Biological Warfare And Terrorism

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the '30's. This was the beginning of a frightening future for the modern world. "Organized and indiscriminat e murder" (Tokyo, A1) on a large scale is clearly possible and chemical weapons are likely to be a terrorist's vehicle for mass destruction.
The threat of terrorist use of chemical weapons is now quickly forcing its way into the thoughts of people all around the world. The attack in Japan, "says Israeli terrorism expert Yonah Alexander, 'has global implications. It's a quantum leap to terro rism by mass destruction" (Strasser, 36). There is such broad selection of chemical weapons exhibiting such diverse characteristics that the very nature of these substances make them quite suitable for terrorist use. There are many more advantages for t errorists to use chemical weapons rather than conventional ones, and the disadvantages that do exist seem quite small. In general it seems that the chemical weapons may become a key component in the terrorist arsenal. If this threat is ...

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during WW I, but have lost much of their usefulness since the advent of the nerve agents. These substances are intended to cause death and offer their greatest advantage to terrorists by being easily obtained. Phosgene, or CG as it is designated by the military, is a common industrial chemical with a moderate lethal dose, and is a choking agent.
Cyanide based compounds are the main components of the blood agents. Hydrogen cyanide (AC) is a blood agent which has a lethal dose slightly higher than that of phosgene but is less effective due to its rapid rate of evaporation. Th ese compounds aren't really suited for use on large numbers of people, so their primary role would most likely be ...

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