Weapons of Mass Destruction | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) are weapons whose destructive power can result in the deaths of thousands of people with a single use. They include nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons (NBCs). By their very nature, WMD are indiscriminate in their destructive effect, and their use violates two of the basic elements of the laws of war: discrimination (making a distinction between combatants and noncombatants), and proportionality (destructive power must be proportionate to legitimate military objectives and targets).

Because of these characteristics, a number of treaties have been established to control the production and use of WMD. The first such treaty was the Geneva Convention of 1925, which prohibited the use of chemical and biological weapons in warfare. The Biological Warfare Convention (1975) and the Chemical Weapons Convention (1992) go beyond prohibiting the use of biological and chemical weapons and call for the complete elimination of all biological and chemical weapons stockpiles.

Although there are no formal treaties outlawing the use of nuclear weapons, there have been a number of treaties aimed at limiting the production and spread of nuclear weapons. The most important of these are the Nonproliferation Treaty, which prohibits the sharing of nuclear weapons or nuclear weapons technology by countries that have nuclear weapons with those that do not, and the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) and Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties (START) between the United States and the former Soviet Union, which eliminate some categories of nuclear weapons and reduce the numbers of others.

During the Cold War period (1946–1991), Americans lived with the prospect of a nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union. Most schoolchildren in the late 1950s and early 1960s participated in "duck and cover" drills that simulated what to do in case of a nuclear attack. Many American families built fallout shelters in their backyards and most American towns and cities had designated community fallout shelters. Films such as Dr. Strangelove (1964) and Fail-Safe (1964) provided fictionalized accounts of nuclear confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union; other films, such as the television movie The Day After (1983), On the Beach (1957), and Testament (1983) depicted the after-effects of nuclear war.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, fears about a direct confrontation between the superpowers diminished. The primary concern over the use of WMD by a hostile country shifted to so-called rogue states—countries like Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, and Syria. The fear was that, should such countries develop WMD, they would not be constrained in their use by the threat of "mutually assured destruction." In addition, many U.S. policymakers feared that these rogue states would sell WMD or share WMD technology with terrorist groups.

Such concerns were not unfounded. Both Iran and Iraq used chemical weapons against each other's troops during their decade-long war in the 1980s, and the government of Iraq used chemical weapons against its own citizens to put down an insurgency by the Kurdish minority in northern Iraq. Not only had countries like Iraq and Iran shown a willingness to use WMD, but a chemical attack in a Tokyo subway station by the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo in 1995 demonstrated that terrorist groups could also acquire and use such weapons.

The September 11, 2001, attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon by al-Qaida and the anthrax scare in the months that followed put these twin concerns at the top of the U.S. foreign and security policy agenda. This agenda followed a very simple argument. First, rogue states have or are seeking to possess WMD. Second, rogue states provide direct and indirect support to terrorist groups like al-Qaida. Third, rogue states with WMD are likely to provide them to groups like al-Qaida. Thus, in order to prevent groups like al-Qaida from acquiring WMD, the United States must go after those rogue states that support al-Qaida and similar groups. This argument was evident in President George Bush's 2002 State of the Union address, sometimes referred to as the "Axis of Evil" speech. It was this argument, in part, that was used to justify the U.S. decision to go to war against Iraq in 2003.

The implementation of this argument in Iraq appears to have been premature at best. After conquering Iraq, Americans discovered that Iraq had made no significant

advances in the research, development, and production of WMD after 1998, the last year United Nations weapons inspectors were allowed to inspect Iraqi records and production facilities. Nevertheless, the threat of terrorists and rogue states using WMD against the United States has underscored the vulnerability of Americans to attacks against civilians that could produce massive casualties. Combating that threat through expanded government investigatory and police powers has led to debate over the balance between the needs of security and the desire to protect civil liberties.

Chemical and biological agents have been in use by warring factions since marauding hordes in medieval Europe catapulted disease-ridden corpses into walled cities to drive out the inhabitants. However, methodical scientific development of chemical agents to use in battle was considered too brutal and uncivilized to be undertaken in modern times—until the excruciatingly slow pace, high casualty rate, and virtual stalemate of trench warfare in World War I. The French first fired tear-gas grenades (xylyl bromide) against the Germans in August 1914. The Germans, however, soon lead the world in developing and using chemical agents in warfare. After early experiments with non-lethal chemical irritants, including tear gas, the German army used chlorine gas in April 1915 at the Second Battle of Ypres. Within seconds of inhalation chlorine gas destroyed respiratory organs and caused death. Then came the use of phosgene gas, similarly lethal and accompanied by severe choking and coughing. Mustard gas, or Yperite, was first used against the Russians at Riga in September of 1917. Fired in artillery shells, it was almost odorless and its deadly effect might not be felt for several hours after exposure. A drawback was that the deadly effects of mustard gas remained in soil and plants, making it dangerous for the force using it to occupy ground ceded in battles where it had been used.

Other gases, including bromine, chloropicrin, and a type of gas derived from prussic acid, were all tried during World War I. Many nations, including the United States, tested poison gases and nerve agents on their own soldiers or on prisoners of war. These weapons had a declining rate of effectiveness, once the element of surprise had been lost and efforts were put into developing effective gas masks.

Many nations, including the United States, China, Cuba, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Pakistan, North Korea, South Korea, Russia, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, and Yugoslavia are known or believed to have stockpiles of chemical weapons or active development programs, focusing on far more deadly nerve gases. The United States condemned chemical and biological warfare but retained the right to retaliate in kind if attacked in this way, and was actively producing biological and chemical weapons through the 1980s. The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) began negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1981. The United States and many other nations ratified the convention in 1997. No nation, however, has lost sight of the fact that in March 1995, a terrorist group release sarin, an organophosphate (OP) nerve gas in the Tokyo subway system, killing 11 people and injuring more than 5,500. In 2001, anthrax was sent through the United States mail, killing several. A number of nations have been accused of using chemical agents since the CWC accord.

In his final report to Congress on World War I, American General John J. Pershing said, "Whether or not gas will be employed in future wars is a matter of conjecture, but the effect is so deadly to the unprepared that we can never afford to neglect the question." Pershing was the last American field commander to confront chemical agents in battle. It cannot be said with any certainty that he will retain this distinction.

Marie Lazzari

[SOURCE: Russell, Edmund, et al, ed. War and Nature: Fighting Humans and Insects with Chemicals from World War I to Silent Spring. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001.]

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"The National Security Strategy of the United States of America." White House. Available from <http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/n ss.html>.

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