used them—in China—as World War II became global. After World War II, knowledge of nerve-gas manufacture became widespread.

Gases such as tear gas have been used in limited wars since World War II, such as in the Vietnam War; tear gas is also employed by civilian police forces to quell riots. The use of more deadly agents such as mustard gas and nerve gas has been generally condemned by most countries, but such weapons remain in arsenals, and there is evidence that they were used by Iraq during its war with Iran in the 1980s and that both countries continue to develop them.

Various chemical compounds, such as Agent Orange, that alter the metabolism of plants and cause defoliation, have been employed in modern jungle warfare to reduce the enemy’s cover or deprive the civilian population of necessary food crops. Such chemicals, generally sprayed from the air, also contaminate water and fish; their long-lasting effect on the entire environment and ecosystem makes them particularly devastating. Evidence exists that Agent Orange has caused cancer and birth abnormalities.

III

Biological Warfare

Several major nations have worked to some degree on the development of biological agents for use in warfare. Selected or adapted from pathogens causing various diseases that attack humans, domestic animals, or vital food crops, such agents include bacteria, fungi, and viruses or the toxins they produce. The pathogens causing botulism, plague, anthrax, foot-and-mouth disease in animals, and stem rust in wheat are among the many that could be directed against opposing armies or the civilian economies supporting them. Genetic engineering also offers the possibility of developing new virulent strains against which an opposing force could not be prepared in advance. Unlike chemical weapons, which become less potent as they disperse, biological weapons can become more potent, sometimes mutating into even more virulent forms.

Large-scale biological warfare has thus far remained theoretical, although in the 1980s it was learned that Japan used biological agents against the Chinese in the 1930s and early 1940s. In the early 1980s, controversial claims were also made that the Soviets, in Afghanistan, and the Vietnamese, in Laos and Cambodia, were using fungal toxins—in a form called “yellow rain”—as biological weapons.

IV

Dissemination and Protection

The earliest method of disseminating chemical agents was simply to release them from pressurized containers, as the Germans did in World War I. This made the use of these weapons dependent on the wind; quite often the wind would change and bring the chemicals back on to the troops that had dispatched them. Thus, armies turned to better ways of projecting weapons, including mortars, artillery, rockets, aerial bombs, and aerial spray. Biological agents can also be disseminated by releasing insects or animals in a target area.

Whatever the means of dissemination, there are problems incurred in trying to protect “friendly” forces and populations. Many nations are developing programmes to detect lethal agents and decontaminate them. The United States has embarked on an extensive programme for the safe decommissioning of these weapons. Elaborate protective clothing has to be worn in areas of conflict where contamination is possible, with ground forces (and other people entering dangerous areas, such as inspectors and journalists) being trained regularly in how to use the protective equipment within moments of an attack warning.