Biological warfare

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Biological warfare is the use of microorganisms and toxic biological products to cause death or injury to plants and animals, including humans. It is also called germ warfare. Recenty it has become a major issue around the world and in the media because of technological advancements and the threat of terrorism.

Time Frame

Biological warfare is thought to be a restively new threat, but one of the earliest documented attack was in the fourteenth century when the Genoese sent rats and fleas to attacking Tartar soldiers who contracted the plague. A lot of the earliest attacks using biological warfare were using victims of the plague and catapulting them at enemies or giving them plague infested objects or stores. An early example of this is when the English gave the native americans smallpox infested blankets during the French and Indian war. Many of the native americans died because they had never been exposed to the disease.

It is only in the twentieth century that biological warfare has become a major threat worldwide because of new technology and the creation of weapons of mass destruction.

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Cause and Effect

Biological warfare is quite broad for it involves many different chemicals and diseases. The cause of many of these is hygine. Bombs have now been developed that spread biological weapons over a large amount of space. Other ways of spreading biological weapons is through spraying them into the air with aerosol.

AGENT DOWNWIND REACH (km) DEAD INCAPACITATED

Rift Valley Fever 1 400 5,000

Tick-borne encephalitis 1 500 5,000

Typhus 5 1,000 85,000

Brucellosis 10 500 100,000

Q-fever 0 150 15,000

Tularemia 0 0,000 15,000

Anthrax 0 5,000 15,000

But over the years other, more covert means of spreading these diseases have some up. For example, the recent scare around the world about anthrax in letters. Because it would only take a very small amount of Anthrax to kill or incapacitate someone. This is really why biological warfare is so different from the many other types of warfare, because of it's availability and how easy it is to use. Often only one plane or one person is needed to scatter the spores or vapore etc… for it to have major and long lasting damage. This also makes it a popular choice of many terrorist and gurilla fighters because it is easy to conceal.

The effects of Biological warfare can be much more widespread than tha of conventional warfare. Because the disease or virus can spread so quickly and widely it can spread hundreds of kilometres from where it was originally set off. Of course, this is only some biological weapons, there are many types that are all very different. Some of these have an incubation period when the actual agent is released after it had been spread or exposed. Some incubation periods can last years. This is another reason why it is such an effective weapon. Not only will most stay in the area's air and soil for up to decades after, but some may not be released for months or years.

Economic Considerations

Firstly, compared to other forms of warfare, biological warfare is quite cheap. For example; nuclear armaments- $800, chemical agents-$600, conventional armaments-$000 as compared to the low cost of biological weapons- $1, to produce 50% casualties per square kilometres. The low cost makes it a popular option of non-government terrorist organisations.

Secondly, biological warfare, when used, affects many members of the community. This may effect the means of production if many workers are sick. Along with this, reasourses may be effected. Anthrax for example, can leave massive quantities of dangerous spores in the ground for up to 00 years if animals that die of it are not burned. Grain stores can be contaminated by different biological weapons. During history this tactic had been employed by many armies. They would destroy what resources they could not use and then move on. In the third Persian war, the Persians contaminated the greeks wells with what is now thought to be a BACTERIAL AGENT called Francisella tularensis. They put ticks into the wells and much of the population was effected even after the Persians had left.

Scientific Advances in Biological Warfare

Even though Biological warfare has been used for centuries, only recently have there been scientific advances that make their use so widely possibly. Most noticeably, the great advances in microbiology and geanology. Advances in these fields have made it possible firstly, for the agents used to be very small and can be carried on the carrier's person. Secondly, genology had developed new breeds and more potent agents.

Political Issues

In 17 the U.S, Australia and manu other countries signed a UN Biological Weapons Convention treaty against germ, or biological, warfare. The treaty, which 14 nations have ratified, prohibits development, production and possession of biological weapons. But the treaty has lacked means of verifying compliance. US support for the idea is vital to give it real meaning. Though the US signed the treaty they have not strictly abided by the agreed apon policy. Now, the UN has added to this policy and now want to ban biological weapons. The US has the biggest stores of biological weapons in the world and the greatest capacity to use them. This is why it is so important for the US to sign the treaty out of the many countries that plan to or have. Australia is calling on the US to back the new treaty and ignore a review by the Bush administration that disagrees with the treaty.

Reasons the US have been giving include; that the treaty will not be effective, it's inspection provisions could be used to steal US secrets, it threatens commercial intrests in the US and jeopardize national security. US rejection of the protocol is also believed to have been heavily influenced by the pharmaceuticals industry, which controls 40% of the global market. They argued that international inspections would expose them to commercial piracy. Australia is at the head of the countries supporting this new protocol and has been pushing for it for six years.

This gives fresh evidense of the Bush administration's retreat from global co operation. In the last few years they have refused to sign the Kyoto protocol against greenhouse gas emissions and are opposing a new UN treaty to control small arms and have threatened to abandon the anti-ballistic missile treaty.

Controvercy

After September Eleventh 001 there was a big Anthrax scare in America. Many people would not open their mail for fear of finding white powder inside. Letters and parcels with Anthrax inside were sent to many organistions. Though many people believe this was the work of a middle-eastern terrorist group, some people think it is really American scientists who released the virus into the community. It is thought by some to be an experiment by the American government and scientists to see what the reaction and death rate would be of people exposed to the agent. The Unites States government issued a press release saying that they were in mo way involved with the exposure of the agent, but many people still believe this theory.

New found explanation for gulf war syndrome

The illness know as gulf war syndrome appears to have been caused by a vaccine that the soldiers were given. Research and tests have been done on many soldiers who participated in the Gulf War, and results point to an illegal vaccine they were given for biological weapons.

The common factor with the 75,000 US and British soldiers seems to be a substance called squalene which was allegedly injected into the soldiers who were to go into the Gulf. The deciding factor pointing to this theory is the fact that many men who did not go to the gulf but were vaccinated, have this illness.

The vaccine was for protection against biological warfare, but was not legalised because of potential side effects.

Mouse Contraceptive research produces killer Virus.

In 001 there was a large controvercy about Australia's accidental production of a smallpox-type killer virus that wipes out it's victims immune system. The virus was created during attempts to make a contraceptive for mice. It does not affect humans, but provides a blue-print for a similar virus that would.

This is new evidence that information and research published in acedmic journals and the like could be used by illegal groups to produce biological weapons.

The researches made this potential killer by inserting a gene that creates large amounts of the naturally occurring interleukin (il-4) into a mousepox virus. The aim was to make he animals infertile, but instead they created a virus that suppresses the immune system which combats infection and killed all the test animals in nine days.

Attempts to vaccinate the mice have failed, giving rise to fear that immunistation would be of little use if a human version of the virus was developed.

Defence or Offence?

It is said my many that one problem with the current treaty is that countries may develop biological weapons as long as they are for defence purposes. Many say that it is far too easy for countries to say they are developing them for defensive reasons, but really be developing offensive weapons. The treaty bars nations from developing, aquiring or stockpiling biological weapons to be used for "hostile purposes or in armed combat". It permits experiments on microbes, but as long as quantities are small and the purpose is defensive. It allows such experiments as long as the aim is "protective". Former US senior government lawyer Mary Elizabeth Hoinkes said the treaty was written to prevent nations from Developing Weapons. She insists that it was intended to bar even initial research on munitions that spread disease.

Biological warfare is not only a threat in war zones, but in many countries not effected by war worldwide. It is my view that the treaty stopping countries developing biological weapons should be signed and implemented for the sake of global safety .

Religion, Science, Medicine and Warfare. Illustrated history Encyclopedia. Published by Southwater in 000.

Encarta® World English Dictionary 1 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

http//www.telemedicine.org/BioWar/biologic.htm

http//www.gulfwarvets.com/biowar.htm

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